ABSTRACT
The Poverty of Philosophy also saw Marx return to the critical discussion of the categories of political economy. In this sense the work foreshadowed a period of mixed intellectual fortunes from 1847 to 1851. During this period Marx devoted considerable time and effort first of all to the propagation of his critico-theoretical work in the cause of developing a self-conscious and critically informed working class. Then, after his final exile from continental Europe in 1849, he began his life-long endeavour to delineate, fully to investigate and finally to publish his critique of political economy. For this endeavour, as it turned out, London proved to be an ideal location. Marx reread and noted many theoretical works of political economy and began his detailed study of the accumulating empirical data about the operations of English capitalism. Unfortunately, to an extent that is not entirely clear because of the paucity of extant sources, this renewed work on the critique faltered in 1852. It was then to be about five years before Marx would take up his critical project again with any determination and assessable results.
