kapitalet

Kapitalet, commonly referring to Karl Marx's Das Kapital in Swedish, is a foundational work of political economy. The first volume was published in 1867, with Volume II appearing in 1885 and Volume III in 1894, after Marx’s death and edited by Friedrich Engels. The title Kapitalet is also used as the standard Swedish edition title for the full trilogy.

The work analyzes the capitalist mode of production, focusing on how commodities circulate, how value is created, and how surplus value is extracted from labor. It develops the labor theory of value, distinguishes constant capital (the means of production) from variable capital (labor power), and explains how the pursuit of surplus value drives investment, accumulation, and the expansion of capital. Key ideas include commodity fetishism, the transformation of values into prices of production, and the circuits through which capital moves in the economy.

Volume I examines value formation, the commodity, and surplus value; Volume II treats the circuits of capital and the process of reproduction in a capitalist economy; Volume III addresses the overall dynamics of capital, distribution, the rate of profit, and related phenomena such as credit and rents. The trilogy is noted for its systematic critique of capitalist social relations and its attempt to reveal how capital, rather than producers, shapes economic outcomes.

Kapitalet has exerted a profound influence on political thought, economics, and sociology, informing socialist and Marxist movements and critical theory. It has been translated into many languages and remains a central reference in debates about capitalism, crisis, and development. Critics in mainstream economics challenge aspects of its methodology and conclusions, including the transformation problem.