Transcritique: On Kant and Marx (MIT Press) - Critical Theory Book for Philosophy Students & Political Science Scholars | Perfect for Academic Research & Marxist Studies

It's ironic that the translation of Karatani's magunus opus comes at a time when organisational troubles and personal fall-outs have hindered his New Associationalist Movement's progress. Internet problems in setting up community currencies have put the `public' movement on hold for the moment.The thesis is however is remarkably clearheaded. In order for workers-as-consumers to opt-out of the M-C-M flow and cease to produce surplus value at both the sites of production and consumption - community currencies are established (for example LETS) as a safety net. A non-profit, non-value making, fundamentally ethical relationship is established far from the imagined communities of the nation. Capital ceases to be accumulated, produced and re-produced. And, the state has no control over the activities.Drawing on utopian socialism, anarchism and communism and by claiming that none of these traditions has properly dealt with the intrinsic relationship between Capital-Nation-State, but merely opposed one by utilising another, Karatani imagines a potent mix of strikes and boycotts that can oppose all.This is all based on a thourough re-reading of Marx through Kant and Kant through Marx - completely at odds with the Neo-Kantians - that claims economics without ethics is blind and ethics without economics are empty. Karatani also chastises the "cultural turn" and comodification of Marxist theory as leading to only a form of despair and separation from the economic.This is a breath of fresh-air and a far cry from the complex web of syntax coming from Hardt, Negri and others. Neither from the autonomist strand nor statist marxist traditions, Karatani himself says that his thesis pays a debt to Japanese Marxist traditions and it will be interesting to see him map this out.Great translation! How to get it wider attention?!