Das Kapital - Softcover

Marx, Karl

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1503256367 ISBN 13: 9781503256361

Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2014

Synopsis

During the 19th century, Europe witnessed one of history’s most powerful leaders, Napoleon Bonaparte, establish an empire that resulted in the redrawing of the European map after his defeat. But while Europe’s imperialistic nations continued to amass greater power across the globe, one of the 19th century’s most influential Europeans went about changing the status quo at home. It would be almost impossible to exaggerate the influence Karl Marx has had upon the world in the last 150 years. Marx was an influential historian, journalist and economist who is widely considered one of the first social scientists, but he is best remembered for advocating socialism, particularly the brand that would take his name. As the father of Marxism, Marx predicted that capitalistic societies, ruled by a “dictatorship of the bourgeoise”, would eventually give way via class struggles to a “dictatorship of the proletariat”, and eventually to a more stateless form of communism. Marx certainly wasn’t the first to espouse these kinds of political views, but nobody before or since had as much influence in actually bringing about the implementation of their ideas. Working with Friedrich Engels and others, Marx went about authoring a series of works, most notably The Communist Manifesto (1848) and Capital (1867-1894), championing his ideas. While Marx laid out the ideological groundwork, many put it into action, leading to the formation of socialist powers in the Soviet Union and China during the first half of the 20th century. Marx’s writings and philosophy had an impact on the social sciences and economic theories, but one of his biographers could comfortably and accurately assert that the political history of the 20th century was “Marx’s legacy”. Whether fairly or not, in the West Marx has bcome inextricably linked with some of the totalitarian excesses of the regimes that claimed to espouse his ideology, and for that reason Marx is often associated with some of the negative connotations that come with the Soviets. Nevertheless, few would deny the very decisive impact Marxism had on the global landscape, and the ramifications continue to have a political influence today.

About this title

About the Author:

Described as one of the most influential figures in human history, Karl Marx was a German philosopher and economist who wrote extensively on the benefits of socialism and the flaws of free-market capitalism. His most notable works, Das Kapital and The Communist Manifesto (the latter of which was co-authored by his collaborator Friedrich Engels), have since become two of history s most important political and economic works. Marxism the term that has come to define the philosophical school of thought encompassing Marx s ideas about society, politics and economics was the foundation for the socialist movements of the twentieth century, including Leninism, Stalinism, Trotskyism, and Maoism. Despite the negative reputation associated with some of these movements and with Communism in general, Marx s view of a classless socialist society was a utopian one which did not include the possibility of dictatorship. Greatly influenced by the philosopher G. W. F. Hegel, Marx wrote in radical newspapers from his young adulthood, and can also be credited with founding the philosophy of dialectical materialism. Marx died in London in 1883 at the age of 64.

About this edition

• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1503256367
• ISBN 13: 9781503256361
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 610