Marx in the 21st Century: A Critical Introduction (Ethics, Human Rights and Global Political Thought)

This book introduces Marx as a political philosopher to the 21st-century reader. Equal parts comprehensive, accessible, and engaging, it presents an unconventional reinterpretation of class struggle. Maffettone sheds light on Marx the individual, the intellectual, the political leader and icon, and links his lasting legacy to contemporary theories of justice. As one of the most prominent intellectual presences in history, Marx should not be read as a theorist of communism and socialism. Rather, he was, is, and shall remains today and remain for the foreseeable future, a radical critic of liberalism and capitalism. Within this innovative interpretive framework, he must be kept absolutely present in the analysis of contemporary politics. Under such premise, the volume explores Marx’s life, his thoughts, his most important writings, his works on historical materialism and economic theory with a focus on concepts of labor, commerce, capitalism, and surplus. The book also includes discussions on the __Manuscripts__ of 1844, the __Manifesto__ of 1848, and a brief critical summary of __Capital__. A truly definitive work on the "phenomenon" that is Marx, this critical introduction will be of immense interest to scholars and researchers of political science, modern history, cultural studies, social anthropology, political philosophy, critical theory, justice, and economics, as well as appeal to the general reader. This book introduces Marx as a political philosopher to the 21st-century reader. It presents an unconventional reinterpretation of class struggle. Maffettone sheds light on Marx the individual, the intellectual, the political leader and icon, and links his lasting legacy to contemporary theories of justice. Cover 1 Half Title 2 Series Page 3 Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 Table of Contents 6 Preface 8 Introduction 12 Notes 18 Chapter 1: Marx: The individual and the intellectual 19 Notes 23 Chapter 2: Marx: Main ideas 24 Chapter 3: Early years and the birth of communism 30 The Hegelian Left 31 The Marxian critique of Hegel 35 Early communism 40 Alienation 42 The Manifesto 46 After 1848 48 Note 50 Chapter 4: Historical materialism and the critique of the economy 51 Capital: A summary of the principal arguments 54 Volume I. The process of production of capital 55 Volume II. The process of circulation of capital 60 Volume III. The process of capitalist production as a whole 61 Theory of value 66 The transformation of values into prices 69 Böhm-Bawerk, Sraffa, analytical Marxism, and some results 72 In conclusion 79 Commodities 81 Labor 83 Surplus value 83 Exploitation 84 Marxism and justice 89 Historical materialism and the collapse of capitalism 95 Marx and the utopian socialists 99 Chapter 5: Final Remarks 100 Criticisms 100 Proposals 106 Chapter 6: Epilogue 115 Appendix: Selected works by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels 120 Bibliography 122 Index 125 capitalist,production;,commerce;,commodities;,communism;,economic,theory;,Engels’,laboriousness;,German,Hegelianism;,German,intellectuals;,historical,materialism;,liberalism;,Marx’s,life;,Marxian,critique;,political,philosopher;,utopian,socialists capitalist production,commerce,commodities,communism,economic theory,Engels’ laboriousness,German Hegelianism,German intellectuals,historical materialism,liberalism,Marx’s life,Marxian critique,political philosopher,utopian socialists "This book introduces Marx as a political philosopher to the 21st-century reader. Comprehensive, accessible, and engaging in equal parts, it presents an unconventional reinterpretation of class struggle. Maffettone sheds light on Marx the individual, the intellectual, the political leader and icon, and links his lasting legacy to contemporary theories of justice. As one of the most prominent intellectual presences in history, Marx should not be read as a theorist of communism and socialism. Rather, he was, remains today and for the foreseeable future a radical critic of liberalism and capitalism. Within this innovative interpretive framework, he must be kept absolutely present in the analysis of contemporary politics. Under such premise, the volume explores Marx's life, his thoughts, his most important writings, his works on historical materialism and economic theory with a focus on concepts of labour, commerce, capitalism and surplus. The book also includes discussions on the Manuscripts of 1844, the Manifesto of 1848, a brief critical summary of Capital. A truly definitive work on the "phenomenon" that is Marx, this critical introduction will be of immense interest to scholars and researchers of political science, modern history, cultural studies, social anthropology, political philosophy, critical theory, justice, and economics, as well as appeal to the general reader"-- Provided by publisher