Letters and Politics

Why was Marx so successful as a thinker?

Karl Marx remains the most influential and controversial political thinker in history. He has been viewed as a philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, even a literary craftsman. But who was Marx? What informed his critiques of modern society? And as new generations are discovering Marx after the aftermath of the recurrent financial crisis, social inequality, and destructiveness of capitalism how are we to understand his legacy?

Marking the bicentennial Karl Marx birthday, host Mitch Jeserich begins a series of conversations about the intellectual influences on Marx. Today we are talking with leading historian of socialism Gregory Claeys looking at the French Revolution which predates Karl Marx’s birthday to the writing of the Communist Manifesto. Gregory Claeys is Professor of History at Royal Holloway, University of London. He is the author of the book Marx And Marxism.

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