Karl Marx

Content by and about Karl Marx (1818-1883), a German philosopher, economist, sociologist, historian, and communist. He is best known for his theories about capitalism, and for co-authoring The Communist Manifesto with Friedrich Engels.

Image of Karl Marx

Karl Marx and the Iroquois - Franklin Rosemont

Franklin Rosemont delves into Marx's Ethnological Notebooks and examines their significance and relevance towards today's communist movement.

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…

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…

Marx, theoretician of anarchism - Maximilien Rubel

Maximilien Rubel's 1973 article highlighting the libertarian elements within Marx's work and its importance to anarchism, regardless of Marx's…

Karl Marx - further reading guide

Libcom's guide to reading Marx by subject.

Bruno Bauer

Bauer, Marx and religion - David McLellan

McLellan discusses Bruno 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. While often ignored, the 1872 preface is notable in that it explicitly revises Marx and Engel's position on a state-led transition to socialism following the 1871 Paris Commune. The 1882 preface to the Russian Edition is also notable due to its emphasis on the potential for the Russian Obschina to be the basis for communism (i.e. without a transition from…

The communist manifesto - Karl Marx and Frederick Engels

The Manifesto of the Communist Party Communist Manifesto was commissioned by the Communist League…

Fetish speaks

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'. Update: Images…

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.

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…

150 Years After the Communist Manifesto - Loren Goldner

Reflecting on 150 years of communist theory and practice within capitalism.