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That Hideous Pagan Idol: Marx, Fetishism and Graven Images

2010; Routledge; Volume: 38; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/03017600903454413

1748-8605

Roland Boer,

Political Economy and Marxism

Abstract The importance of the idea of fetishism in Marx's work hardly needs to be argued, especially in light of the famous passage in Capital concerning commodities. However, the extent of Marx's engagement with fetishism has rarely been explored in full, nor has its complex relationship with the religious idea of idolatry. In order to explore both issues, this article is divided into two parts. The first traces Marx's initial encounter with the idea in the work of Charles de Brosses and then the various modifications of the idea in Marx's hands in order to provide new angles on alienation, labour, money, commodities and then capital as a whole. The second part picks up the persistent religious analogies in Marx's treatments of fetishism and then backtracks in order to uncover the connections with idolatry. We visit de Brosses once again, encounter Marx's Ethnological Notebooks, come across a striking connection the biblical critique of idolatry, and explore the way the new category of fetishism absorbs and transforms idolatry. This second part closes by critiquing the efforts by liberation theologians to appropriate Marx's use of fetishism for a renewed theological critique of idolatrous capitalism. Promising in some respects, what liberation theology misses is the sting in the tail of the Marx's development of fetishism. Keywords: Karl MarxfetishismIdolatryAlienationLabourMoneyCapitalBibleLiberation Theology Notes 1Karl Marx, 'The Future Results of British Rule in India', Marx and Engels Collected Works, Vol. 12 (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1979 [1853]), p. 222. 2See the tantalizing references in Karl Marx, 'To Arnold Ruge in Dresden, March 5, 1842', Marx and Engels Collected Works, Vol. 1 (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1975 [1902]), pp. 382–3; Karl Marx, 'Marx an Arnold Ruge in Dresden, Den 5ten März 1842', Marx Engels Werke, Vol. 27 (Berlin: Dietz, 1973 [1902]), pp. 397–398; Karl Marx, 'To Arnold Ruge in Dresden, March 20, 1842', Marx and Engels Collected Works, Vol. 1 (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1975 [1902]), pp. 383–386; Karl Marx, 'Marx an Arnold Ruge in Dresden, Den 20ten März 1842', Marx Engels Werke, Vol. 27 (Berlin: Dietz, 1973 [1902]), pp. 399–401; Karl Marx, 'To Arnold Ruge in Dresden, April 27, 1842', Marx and Engels Collected Works, Vol. 1 (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1975 [1902]) pp. 387–388; Karl Marx, 'Marx an Arnold Ruge in Dresden, Den 27. April 1842', Marx Engels Werke, Vol. 27 (Berlin: Dietz, 1973 [1902]), pp. 402–403. See also the discussions by Mikhail Lifshitz, The Philosophy of Art of Karl Marx, transl. Ralph B. Winn (New York: Pluto, 1973 [1933]) and Margaret A. Rose, Marx's Lost Aesthetic: Karl Marx and the Visual Arts (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984), pp. 61–62. Where possible I have cited both English translation and the German original of the work of Marx and Engels (where one exists, for not all that is available in English has been published in German and some of Marx's texts were first published in English). The date of original publication is listed in square brackets. 3Karl Marx, The Ethnological Notebooks of Karl Marx, ed. Lawrence Krader (Assen: Van Gorcum, 1972). Marx's adaptation of fetishism is of course one way in which the idea has been used. For a comprehensive discussion of the fetish's history in ethnography, the history of religion, Marxism, positivist sociology, psychoanalysis, the clinical psychiatry of sexual deviance, modernist aesthetics and Continental philosophy, see William Pietz, 'The Problem of the Fetish, I', Res: Anthopology and Aesthetics, 9 (1985), pp. 5–17, William Pietz, 'The Problem of the Fetish, II', Res: Anthopology and Aesthetics 13 (1987), pp. 23–45, William Pietz, 'The Problem of the Fetish, III', Res: Anthopology and Aesthetics, 16 (1988), pp. 105–123. 