neil davidson, the american civil war

(3): South as 'capitalist' -- conflict between two essentially capitlaist powers, distinguished by political regime and claims over territory. not because their ideologies expressed different means of organizing social relations.

(6): bourgeois-dem vs. (just) bourgeois -- at first, condition was that there be a revolutionary role played by the bourgeoisie; soon, though, it was perverted by the Comintern (adherence to bourgeoisie)

(7): St. De Croix -- MoP determined by surplus extraction central to ruling-class [NB: this is not the same as the Brenner definition, where it is about dependence of direct producer on market; here we have a wage-labour condition, of a particular kind]

(7): don't need agency of the bourgeoisie, for bourgeois revolution

(8): class struggle can take two forms -- within class system, but also with forces from without (some classes don't have the structural capacity to overthrow MoP, i.e.)

(12): three phases of BR. paradox is that as capitalism develops (though not in the countries where R happens, capitalists are less and less central. [but capitalists in ER?])

1. Eng and UP -- already have capitalism, and revolution bascially from below overthrows absolutist State
2. FR, where capitalist subordinate to feudalism, and bourgeoisie subordinate to absolutism
3. Italian, German, Japanese, Canadian, where capitalist development mixed --impetus comes from within absolutist State

(13): Scotland and ACW as exceptions

(15): American War of Independence is not a BR -- it left slavery intact, after all. impeding development of capitalism.

(19): Am Slavery is not like the Second Serfdom. not the same distance from capitalism, quoting Blackburn (because it also takes in manufactured goods?)

(19): but there is the obvious fact of extensiveness, rather than technological change.

(21): Prussian Junkers were not like the Southern Planters; they were more vulnerable to serfs; Southern Planters had used racism to divide potential resistance. and incremental reform, like in Cuba and Brazil, were off-limits [why?]

(24): key--something less than a revolution was not possible in US because slavery was territorially concentrated and resistance was divided. this is why you had to have a Civil War--to defeat this condition of dual power.