ABSTRACT
Capitalist relations of production lead to endless capital accumulation, which now threatens the world with environmental catastrophe. The forces of production, having reached their advanced stage in the modern period, are becoming increasingly incompatible with capitalist social relations. This chapter provides a comprehensive overview of Karl Marx's worldview but rather to highlight those aspects of his thought that are essential to understand what capital is and why it needs to be abolished. It concentrates on the aspects of his worldview: the materialist view of history, the logical method of Marxism, the theory of capital and surplus value, criticism and consciousness, alienation, and the state. According to the materialist conception of history, humanity has passed through a number of historical periods, each of which may be characterized in terms of a particular socioeconomic formation. A socioeconomic formation in Marxian theory consists of an economic base and a political and legal superstructure.
