• Section II The Birth of State-Capitalist Theory and Marx’s Early Essays

  • A. Notes and Translations on Marx and Marxism

  • (1) Translations of extracts of Marx’s unpublished writings

    by Dunayevskaya. Early 1940s. Documents include what we now know as Marx’s 1844 Humanist Essays, but which then had been published in Russian by Ryazanov in Book 3 of the Marx-Engels Archives, under the title “Preparatory works for The Holy Family”. Translations include: 1) “Private Property and Labor”; 2) “Private Property and Communism”; 3) “Critique of the Hegelian Dialectic”. Also includes translation of Prefaces to the Russian edition of Capital. These are the earliest translations by Dunayevskaya of extracts from the Humanist Essays, which were first published in English by her as Appendix to Marxism and Freedom, in 1957.

  • (4) Notes on Lenin’s State and Revolution and Selected Works,

    by Dunayevskaya. Early 1940s. In 1941 Dunayevskaya also translated for herself portions of Lenin’s Abstract of Hegel’s Science of Logic from the Russian text in the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. C.L.R. James refers to these “at-sight translations” as his first encounter with Lenin’s Notebooks (Notes on Dialectics, p.99.)

  • (9) Notes on An Essay on Marxian Economics by Joan Robinson.

    Notes by Dunayevskaya. Undated. See also # 472 for Robinson’s 1947 notes on Dunayevskaya’s outline of “State-Capitalism and Marxism”.

  • B. Development of State-Capitalist Theory

  • (2) “The Law of Value and Capitalist Society”.

    A section of the original Part I of “The Nature of the Russian Economy” by F. Forest (Dunayevskaya). Unpublished typescript, August 1943. For other sections of the original manuscript, see # 69, 87, and 102. The section included here outlines the theoretic basis for Dunayevskaya’s concrete analysis of Russian state-capitalism.

  • (8) Correspondence surrounding the publication of “Teaching of Economics in the Soviet Union” and “A New Revision of Marxian Economics”

    by Raya Dunayevskaya in American Economic Review (AER) September 1944. Letters to and from Dunayevskaya, plus one telegram. Correspondents are Will Lisner, New York Times; Paul T. Homan, AER; Fritz Machlup, AER. May 1944 through April 1945. For the articles as published in AER, see # 192, 209, 213.

  • (9) F. Forest (Dunayevskaya) letters to the Political Committee, Workers Party.

    May 8, 1944; Feb. 2, 1945; Oct. 30, 1946. Protests handling of Dunayevskaya’s articles on the “Russian Question”; gives chronology of Dunayevskaya’s research.

  • (10) Dunayevskaya letter to Shachtman.

    Oct. 14, 1946. On “democracy and strikes in the early Soviet state”. Part of a discussion around articles by F. Forest (Dunayevskaya) in Labor Action on Russia under Stalin. For text of these articles, see # 448.

  • (13) Report of debate between Dunayevskaya and Shachtman,

    May 25, 1947 in New York on “the Russian Question”. Debate held prior to the state-capitalist tendency leaving the Workers Party. Report written by Dunayevskaya. Last page(s) missing.

  • C. Writings on the “Negro Question”

  • (1) “Major Points in Coolidge’s to be answered”.

    Notes by Dunayevskaya for debate with David Coolidge (Ernest Rice McKinney) at Workers Party convention, May 1946. Accompanied by summary of differences with Coolidge in Dunayevskaya letter to “Rex” (undated, but written on the eve of the convention.) See also # 296 for documents on Dunayevskaya’s debate with Coolidge.

  • (3) March on Washington movement literature,

    1943. Includes leaflet from Harlem meeting, 1943, and brochure from the “Interracial Club”. Dunayevskaya was a member of the Harlem branch of the Workers Party from 1941 through 1947.

  • (7) “Industrialization of the Negro”,

    an article by F. Forest (Dunayevskaya) published in Fourth International, January-February, 1948. Written Dec. 1, 1947. See # 311 for typescript draft of this article.

  • D. Studies on, and Classes in, Marx’s Capital

  • (1) “Brief Resume of Marx’s Capital, Vol. I”

    Typescript by F. Forest (Dunayevskaya). Written 1945-46 for use of students in Capital class in Workers Party. For the “Outline of Marx’s Capital, Vol. One” used in these classes, see # 324.

  • (4) “Significance of Marx’s Volume II of Capital for our Day”.

    A summary lecture for the Capital class by F. Forest (Dunayevskaya). Given in 1946. For Dunayevskaya’s “Outline of Capital, Vol. II”, see # 385.

  • (7) “The Inevitability of Socialism and the Laws of Motion of Capitalist Society: A Reply to Comrade Gates”.

    An answer by F. Forest (Dunayevskaya) to Gates’ attack on Forest’s “Outline of Marx’s Capital, Vol. One”. Published in the Workers Party Internal Bulletin, March, 1947.

  • E. Writings and Activity in Post-World War II Period

  • (1) Campaign against the “No-strike pledge”.

    Newspapers and leaflets issued in 1945. Includes Rank and Filer, UAW opposition newspaper produced in Detroit (Vol. I, #1-3); Local #6 UAW leaflet/poster; UAW Local #659 Leaflets. Dunayevskaya corresponded with several of the campaign leaders, including John Zupan.

  • (4) Dunayevskaya’s trip to Europe, 1947, as representative of the state-capitalist tendency.

    Included here are letters by Dunayevskaya of Aug. 2, 1947 and Sept. 21, 1947 from London and Paris. Also included: outline of speech on “Europe” given by Dunayevskaya on her return to the U.S. (Most of Dunayevskaya’s correspondence on her 1947 trip can be found under # 661.)

  • (5) Grace Lee letter to “Rae” (Dunayevskaya),

    Oct. 3, 1947. Written to Dunayevskaya in Europe, it includes a response to her critique of the work of C.L.R. James and Grace Lee in the “Interim Period”, including her protest against their view of the centrality of the struggle in Palestine, 1947.

  • (7) Journalism by F. Forest in the Militant, 1948-51.

    Articles written for the party press during the final period of Dunayevskaya’s work in the Socialist Workers Party. For other articles see # 1477. Articles included here are: (a) “A Glorious Page of U.S. History”. Militant, Feb. 23, 1948. On Black populists. (b) “Maintain the Schomburg Collection!”. Militant, Mar. 8, 1948. On the crucial Black research library in Harlem. (c) “Civil Rights Demagogy”, Militant. Aug. 9, 1948. On Jim Crow in the U.S. Army. (d) “Palmer Raids”. Militant, Aug. 23, 1948. On the U.S. government’s attacks on Black activists and the Left after the Russian Revolution. (e) “Randolph’s Betrayal” Militant, Aug. 30, 1948. On A. Phillip Randolph. (f) “Social Scientists and Labor”. Militant, Aug. 30, 1948. On conference of the American Economic Association and other academics. (g) “Raging Witch-Hunt in Pittsburgh Bans Worker, Jails CP Leaders”. Militant, Oct. 9, 1950. On McCarthy era prosecutions. (h) “State Sedition Law Trial of 3 Opens in Pittsburgh”. Militant, Jan. 29, 1951.

  • (8) Natalia Trotsky letters to Dunayevskaya.

    Natalia Trotsky’s letters of March 20, 1942 (in Russian); April 29, 1947; May 26, 1951. Also included is Dunayevskaya letter to Natalia Trotsky, March 22, 1951. For the rest of this correspondence, see # 728.