Books

Oslo, Fram Forlag, 1930 - 1931. 5 parts (all). 8vo. 5 part in publisher's original 3 full cloth bindings with title and author in black lettering to front boards and spines. Spines lightly miscoloured, otherwise fine and clean. 166 pp."144 pp. 237 pp. The uncommon first Norwegian translation of Marx?s ?Das Kapital? ? only volume 1 was ever translated. The translation was commissioned by ?Mot Dag?, a Norwegian political group active from the 1920s to the early 1930s and was first affiliated with the Labour Party. After World War II, many of its former members were leaders in Norwegian politics and cultural activities. ?Although always small in numbers and often regarded with suspicion by Labour and trade union leaders, the Mot Dag organization was nevertheless an important factor in providing the Norwegian workers? movement with a cultural policy and attracting artists, writers and intellectuals to the socialist cause. Well-known and respected authors and artists figured prominently in the organisation?s ranks as members and as contributors to the journal of the same name. Mot Dag was also instrumental in establishing cultural and educational enterprises for Norwegian workers within the workers? movement, most famously the Arbeidernes leksikon (The Workers? Encyclopaedia), a gigantic and unique collective effort by specialists and writers who worked without remuneration. It set up a successful publishing house where Falk published his Norwegian translation of the first volume of Marx?s Das Kapital (Capital), an undertaking that actually turned out to be profitable. In many ways Mot Dag had a position in Norway comparable to that of The Partisan Review in the United States, as an organisation that, as Hugh Wilford puts it, had a ?dual commitment to anti-Stalinist Marxism and cultural Modernism?? (S�renssen, Olav Dalgard ? Politics, Film, Theatre and the Avant-Garde in Norway in the Interwar Years).

"Das Kapital," written by Karl Marx, is a seminal work critiquing the capitalist system's foundations and mechanisms. Published in 1867, this extensive analysis of capitalism delves into its economic processes, the exploitation inherent within, and its eventual contradictions which Marx believed would lead to its downfall. Marx introduces key concepts such as commodity, value, surplus value, and the labor theory of value, arguing that the value of a commodity is determined by the labor required for its production. He criticizes how capitalists profit by exploiting workers, paying them less than the value of their labor while selling the products for their full value. Marx's critique extends to the dynamics of capital accumulation, technological advancements, and their effects on the proletariat, predicting increasing capital centralization and crises stemming from capitalism's internal contradictions. "Das Kapital" covers the circulation and distribution of capital, explaining how surplus value is divided among different classes and sectors, leading to cycles of boom and bust. Despite its influence, "Das Kapital" has faced criticism for its total failure in economic predictions, such as the underestimation of capitalism's adaptability and the overemphasis on the labor theory of value. Critics argue Marx's predictions of escalating class struggle and the proletariat revolution have not materialized as expected, questioning his views on human nature and the efficiency of market mechanisms. Nonetheless, "Das Kapital" remains a pivotal work in economic and political thought, offering a deep, if wrong, critique of capitalism and its socio-economic impacts.