How it started and why we want to read this book

Hi!

My name is Joel and I first read Marx's Capital three years ago (Yes! All three volumes!). Before then, I had already read a fair amount of Marxist stuff and had watched all of David Harvey's lectures, so, I felt ready and eager to take on the challenge of reading the original text.

I really feel that reading Capital was a life-changing experience in the sense that it gave me a language to make sense of feelings I had had for years. It gave me a deep understanding of how our world works.

How it started

I've recently moved from Oxford to Bristol. A few weeks back, I was asked to speak at a University of Bristol event. Predictably, I talked about Marxist theory. A young Korean woman was there called On Hee Choi. On Hee is a PhD student at the University's School of Education and also teaches Korean language at the University's Language School. On Hee enjoyed my talk. We got chatting and decided to see if anyone at the School of Education or beyond wanted to read Capital.

Remarkably, On Hee received over 20 responses in a couple of days! Even though our group has started with just seven committed regulars, it shows that there is a large interest in Marxist thought out there.

So, after an initial meeting, we all agreed to commit to following the schedule that David Harvey's own course follows. This is reading that everyone is committing to that is not for any accreditation or anything like that. We have chosen to commit to this in addition to our already very busy workloads.

Why we want to read this book

This is the third time I will have read the first volume of Capital. Personally, I want to read this with others for various reasons. Above all, I want to create and share a space for intellectual discussion. This sounds strange to say because the group is taking place within a university. However, how much space for open, informal, unassessed discussion there is today within our universities is questionable. Another reason for wanting to reread this is because I want to engage with the text again and learn many new things: from the text and, crucially, from my fellow readers. I also want to share my knowledge with the group and help them to navigate and persevere through the earlier parts of the book especially.

On Hee ?

Others?

We will meet each week on Fri afternoon for two hours. Each week, we will write a short blog about our session together. We will record the questions we have, the resources we find, and anything else of interest. This record of our journey is mainly for us, but if you like what you read then we are very glad.

Thanks for reading,

Joel

Comments:

On Hee (Ollie) 12:09 19/11/2017:

Hi Joel, I cannot find the function of the comments, so I am adding my answer here. First, I would like to correct a piece of information about me. I am working not at Language school but at the School of Modern Languages of University of Bristol. Other than that, everything is well said.

I have kept a long-lasting thirst for reading and discussion as a group. Indeed, I had an unforgettable reading group experience in Bristol; I was lucky to join a brilliant reading group about globalisation, education and social futures (http://www.bristol.ac.uk/education/research/centres-networks/gesf/) from 2014 to 2016 led by Prof Susan Robertson and Roger Dale and to meet a group of bright minds. We then met every Thursday for reading, talking and more chatting over drinks. The reading group has even affected the direction of my research. In this sense, I utterly agree on Joel's remarks that participating a reading group can be a life-changing experience.

Internationalised HEs are now becoming closed worlds of competition, turning away from their agents' needs and wants for 'co-produced' knowledge. I feel proud of the fact that in opposition to this reality, we are actively creating an open space for sharing and co-producing ideas. Reading the Capital is the first medium of creating a synergistic effect I believe, and hopefully we are able to go further.

I would like to say that with no pressure of close reading, anyone can join us anytime once you have a say.