Marcello Musto is the author of Another Marx: Early Manuscripts to the International and The Last Years of Karl Marx: An Intellectual Biography. His writings are available here.
The first edition of Capital, Volume I, was published on this day in 1867. Over the years that followed, Karl Marx and his partner Friedrich Engels continued working on the final text, showing how it remained part of a living critical project.
Late in life, Karl Marx had a brief encounter with the Arab world. Though he was never able to study the region in detail, Marx’s writings confirm his support for Arab struggles against their colonial oppressors.
Today marks 150 years since the first French edition of Capital. This wasn’t just a translation but a “completely revised” work — showing how Karl Marx’s research continually renewed his critical perspective on capitalist development.
For three decades, Italian liberals have promoted technocratic neoliberal governments with no popular mandate. The effect is to hollow out democracy — and alienate the center left from its former working-class base.
The war in Ukraine is now in its fourth month and there is no end in sight. In this wide-ranging discussion, Silvia Federici, Michael Löwy, and Étienne Balibar discuss the war and what it might take to bring it to an end.
There’s a long and rich tradition of the Left’s opposition to militarism that dates back to the First International. It’s an excellent resource for understanding the origins of war under capitalism and helping leftists maintain our clear opposition to it.
Karl Marx’s groundbreaking account of labor alienation forms an invaluable part of his thought. For Marx, alienation was fundamental to grasping capitalism and how to dismantle it.
Karl Marx’s final years of life are often overlooked as a period of intellectual and physical decline. But his thought remained vibrant to the end, as he addressed political questions that are still relevant to us today.
On this day in 1871, the working class of Paris seized control of the capital and established the Commune. Though it ruled for just two months, the world’s first workers’ government still stands as a vivid example of the kind of society workers themselves can create, according to their own vision of freedom and equality.
One hundred and fifty years ago today, the Polish Marxist thinker and organizer Rosa Luxemburg was born. She is, without question, one of the towering figures in the entire history of the socialist movement.
Friedrich Engels once wrote that he played “second fiddle” to Marx. On the 200th anniversary of his birth, we should remember the profound influence that Engels had on his friend and comrade, as well as his own theoretical contributions.
The International Working Men’s Association was launched in London on this day in 1864. As the “First International,” it cemented class solidarity across countries as a shared ideal and inspired large numbers to organize against capitalist exploitation.