5Marx, 'Proceedings of the Sixth Rhine Province Assembly. Third Article: Debates on the Law on Thefts of Wood', op. cit., pp. 262–263; Marx, 'Verhandlungen Des 6. Rheinischen Lantags. Dritter Artikel: Debatten Über Das Holzdiebstahlsgesetz', op. cit., p. 236. See also Marx's comment on the French who are 'still dazzled by the sensuous glitter of precious metals, and are therefore still fetish-worshippers of metal money, and are not yet fully developed money nations'; Karl Marx, 'Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844', Marx and Engels Collected Works, Vol. 3 (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1975 [1932]), p. 312; Karl Marx, 'Ökonomisch–Philosophische Manuskripte Aus Dem Jahre 1844', Marx Engels Werke, Vol. 40 (Berlin: Dietz, 1990 [1932]), p. 552. See also his observations concerning the Assembly of the Estates of the Rhine Province, which has a tendency to 'canonise individuals' and to 'demand that we should bow down before the holy image of certain privileged individuals'; Karl Marx, 'Proceedings of the Sixth Rhine Province Assembly. First Article: Debates on Freedom of the Press and Publication of the Proceedings of the Assembly of the Estates', Marx and Engels Collected Works, Vol. 1 (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1975 [1842]), p. 169; Karl Marx, 'Die Verhandlungen Des 6. Rheinischen Lantags. Erster Artikel: Debatten Über Preßfreiheit Und Publikation Der Landständischen Verhandlungen', Marx Engels Gesamtausgabe, Vol. 1:1 (Berlin: Dietz, 1975 [1842]), p. 157. Finally, there is the polemic against Louis Napoleon: 'And the cast-down, broken idol can never be set on its pedestal again. He may recoil before the storm he has raised, and again receive the benedictions of the Pope and the caresses of the British Queen'; Karl Marx, 'A Historic Parallel', Marx and Engels Collected Works, Vol. 16 (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1980 [1859]), p. 273. 4Karl Marx, 'Proceedings of the Sixth Rhine Province Assembly. Third Article: Debates on the Law on Thefts of Wood', Marx and Engels Collected Works, Vol. 1 (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1975 [1842]), pp. 224–263; Karl Marx, 'Verhandlungen Des 6. Rheinischen Lantags. Dritter Artikel: Debatten Über Das Holzdiebstahlsgesetz', Marx Engels Gesamtausgabe, Vol. 1:1 (Berlin: Dietz, 1975 [1842]), pp. 199–236. 6Charles de Brosses, Du Culte des Dieux Fétiches ou Parallèle de l'Ancienne Religion de l'Égypte (Paris: 1760). 7Brosses, op. cit., pp. 10–11. The word has had to fend off a series of efforts to describe its etymology. It is an English translation of the pidgin Fetisso, connected to the Portuguese feitiço, which in the late Middle Ages designated 'magical practices' or 'witchcraft'. However, efforts have been made to derive the word from Latin fatum, signifying both fate and charm (Brosses), factitius, linking the magic arts and the work of art or facere, designating the false representation of things sacred, beautiful, or enchanting. See Pietz, 'The Problem of the Fetish, I', op. cit., p. 5; William Pietz and Emily Apter, Fetishism as Cultural Discourse (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1993), pp. 3–4. 8Pietz, 'The Problem of the Fetish, I', op. cit., pp. 5–17; see also Pietz, 'The Problem of the Fetish, II', op. cit., pp. 23–45, Pietz, 'The Problem of the Fetish, III', op. cit., pp. 105–123. 9Marx, 'Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844', op. cit., p. 272; Marx, 'Ökonomisch–Philosophische Manuskripte Aus Dem Jahre 1844', op. cit., p. 512. Similarly, 'Every self-estrangement of man, from himself and from nature, appears in the relation in which he places himself and nature to men other than and differentiated from himself. For this reason religious self-estrangement necessarily appears in the relationship of the layman to the priest, or again to a mediator, etc., since we are here dealing with the intellectual world'. Marx, 'Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844', op. cit., p. 279; Marx, 'Ökonomisch–Philosophische Manuskripte Aus Dem Jahre 1844', op. cit., p. 519. See also Karl Marx, 'Outlines of the Critique of Political Economy (Rough Draft of 1857–58) [Second Instalment]', Marx and Engels Collected Works, Vol. 29 (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1987 [1939–41]), pp. 209–210. 