Karl Marx
AUTHOR

Karl Marx

Nonfiction | History

Karl Marx (1818-1883) was a German philosopher, political economist, historian, political theorist, sociologist, communist, and revolutionary, whose ideas played a significant role in the development of modern communism. Marx summarized his approach in the first line of chapter one of The Communist Manifesto, published in 1848: "The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles." Marx argued that capitalism, like previous socioeconomic systems, would inevitably produce internal tensions which would lead to its destruction. Just as capitalism replaced feudalism, he believed socialism would, in its turn, replace capitalism, and lead to a stateless, classless society called pure communism. This would emerge after a transitional period called the "dictatorship of the proletariat": a period sometimes referred to as the "workers state" or "workers' democracy". In section one of The Communist Manifesto Marx describes feudalism, capitalism, and the role internal social contradictions play in the historical process: We see then: the means of production and of exchange, on whose foundation the bourgeoisie built itself up, were generated in feudal society. At a certain stage in the development of these means of production and of exchange, the conditions under which feudal society produced and exchanged...the feudal relations of property became no longer compatible with the already developed productive forces; they became so many fetters. They had to be burst asunder; they were burst asunder. Into their place stepped free competition, accompanied by a social and political constitution adapted in it, and the economic and political sway of the bourgeois class. A similar movement is going on before our own eyes.... The productive forces at the disposal of society no longer tend to further the development of the conditions of bourgeois property; on the contrary, they have become too powerful for these conditions, by which they are fettered, and so soon as they overcome these fetters, they bring order into the whole of bourgeois society, endanger the existence of bourgeois property.Marx argued for a systemic understanding of socio-economic change.

Read more Read less

JOIN AUDIBLE FREE FOR 30 DAYS AND STAY FOR $14.95/mo.
Join Audible Free

Best Sellers

    • The Communist Manifesto

    • By: Karl Marx
    • Narrated by: Greg Wagland
    • Length: 1 hr and 34 mins
    • Unabridged
    • Overall
      4 out of 5 stars 445
    • Performance
      4.5 out of 5 stars 398
    • Story
      3.5 out of 5 stars 394

    ‘It was a sweet finish after the bitter pills of floggings and bullets with which these same governments, just at that time....

    • 5 out of 5 stars

    • My advice, set speed to 1.5

    • By Kindle Customer on 04-05-17

    Regular price: $9.60

    Free with 30-day Trial

    • Capital: Volume 1

    • A Critique of Political Economy
    • By: Karl Marx, Samuel Moore - translation, Edward Aveling - translation
    • Narrated by: Derek Le Page
    • Length: 43 hrs and 4 mins
    • Unabridged
    • Overall
      4.5 out of 5 stars 50
    • Performance
      4.5 out of 5 stars 48
    • Story
      4.5 out of 5 stars 47

    It can be said of very few books that the world was changed as a result of its publication - but this is certainly the case of Capital: A Critique of Political Economy by Karl Marx....

    • 5 out of 5 stars

    • Classic Economics Text - A Good Listen

    • By Earth Lover on 04-01-18

    Regular price: $57.59

    Free with 30-day Trial

    • The Communist Manifesto

    • By: Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels
    • Narrated by: Frank Phillips
    • Length: 1 hr and 26 mins
    • Unabridged
    • Overall
      1 out of 5 stars 1
    • Performance
      3 out of 5 stars 1
    • Story
      1 out of 5 stars 1

    The Communist Manifesto was conceived as an outline of the basic beliefs of the Communist movement. The authors believed that the...

    Regular price: $0.94

    Free with 30-day Trial

    • The Communist Manifesto

    • By: Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels
    • Narrated by: Roberto Scarlato
    • Length: 1 hr and 31 mins
    • Unabridged
    • Overall
      4 out of 5 stars 42
    • Performance
      4.5 out of 5 stars 38
    • Story
      4 out of 5 stars 37

    The Communist Manifesto is an 1848 political pamphlet by German philosophers Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Commissioned by the Communist League and originally published in London just as the revolutions of 1848 began to erupt, the Manifesto was recognized as an influential political documents....

