The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State

by Friedrich Engels

Overview

The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State (1884), was a provocative and profoundly influential critique of the Victorian nuclear family. Engels argued that the traditional monogamous household was in fact a recent construct, closely bound up with capitalist societies. Under this patriarchal system, women were servants and, effectively, prostitutes. Only Communism would herald the dawn of communal living and a new sexual freedom and, in turn, the role of the state would become superfluous.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780141958347
Publisher:	Penguin UK
Publication date:	04/29/2010
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	240
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Friedrich Engels was born in 1820. In 1842 Engels went to Manchester to represent the family firm. Relationships there inspired the famous The Condition of the Working Class in England in 1844. Collaboration with Marx began in 1844 and in 1847 he composed the first drafts of the Manifesto. After Marx's death, he prepared the unfinished volumes of Capital for publication. He died in 1895.

Dr Tristram Hunt is one of Britain's best known young historians. Educated at Cambridge and Chicago Universities, he is lecturer in British history at Queen Mary, University of London and author of several books. A leading historical broadcaster, he has authored numerous series for the BBC and Channel 4. A regular contributor to The Times, The Guardian and The Observer, he is a Trustee of the National Heritage Memorial Fund and Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.

Table of Contents

About the Authors v

Editors Note vii

Foreword Jennifer Doyle ix

Introduction: Engels and the History of Women's Oppression Eleanor Burke Leacock xxvii

The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State

Preface to the First Edition 3

Preface to the Fourth Edition 6

I Stages of Prehistoric Culture 19

II The Family 27

1 The Consanguine Family, the First Stage of the Family 36

2 The Punaluan Family 37

3 The Pairing Family 45

4 The Monogamous Family 61

III The Iroquois Gens 83

IV The Greek Gens 99

V The Rise of the Athenian State 109

VI The Gens and the State in Rome 121

VII The Gens among Celts and Germans 133

VIII The Formation of the State among the Germans 148

IX Barbarism and Civilization 160

Appendix: A Recently Discovered Case of Group Marriage 182

Index 187