10Ludwig Feuerbach, Das Wesen Des Christentums (Stuttgart: Reclam, Ditzingen, 1986 [1841]), Ludwig Feuerbach, The Essence of Christianity, transl. George Eliot (Amherst, New York: Prometheus Books, 1989 [1841]). Although he eventually became critical of Feuerbach's limited agenda, Marx was initially very enthusiastic about Feuerbach's achievement. See especially Karl Marx, 'To Ludwig Feuerbach in Bruckberg, Kreuznach, October 3, 1843', Marx and Engels Collected Works, Vol. 3 (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1975 [1962]), pp. 349–351; Karl Marx, 'Marx an Ludwig Feuerbach in Bruckberg, 3.October 1843', Marx Engels Werke, Vol. 27 (Berlin: Dietz, 1973 [1962]), pp. 419–421; Karl Marx, 'To Ludwig Feuerbach in Bruckberg, Paris, August 11, 1844', Marx and Engels Collected Works, Vol. 3 (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1975 [1958]), pp. 354–357; Karl Marx, 'Marx an Ludwig Feuerbach in Bruckberg, 11.August 1844', Marx Engels Werke, Vol. 27 (Berlin: Dietz, 1973 [1958]), pp. 425–428. 11Marx, 'Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844', op. cit., p. 278; Marx, 'Ökonomisch–Philosophische Manuskripte Aus Dem Jahre 1844', op. cit., p. 518. 12'The whole content of the relation, and the mode of appearance of the conditions of the worker's labour alienated from labour, are therefore present in their pure economic form, without any political, religious or other trimmings. It is a pure money-relation. Capitalist and worker. Objectified labour and living labour capacity. Not master and servant, priest and layman, feudal lord and vassal, master craftsman and journeyman, etc.'. Karl Marx, Economic Manuscript of 1861–63: A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy, Marx and Engels Collected Works, Vol. 30 (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1988 [1976–82]), p. 131; Karl Marx, Ökonomisches Manuskript 1861–1863, Marx Engels Werke, Vol. 43 (Berlin: Dietz, 1990 [1976–83]), p. 123. 13See Marx, 'Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844', op. cit., pp. 304–306; Marx, 'Ökonomisch–Philosophische Manuskripte Aus Dem Jahre 1844', op. cit., pp. 543–546. 16Karl Marx, 'Comments on James Mill, Élémens D'économie Politique', Marx and Engels Collected Works, Vol. 3 (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1975 [1932]), p. 212; Karl Marx, 'Auszüge Aus James Mills Buch Élémens D'économie Politique'. Trad. Par J.T. Parisot, Paris 1823', Marx Engels Werke, Vol. 40 (Berlin: Dietz, 1990 [1932]), p. 446. See also the comments in the Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts: 'The distorting and confounding of all human and natural qualities, the fraternisation of impossibilities—the divine power of money—lies in its character as men's estranged, alienating and self-disposing species-nature. Money is the alienated ability of mankind' (Marx, 'Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844', op. cit., p. 325; Marx, 'Ökonomisch–Philosophische Manuskripte Aus Dem Jahre 1844', op. cit., p. 565.). Further: 'Money, then, appears as this distorting power both against the individual and against the bonds of society, etc., which claim to be entities in themselves. It transforms fidelity into infidelity, love into hate, hate into love, virtue into vice, vice into virtue, servant into master, master into servant, idiocy into intelligence, and intelligence into idiocy. Since money, as the existing and active concept of value, confounds and confuses all things, it is the general confounding and confusing of all things—the world upside-down—the confounding and confusing of all natural and human qualities'. Marx, 'Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844', op. cit., pp. 325–326; Marx, 'Ökonomisch–Philosophische Manuskripte Aus Dem Jahre 1844', op. cit., pp. 566–567. 14Karl Marx, 'Comments on James Mill, Élémens D'économie Politique', Marx and Engels Collected Works, Vol. 3 (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1975 [1932]), p. 212; Karl Marx, 'Auszüge Aus James Mills Buch Élémens D'économie Politique'. Trad. Par J.T. Parisot, Paris 1823', Marx Engels Werke, Vol. 40 (Berlin: Dietz, 1990 [1932]), p. 446. 