11. Is Marx still relevant?

By the early 20th century, Marxism was the dominant ideology of the left, especially in Europe. Marxism spread significantly around the world after the two world wars, but Marx’s prominence went into abrupt decline in 1991, with the collapse of the Soviet Union. Since then, China has been the most significant avowedly Marxist country. ‘Is Marx still relevant?’ considers whether Marx’s views are still relevant when dealing with worldwide inequality, global financial crises, the age of globalization, and climate change. It concludes that Marx’s ideas about the role that economic interests play in our intellectual and political lives will remain relevant, but that his prediction of the inevitability of a proletarian revolution will not.

9. Communism and revolution

How, in Marx’s view, would capitalism be overthrown? And what kind of society did Marx believe would replace capitalism? The simple answers are: capitalism would be overthrown by revolution and replaced by communism. ‘Communism and revolution’ explains that Marx was reticent over the details of communist society. He believed that history owed its momentum to the development of the forces of production rather than the development of ideas. Marx saw his role as raising the revolutionary consciousness of the workers and preparing for the revolution that would occur when conditions were ripe. In proposing a solution to the problem of the individual and the community, Marx was contributing to a tradition in moral philosophy going back at least to Plato.

6. The development of the materialist theory of history

For Marx the unity of theory and practice meant the resolution of theoretical problems by practical activity. ‘The development of the materialist theory of history’ examines how Marx came upon his theory of world history in which practical human activity, rather than thought, plays the crucial role. At this point in his life, Marx starts to make more use of historical data and less of abstract philosophical reasoning about the way the world should be, but his interest in alienation persists. The materialist conception of history tells us that humans are completely subject to forces they do not comprehend and are unable to control. These forces are the productive powers of human beings themselves.

10. Was Marx right?

Many of Marx’s predictions have been proven wrong. If Marx did not make scientific discoveries about economics and society, what did he get right? ‘Was Marx right?’ suggests it is better to think of Marx as a philosopher than as a scientist. As a philosopher, Marx’s work endures, altering our understanding of our history and our social existence, and deepening our grasp of what it is to be free. Marx saw that capitalism is a wasteful, irrational system that controls us when we should be controlling it. That insight is still valid, but we can now see that the construction of a free and equal society is a far more difficult task than Marx realized.

5. The first Marxism

Marx had developed two important ideas: that economics is the chief form of human alienation and that the material force needed to liberate humanity from its domination by the capitalist system lies in the working class. ‘The first Marxism’ looks at how Marx began his immense study of economics in 1844 and outlines the ideas he formed at this time, culminating in his greatest work, Capital: A Critique of Political Economy. Marx advocated the abolition of wages, alienated labour, and private property in one blow: in a word, communism. The 1844 version of Marxism is a speculative philosophy of history rather than a scientific study. The aim of world history is human freedom.

4. Enter the proletariat

In 1844, Marx published an article called ‘Towards a Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right: Introduction’, which stands as a milestone in the road to Marxism. This is where Marx first allocated to the working class a decisive role in the future redemption of humanity. ‘Enter the proletariat’ examines the impact this piece of work had on Marx’s theory and looks at the circumstances in which he wrote it. Marx had just moved to Paris, where socialist ideas were more advanced than in Germany. He mixed with socialist leaders of the time. Marx tailored his philosophy to fit with his new-found enthusiasm for the working class and its revolutionary potential.

3. From God to money

The Young Hegelians, including Bauer and Feuerbach, saw religion as the alienated human essence, and sought to end this alienation through their critical studies of Christianity. ‘From God to money’ explains how Marx then went on to transform Hegel’s ideas and methods. Marx’s ideas at this stage were liberal rather than socialist, thinking that a change in the state of consciousness was all that was needed. A shift to his emphasis on the material and economic conditions of human life was to come later, initially in his essay ‘On the Jewish Question’ (1843). Marx insisted that it is neither religion nor philosophy, but money that is the barrier to human freedom.

1. A life and its legacy

Marx’s influence, which has extended beyond communist societies, can be compared to that of major religious figures like Jesus or Muhammad. The lives of hundreds of millions of people were transformed, for better or for worse, by Marx’s legacy. ‘A life and its legacy’ outlines Marx’s life, marriage, and family; his early intellectual career; his friendship and collaboration with Friedrich Engels; and describes the slow-burning impact of his key publication, Capital. His ideas transformed the study of history and sociology, and profoundly affected philosophy, literature, and the arts. In this sense of the term we are all Marxists now. What were the ideas that had such far-reaching effects?

7. The goal of history

According to Marx, it is the powers of production—the ‘productive forces’—which give rise to relations of production, and these relations constitute the economic structure of society. ‘The goal of history’ considers Marx’s theory of history and what Marx meant by these ‘productive forces’. Relations of production are relations between people and things. There exists a three-stage process: productive forces determine relations of production, which in turn determine the political, legal, and ideological superstructure. The productive forces are fundamental. Their growth provides the momentum for the whole process of history. The development of productive forces, and the liberation of human capacities that this development will bring, is the goal of history.

2. The young Hegelian

Marx discovered Hegel when he was a student in Berlin. The close attachment to Hegelian thought that Marx developed stayed with him his whole life. ‘The young Hegelian’ considers the philosophy of Hegel, especially as expressed in The Phenomenology of Mind, to try to understand more about how Marx came to his beliefs. One of the most celebrated passages in Phenomenology concerns the relationship between master and slave. This illustrates what Hegel meant by dialectic and introduces an idea of Marxism concerning the relationship between capitalist and worker. Hegel’s philosophy seemed mystifying to Marx, until applied to the real world. The notion of ‘Mind’ was reinterpreted as ‘human self-consciousness’.