Sculpture of Karl Marx (foreground) and Friedrich Engels.
Das Kapital is a treatise on capitalism written by Karl Marx and edited by Friedrich Engels for publication in three volumes throughout the second half of the 19th century. In this famous work, Marx outlines the system by which those who control the means of production can exploit the workers who produce the commodities, known as commodities, that serve as the engine of capitalism. Marx theorizes in Das Kapital that capitalism relies on workers to produce goods, and yet workers still suffer from poor wages and working conditions. This constant exploitation and exchange of money and commodities, according to Marx, is the backbone of capitalism.
Marx had already published The Communist Manifesto, his remarkable work on the class struggle, when he turned his attention to capitalism. During this period of history, the Industrial Revolution was taking hold in Europe, and Marx observed the deteriorating conditions faced by workers. This is what inspired Das Kapital, with the first volume published in 1867 and the second and third volumes, edited by his friend Engels after Marx’s death, coming out in 1885 and 1894.
It is important to note that Marx did not use Das Kapital as some kind of moral diatribe against capitalists. He described the way capitalism developed as a kind of historical inevitability. There is also no open call for workers to rebel at work. Marx simply felt that the schism that capitalism created between employer and employee was an untenable situation that sowed workers unrest.
In exploring the labor that produces commodities, Marx felt that business entities that control the means of production create the conditions that help capitalism prosper. Workers, who depend on their employers for their wages, essentially produce wealth for their employers that they are not allowed to share. This system becomes a self-perpetuating machine, in which the value of the commodity produced far exceeds the value of the worker who produces it.
Raw materials are another central theme of Das Kapital. Marx essentially said that the value of commodities on the market actually bears little relation to their actual usefulness. The value of a commodity is defined in terms of how much it costs compared to other commodities, meaning that commodities become little more than symbols of wealth to those who buy them. This relentless pursuit of commodities ultimately leads, according to Marx, to a contradiction inherent in capitalism, as more and more commodities are produced, even as demand for them decreases.