15Karl Marx, 'Comments on James Mill, Élémens D'économie Politique', Marx and Engels Collected Works, Vol. 3 (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1975 [1932]), p. 212; Karl Marx, 'Auszüge Aus James Mills Buch Élémens D'économie Politique'. Trad. Par J.T. Parisot, Paris 1823', Marx Engels Werke, Vol. 40 (Berlin: Dietz, 1990 [1932]), p. 446. 18Karl Marx, 'Comments on James Mill, Élémens D'économie Politique', Marx and Engels Collected Works, Vol. 3 (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1975 [1932]), p. 212; Karl Marx, 'Auszüge Aus James Mills Buch Élémens D'économie Politique'. Trad. Par J.T. Parisot, Paris 1823', Marx Engels Werke, Vol. 40 (Berlin: Dietz, 1990 [1932]), p. 446. See also Marx, Economic Manuscripts of 1857–58 (First Version of Capital) [Grundrisse], op. cit., p. 257; Marx, Ökonomische Manuskripte 1857/1858 [Grundrisse], op. cit., p. 250. 17Karl Marx, 'Comments on James Mill, Élémens D'économie Politique', Marx and Engels Collected Works, Vol. 3 (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1975 [1932]), p. 212; Karl Marx, 'Auszüge Aus James Mills Buch Élémens D'économie Politique'. Trad. Par J.T. Parisot, Paris 1823', Marx Engels Werke, Vol. 40 (Berlin: Dietz, 1990 [1932]), p. 446. See also Karl Marx, Economic Manuscripts of 1857–58 (First Version of Capital) [Grundrisse], Marx and Engels Collected Works, Vol. 28 (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1986 [1939–41]), pp. 154, 64 ; Karl Marx, Ökonomische Manuskripte 1857/1858 [Grundrisse], Marx Engels Werke, Vol. 42 (Berlin: Dietz, 2005 [1939–41]), pp. 148, 58 ; Marx, Outlines of the Critique of Political Economy (Rough Draft of 1857–58) [Second Instalment], p. 216; Karl Marx, A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy, Marx and Engels Collected Works, Vol. 29 (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1987 [1859]), p. 359; Karl Marx, Capital: A Critique of Political Economy, Vol. I, Marx and Engels Collected Works, Vol. 35 (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1996 [1867]), pp. 142–143; Karl Marx, Das Kapital. Kritik Der Politischen Ökonomie. Erster Band Buch I: Der Produktionsprozeß Des Kapitals, Marx Engels Werke, Vol. 23 (Berlin: Dietz, 1972 [1867]), pp. 146–147. 19Marx, Capital, Vol. I, op. cit., pp. 82–83; Marx, Das Kapital, Erster Band, op. cit., p. 86. See also Karl Marx, Economic Manuscripts of 1861–63 (Conclusion): A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy, Marx and Engels Collected Works, Vol. 34 (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1994 [1976–82]), p. 450. 21Marx, Capital Vol. I, op. cit., p. 83; Marx, Das Kapital, Erster Band, op. cit., pp. 86–87. 20Marx, Capital, Vol. I, op. cit., p. 81; Marx, Das Kapital, Erster Band, op. cit., p. 85. 22Pietz, 'The Problem of the Fetish, I', p. 10, takes this line, arguing that the fetish designates false consciousness. Louis Dupré, Marx's Social Critique of Culture (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1983), p. 49, also tends in this direction. 23Marx, Capital, Vol. I, op. cit., p. 639; Marx, Das Kapital, Erster Band, op. cit., p. 674. 24Norman Geras, 'Fetishism', in Tom Bottomore (ed.), A Dictionary of Marxist Thought (Oxford: Blackwell, 1983), p. 165. 25Marx, Capital, Vol. I, op. cit., p. 84; Marx, Das Kapital, Erster Band, op. cit., p. 87. 26Marx, Capital, Vol. I, op. cit., p. 83; Marx, Das Kapital, Erster Band, op. cit., p. 86. 27Marx, Capital, Vol. I, op. cit., p. 85; Marx, Das Kapital, Erster Band, op. cit., p. 88. 28Marx, Das Kapital, Erster Band, p. 90; my translation. 29Marx, Economic Manuscripts of 1861–63 (Conclusion): A Contribution to the Critiqueof Political Economy, op. cit., pp. 457–458. See also the description of wealth as a fetish in Marx, A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy, op. cit., p. 387. 30Marx, Economic Manuscripts of 1861–63 (Conclusion): A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy, op. cit., p. 459. 