    • 4 out of 5 stars

    • A bit dated but still relevant today.

    • By cosmitron on 05-09-18

    Regular price: $6.95

    Free with 30-day Trial

    • Das Kapital

    • Kritik der Politischen Ökonomie
    • By: Karl Marx
    • Narrated by: Johannes Steck, Gert Heidenreich
    • Length: 7 hrs and 46 mins
    • Abridged
    • Overall
      4 out of 5 stars 3
    • Performance
      4.5 out of 5 stars 3
    • Story
      4 out of 5 stars 3

    Die Party ist vorbei. Der Crash ist da. Aus der Bankenkrise 2008 wurde über Nacht eine Krise der Weltwirtschaft...

    • 3 out of 5 stars

    • Not in English

    • By Taylor Crisp on 12-08-15

    Regular price: $11.80

    Free with 30-day Trial

    • The Civil War in France

    • By: Karl Marx
    • Narrated by: David Stifel
    • Length: 3 hrs and 13 mins
    • Unabridged
    • Overall
      4.5 out of 5 stars 15
    • Performance
      4.5 out of 5 stars 15
    • Story
      4.5 out of 5 stars 15

    In 1871, the Franco-Prussian War was raging. Observing these events through news reports of the time, Karl Marx made three speeches to the International Workmen's Association....

    • 4 out of 5 stars

    • Great historical record

    • By Michael Willman on 10-31-18

    Regular price: $7.13

    Free with 30-day Trial

    • Manifest der kommunistischen Partei

    • By: Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels
    • Narrated by: Burkhard Behnke
    • Length: 1 hr and 30 mins
    • Unabridged
    • Overall
      4 out of 5 stars 1
    • Performance
      0 out of 5 stars 0
    • Story
      0 out of 5 stars 0

    Ein Gespenst geht um in Europa - das Gespenst des Kommunismus.

    Regular price: $3.54

    Free with 30-day Trial

    • Wisdom of Karl Marx

    • By: The Wisdom Series
    • Narrated by: Rick Adamson
    • Length: 4 hrs and 6 mins
    • Unabridged
    • Overall
      2 out of 5 stars 5
    • Performance
      2.5 out of 5 stars 3
    • Story
      1 out of 5 stars 3

    Among modern philosophers, few have had a greater impact on history than Karl Marx. Now this easy-to-use introduction to the 19th-century theorist breaks down his work into definitions of his terms and concepts....

    • 1 out of 5 stars

    • Not prose - Just a glossary

    • By John in PA on 07-18-14

    Regular price: $14.95

    Free with 30-day Trial

    • Manifesto del Partito Comunista

    • By: Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels
    • Narrated by: Mauro Ferreri
    • Length: 1 hr and 20 mins
    • Unabridged
    • Overall
      0 out of 5 stars 0
    • Performance
      0 out of 5 stars 0
    • Story
      0 out of 5 stars 0

    Ascoltare il "Manifesto del Partito Comunista" è un'esperienza sorprendente. Pubblicato per la prima volta nel 1848, il testo scritto da Karl Marx e Friedrich...

    Regular price: $6.30

    Free with 30-day Trial

    • Lohn, Preis und Profit

    • By: Karl Marx
    • Narrated by: Heiner Lamprecht
    • Length: 2 hrs and 48 mins
    • Unabridged
    • Overall
      0 out of 5 stars 0
    • Performance
      0 out of 5 stars 0
    • Story
      0 out of 5 stars 0

    "Lohn, Preis und Profit" ist die Bezeichnung eines Vortragsmanuskripts von Karl Marx aus dem Jahre 1865, welches erstmals 1898 von Marx'...

    Regular price: $5.88

    Free with 30-day Trial

Are you an author?

Help us improve our Author Pages by updating your bibliography and submitting a new or current image and biography.
Visit Amazon Author Central