The last years of Karl Marx, 1881-1883 - an intellectual biography

**An innovative reassessment of the last writings and final years of Karl Marx.** In the last years of his life, Karl Marx expanded his research in new directions—studying recent anthropological discoveries, analyzing communal forms of ownership in precapitalist societies, supporting the populist movement in Russia, and expressing critiques of colonial oppression in India, Ireland, Algeria, and Egypt. Between 1881 and 1883, he also traveled beyond Europe for the first and only time. Focusing on these last years of Marx's life, this book dispels two key misrepresentations of his work: that Marx ceased to write late in life, and that he was a Eurocentric and economic thinker fixated on class conflict alone. With __The Last Years of Karl Marx__, Marcello Musto claims a renewed relevance for the late work of Marx, highlighting unpublished or previously neglected writings, many of which remain unavailable in English. Readers are invited to reconsider Marx's critique of European colonialism, his ideas on non-Western societies, and his theories on the possibility of revolution in noncapitalist countries. From Marx's late manuscripts, notebooks, and letters emerge an author markedly different from the one represented by many of his contemporary critics and followers alike. As Marx currently experiences a significant rediscovery, this volume fills a gap in the popularly accepted biography and suggests an innovative reassessment of some of his key concepts. Gli ultimi anni della vita di Marx sono stati spesso considerati come un periodo durante il quale egli avrebbe appagato la propria curiosit intellettuale e cessato di lavorare. Lanalisi di alcuni manoscritti, ancora inediti o poco conosciuti, permette di sfatare questa leggenda e dimostra che egli non solo continu le sue ricerche, ma le estese anche a nuove discipline. Nel biennio 1881-1882 Marx intraprese uno studio approfondito delle pi recenti scoperte nel campo dellantropologia, della propriet comune nelle societ pre-capitaliste, delle trasformazioni determinatesi in Russia in seguito allabolizione della servit e della nascita dello Stato moderno. Inoltre, egli fu attento osservatore dei principali avvenimenti di politica internazionale e le sue lettere testimoniano il suo deciso sostegno alla lotta per la liberazione dellIrlanda e la ferma opposizione alloppressione coloniale in India, Egitto e Algeria. Le ricerche dedicate a nuovi conflitti politici, tematiche e aree geografiche, ritenute fondamentali per il proseguimento della sua critica del sistema capitalistico, permisero a Marx di maturare una concezione pi aperta alle specificit dei diversi paesi e di considerare un possibile approdo al socialismo diverso da quello precedentemente prefigurato. Questi sviluppi teorici vennero interrotti da una lunga e dolorosa malattia che lo costrinse a vagare tra Inghilterra, Francia, Svizzera e Algeria, alla ricerca del clima pi adatto a favorire la guarigione. Il soggiorno di oltre due mesi ad Algeri, lunico della sua esistenza trascorso lontano dallEuropa, rivest grande interesse per Marx, poich gli offr la possibilit di sviluppare importanti riflessioni sul mondo arabo e contro loccupazione francese. Dai manoscritti, dai quaderni e dalle lettere di questi anni emerge dunque un uomo molto diverso da quello raffigurato da tanti suoi critici, o presunti seguaci. Dopo essere stato dapprima assimilato al cosiddetto socialismo reale, e poi frettolosamente messo da parte dopo il 1989, oggi Marx sta conoscendo una significativa riscoperta e questo volume, che ne analizza con grande rigore la biografia intellettuale nel periodo meno esplorato della sua vita, rappresenta una preziosa novit. “ Brilliantly demonstrates that Marx spent these years opening new and important theoretical horizons.” ―Étienne Balibar, author of The Philosophy of Marx In the last years of his life, Karl Marx expanded his research in new directions—studying recent anthropological discoveries, analyzing communal forms of ownership in precapitalist societies, supporting the populist movement in Russia, and expressing critiques of colonial oppression in India, Ireland, Algeria, and Egypt. Between 1881 and 1883, he also traveled beyond Europe for the first and only time. Focusing on these last years of Marx's life, this book dispels two key misrepresentations of his work: that Marx ceased to write late in life, and that he was a Eurocentric and economic thinker fixated on class conflict alone. With The Last Years of Karl Marx , Marcello Musto claims a renewed relevance for the late work of Marx, highlighting unpublished or previously neglected writings, many of which remain unavailable in English. Readers are invited to reconsider Marx's critique of European colonialism, his ideas on non-Western societies, and his theories on the possibility of revolution in noncapitalist countries. From Marx's late manuscripts, notebooks, and letters emerge an author markedly different from the one represented by many of his contemporary critics and followers alike. “Musto takes us by the hand and invites us to discover a new Marx.” ―Antonio Negri, author of Marx beyond Marx “Highly recommended.” ―M. J. Wert, Choice “Fills a huge gap in our understanding of Marx.” ―Kevin B. Anderson, New Politics: Journal of Socialist Thought “[A] bold socio-political reading of Marx.” ―Arkayan Ganguly, Critique: Journal of Socialist Theory "Contrary to the predictions that consigned Marx to oblivion after the fall of the Berlin Wall, his ideas are once more the object of analysis and debate. Around the world, Marx's writings have been reprinted or brought out in new editions, and there are more new studies of his work. Of particular importance has been the resumed and ongoing publication, started in 1998, of the Marx Engels Gesamtausgabe (MEGA), the historical-critical edition of the complete works of Marx and Engels. The MEGA corpus suggests that, despite claims to the contrary, Marx is not at all an author about whom everything has already been said or written, and his profile is changing. Combining rigorous scholarly analysis with a clear and accessible style of writing, this intellectual biography positions itself as part of a renewed exploration of Marx. It offers an original reading of the last phase of Marx's intellectual development, which has hitherto pretty much been ignored. Dispelling the myth that Marx ceased to write in his final years, the author points out the relevance of previously unknown or neglected late writings, many of which remain unavailable in English. What's more, the book challenges the long-lasting misrepresentation of Marx as a Eurocentric and economistic thinker who was fixated on class conflict alone. Readers are thus invited to reconsider, for example, Marx's ideas in light of late remarks on anthropology, non-Western societies, and the critique of European colonialism. Availing itself of sources that have still not been published in English, the book fills a gap in the existing literature on Marx and suggests an innovative reassessment of some of his key ideas"-- Provided by publisher