31Karl Marx, Capital: A Critique of Political Economy, Vol. III, Marx and Engels Collected Works, Vol. 37 (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1998 [1894]), p. 817; Karl Marx, Das Kapital. Kritik Der Politischen Ökonomie. Dritter Band Buch III. Der Gesamtprozeß Der Kapitalistischen Produktion, Marx Engels Werke, Vol. 25 (Berlin: Dietz, 1973 [1894]), p. 838. Apart from Walter Benjamin's oft-noted fragment, 'Capitalism as Religion' (Walter Benjamin, Selected Writings. Volume 1: 1912–1926 (Cambridge, MA: Belknap, 1996), pp. 288–291), the theme has been developed in a very different direction from liberation theology or Marxism by a group of what may be called 'economic theologians' such as John Cobb, The Earthist Challenge to Economism: A Theological Critique of the World Bank (New York Macmillan: 1999); M. Douglas Meeks, God the Economist: The Doctrine of God and Political Economy (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1989); David Loy, 'The Religion of the Market', Journal of the American Academy of Religion, 65:2 (1996), pp. 275–290. 32Marx, Economic Manuscript of 1861–63 (Continuation): A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy, Marx and Engels Collected Works (Moscow: Progress, 1989 [1976–82]), p. 494; Karl Marx, 'Theorie Über Den Mehrwert (Vierter Band Des Kapitals). Dritter Teil', Marx Engels Werke, Vol. 26.3 (Berlin: Dietz, 1974), p. 485. 33Brosses, op. cit., p. 12. 34For example, he mentions the serpent of Judah, the 'fetish of Evil–Merodah' and that the Babylonians are depicted as worshipping fetishes in Daniel 14 (Brosses, op. cit., p. 26.). Other samples include Ezekiel 21:21 (pp. 105–106), 2 Kings 26:29 with its list of idols (p. 126), Ezekiel 8 and the list of fetishes worshipped by the Israelites, including the Canaanite Baal (p. 131), Genesis 31:13 (p. 136), Numbers 13:52 ff; Leviticus 31:1 ff, Deuteronomy 4:16 (p. 137), Genesis 31 (p. 139), and 1 Kings 12:29 (p. 143). 35Brosses, op. cit., p. 27. 36Brosses, op. cit., p. 27. 37Marx's notes for Volume 2 of Capital were in a similar state, as Engels notes: 'The language was that in which Marx used to make his extracts: careless style full of colloquialisms, often containing coarsely humorous expressions and phrases interspersed with English and French technical terms or with whole sentences and even pages of English. Thoughts were jotted down as they developed in the brain of the author. Some parts of the argument would be fully treated, others of equal importance only indicated. Factual material for illustration would be collected, but barely arranged, much less worked out. At conclusions of chapters, in the author's anxiety to get to the next, there would often be only a few disjointed sentences to mark the further development here left incomplete. And finally there was the well-known handwriting which the author himself was sometimes unable to decipher.' Frederick Engels, 'Preface to the First German Edition of Capital: A Critique of Political Economy, Vol. II', Marx and Engels Collected Works, Vol. 36 (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1997 [1885]), p. 5; Friedrich Engels, 'Vorwart an Das Kapital. Kritik Der Politischen Ökonomie. Zweiter Band Buch II. Der Zirkulationsprozeß Des Kapitals'', Marx Engels Werke, Vol. 24 (Berlin: Dietz, 1973 [1885]), p. 7. 38Marx, Ethnological Notebooks, op. cit., p. 343. 39Karl Marx, 'Inaugural Address of the Working Men's International Association', Marx and Engels Collected Works, Vol. 20 (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1985 [1864]), pp. 10–11; Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, The Holy Family, or Critique of Critical Criticism, Marx and Engels Collected Works, Vol. 4 (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1975 [1845]), p. 21; Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, Die Heilige Familie oder Kritik Der Kritischen Kritik, Marx Engels Werke, Vol. 2 (Berlin: Dietz, 1972 [1845]), p. 21; Karl Marx, 'Draft of an Article on Friedrich List's Book Das Nationale System Der Politischen Oekonomie', Marx and Engels Collected Works, Vol. 4 (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1975 [1971]), p. 226; Karl Marx, 'Marx to Engels in London, Algiers, 8 April (Saturday) 1882', Marx and Engels Collected Works, Vol. 46 (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1992 [1931]), p. 234; Karl Marx, 'Marx an Engels 8.April 1882', Marx Engels Werke, Vol. 35 (Berlin: Dietz, 1973 [1931]), p. 54; Karl Marx, 'Agitation against Prussia—A Day of Fasting', Marx and Engels