History, Theory and Politics: On Uno Kozo’s Theory of Crisis

In this talk, Ken C. Kawashima will discuss how Uno’s Theory of Crisis can inform and guide the analysis of capitalism’s historical crises, and how it gives us a theoretical grasp of Marx’s Capital that emphasizes the concepts of labour-power, excess capital, and surplus populations. In this regard, Uno’s Theory of Crisis is very different from orthodox Marxist approaches to Capital. Kawashima will discuss the political implications of Uno’s Theory of Crisis for today. Our lives are now besieged by all crises, from inflation, incoming recession, and deadly migration from the Global South to the advance of the far-right and apocalyptic climate disaster. In what ways capital, industrial or financial, is at the heart of these variegated crises? Which is the weakest link to be broken to put an emergency brake on today’s world and revitalize the resistance? What insights can the experiences of imperialism and capitalism outside the putative West – but also within the imaginary substance of the so-called West – offer on these questions? If you are concerned about any of these questions, please come and engage with Ken Kawashima’s investigation of the crisis of capitalism. His talk will draw on Japanese Marxist Uno Kozo’s seminal book he translated, The Theory of Crisis. Sponsored by Korean Office for Research and Education (KORE). Recorded 28 October 2022, York University, Toronto. 0:00 Start 0:26 Introduction by Hyun Ok Park 5:12 Start of presentation by Ken Kawashima 7:54 1. History 20:32 2. Theory 36:20 3. Politics