His ideas on this remain of great value – even indispensable – but his legacy is also quite problematic and new thinking is needed. Some will say that these are new problems, so why should we expect Marx, writing more than a century ago, to have had anything worthwhile to offer to us today? In fact, recent scholarship has demonstrated that the problematic, often contradictory relationship between humans and the rest of nature was a central theme in Marx’s thinking throughout his life. ‘The history of nature and the history of men are dependent on each other so long as men exist’ – Karl Marx. Commentators, whether hostile or sympathetic, focused on his critique of the exploitation and inequality of capitalism and imperialism, and the struggle to transform society in a socialist direction. Yet on Marx’s recent 200th birthday, discussion of his continuing relevance was still dominated by “traditional” understandings of Marxism. However the global financial crash of 2008 and its aftermath sent many rushing back to the bin.įor good or ill, the German philosopher’s ideas have affected our world more profoundly than any other modern social or political thinker.
Karl Marx’s ideas could safely be relegated to the dustbin of history. …all progress in capitalistic agriculture is a progress in the art, not only of robbing the labourer, but of robbing the soil all progress in increasing the fertility of the soil for a given time, is a progress towards ruining the lasting sources of that fertility.įollowing the collapse of the Soviet Union and an economic shift in China it seemed that capitalism had become the only game in town.
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