Capital from Zero - by Kohei Saito (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

For readers of David Harvey and Thomas Piketty comes a new introduction to Marx's Capital from the author of the internationally bestselling book Slow Down.

The follow-up to his global bestseller Slow Down and a new introduction to Marx's Capital, Capital From Zero is a reading guide, a manifesto, a revision, and a reclamation of Marx's foundational work of political theory. Building on his signature argument of "degrowth communism", Saito's introduction brings Capital squarely into the 21st century, offering a uniquely non-Western, non-dogmatic and eco-socialist reading of the famous text.

Saito is a singular intellect with an essential and innovative point of view--a fresh new voice in Marxist theory who will sit alongside David Harvey and Thomas Piketty in educating and guiding the next generation of radical intellectuals. The book reconstructs Marx's Capital from a totally new perspective based on more recent research findings, liberating Marx from old dogmas of the Soviet socialism and aiming to rekindle our ability to envision a more equal and sustainable society beyond capitalism.

About the Author

Kohei Saito is an associate professor of philosophy at the University of Tokyo. He received his PhD in philosophy from Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin in 2016. He was awarded the 2018 Isaac Deutscher Memorial Prize, the most prestigious academic award for Marxian studies, making Saito its youngest recipient. In 2020 the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science awarded him the highly prestigious JSPS prize, awarded to the top 25 scholars (only a few in humanities and social sciences) in the entire country under the age of 45. Capital in the Anthropocene (which we are calling Slow Down) received "Best Asian Books of the Year" in the Asia Book Awards 2021.