Karl Marx
Articles by and about Karl Marx, pioneering socialist thinker.
Introduction to Marx's early writings - Lucio Colletti
The late Lucio Colletti discusses the content of Marx's early writings and how their late emergence influenced Marxism and the reinterpretation of Marx.
Written as an introduction to the Early Writings volume of the Penguin Marx Library; London, 1975.
Stirner, Feurbach, Marx and the Young Hegelians - David McLellan
A summary of Stirner's ideas and their strong impact on his fellow Young Hegelians. McLellan asserts that Stirner's influence on Marx has been under-estimated and that he "played a very important role in the development of Marx's thought by detaching him from the influence of Feuerbach", his static materialism and his abstract humanism. Stirner's critique of communism (which Marx considered a caricature) also obliged Marx to refine his own definition. Stirner's concept of the "creative ego" is also said to have influenced Marx's concept of "praxis".
Source; originally a chapter in The Young Hegelians and Karl Marx; David McLellan, MacMillan Press, UK, 1980.
MAX STIRNER
1. STIRNER'S LIFE AND WORKS
Marx, theoretician of anarchism
Maximilien Rubel's 1973 article highlighting the libertarian elements within Marx's work and its importance to anarchism, regardless of Marx's lengthy critiques of famous anarchist theoreticians.
Marx has been badly served by disciples who have succeeded neither in assessing the limits of his theory nor in determining its standards and field of application and has ended up by taking on the role of some mythical giant, a symbol of the omniscience and omnipotence of homo faber, maker of his own destiny.
Karl Marx - further reading guide
Libcom's guide to reading Marx by subject.
A. Communist critique
Wage-Labor and Capital
Value, Price, and Profit
Capital, Vol. 1-3
A Critique of Political Economy
The Poverty of Philosophy
Grundrisse
Capital, Vol. 4 (Theories of Surplus Value)
1844 Manuscripts
B. Critique of the State
Critique of the Gotha Program
Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right
Bauer, Marx and religion - David McLellan
McClellan discusses Bauer's critique of religion and its enduring influence on the young Marx.
Prefaces to the Communist Manifesto
Prefaces to different editions of the Communist Manifesto.
The 1872 German Edition
The Communist Manifesto - Marx and Engels
The Manifesto of the Communist Party Communist Manifesto was commissioned by the Communist League and published in 1848, and remains one of the world's most influential political tracts.
While we do not agree with all of it we reproduce it for reference, and readers should bear in mind that it was commissioned propaganda for the League.
Introduction
The Fetish Speaks! - Marx and Perlman
Marx spoke of the commodity - now the commodity speaks of Marx (and itself). PDF of illustrated quotations from 'Capital'.
First printed in Black & Red No. 5 January 1969. Reprinted as a fold-out concertina leaflet by Black & Red, Detroit, 1973.
Notes on Bakunin's book 'Statehood and Anarchy' - Karl Marx
Marx responds to Bakunin's criticisms of Marx and Marxism. Marx's comments were written at the end of 1874 as he read Bakunin's book as part of his efforts to learn Russian and to study Russian society.
Marx's late writings on the Russian 'mir' (peasant commune) were influenced by Bakunin's descriptions of communal peasant society in 'Statehood and Anarchy'.
From Volume 24 of 'Marx & Engels - Collected Works'; Lawrence & Wishart, London, 1989.
The philosophical roots of the Marx-Bakunin conflict - Ann Robertson
Article about political differences between Bakunin and Marx, which correlated to the anarchist-Marxist split in the First International.
The author is biased in favour of Marx's views, but fails to give credit for Bakunin's influence on Marx (such as forcing him to clarify his views on the state) or those instances where Bakunin had more insight than Marx (such as on the evolution and counter-revolutionary nature of Social Democracy).