Collected Works, Vol. 14 (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1980 [1855]), p. 95; Karl Marx, 'Agitation Gegen Preußen—Ein Fasttag', Marx Engels Werke, Vol. 11 (Berlin: Dietz, 1974 [1855]), pp. 132–1333; Marx, 'A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy', p. 294; Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, 'The Civic Militia Bill', Marx and Engels Collected Works, Vol. 7 (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1977 [1848]), p. 264; Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, 'Der Bürgerwehrgesetzentwurf', Marx Engels Werke, Vol. 5 (Berlin: Dietz, 1973 [1848]), p. 251; see also Frederick Engels, 'The Condition of the Working Class in England', Marx and Engels Collected Works, Vol. 4 (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1975 [1846]), p. 474; Friedrich Engels, 'Die Lage Der Arbeitenden Klasse in England. Nach Eigner Anschauung Und Authentischen Quellen', Marx Engels Werke, Vol. 2 (Berlin: Dietz, 1974 [1846]), p. 405; Frederick Engels, 'Engels to Natalie Liebknecht in Berlin, London, 1 December 1893', Marx and Engels Collected Works, Vol. 50 (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 2004 [1946]), p. 234; Friedrich Engels, 'Engels an Natalie Liebknecht 1.Dezember 1893', Marx Engels Werke, Vol. 39 (Berlin: Dietz, 1973 [1946]), p. 171. 40Isaiah 44: 9–20. See also the explicitly political polemic in Isaiah 40: 19–20; 41: 6–7; 42: 17; 45: 16–17 and 46: 1–2, 5–7. Not to be outdone, Paul in the New Testament puts the same point in its own way. Thus, Paul argues that due to darkened minds (Romans 1:21) the dead, created thing comes to life and gains the power to rule and dominate human lives instead of God (Romans 1:23, 25). 41There is more than enough evidence to suggest that an earlier polytheism was gradually overlaid in the texts of the Hebrew Bible by monotheism. Thus, the various references to the veneration and worship of multiple gods become in light of this late overlay myriad examples of waywardness and apostasy. 42'Leaving Certificate from Berlin University', Marx and Engels Collected Works, Vol. 1 (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1975 [1926]), p. 704. 43Jon Sobrino, Jesus in Latin America (Eugene: Wipf and Stock, 2004 [1982]), pp. 57, 146, 65–67; Jon Sobrino, The True Church and the Poor (Eugene: Wipf and Stock, 2004 [1985]), pp. 59, 99; Enrique Dussell, Las Metáforas Teológicas De Marx (Estella (Navarra): Editorial Verbo Divino, 1993); Enrique Dussell, 'From Ethics and Community', in David Jobling, Tina Pippin and Ronald Schleifer (eds) ,The Postmodern Bible Reader (Oxford: Blackwell, 2001), pp. 298–299; Jung Mo Sung, Desire, Market, and Religion (London: SCM, 2007); Franz J. Hinkelammert, The Ideological Weapons of Death: A Theological Critique of Capitalism (Maryknoll: Orbis, 1986); Hugo Assmann and Franz J. Hinkelammert, A Idolatria Do Mercado (Petrópolis: Vozes, 1989); Peter Scott, Theology, Ideology and Liberation (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994), pp. 75–109; Michael Löwy, The War of Gods: Religion and Politics in Latin America (London: Verso, 1996), pp. 56–57; C. Stephen Evans, 'Redeemed Man: The Vision Which Gave Rise to Marxism', Christian Scholar's Review, 13:2 (1984), pp. 146–148; Richard Lischer, 'The Lutheran Shape of Marxian Evil', Religion in Life, 42:4 (1973), pp. 554–555; Max Josef Suda, 'The Critique of Religion in Karl Marx's Capital', Journal of Ecumenical Studies, 15:1 (1978), pp. 15–28; Ronald F. Thiemann, 'Praxis: The Practical Atheism of Karl Marx', Journal of Ecumenical Studies, 22:3 (1985), pp. 544–549. See my extended engagement with liberation theologies (note the plural) in Roland Boer, Criticism of Theology: On Marxism and Theology III (Leiden: Brill, in press). 44Marx, Capital, Vol. III, op. cit., p. 817; Marx, Das Kapital, Dritter Band, op. cit., p. 838. 45Marx, Capital, Vol. I, op. cit., p. 92, n. 1; Marx, Das Kapital, Erster Band, op. cit., p. 96, n. 33. 46Hence the perpetual assertion, such as: 'Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: "I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god. Who is like me? Let him proclaim it, let him declare it and set it forth before me"' (Isaiah 44: 6–7a).