Friedrich Engels for the 21st Century: Reflections and Revaluations

by Terrell Carver (Editor), Smail Rapic (Editor)

Overview

This edited volume presents an interdisciplinary and international revaluation of Friedrich Engels as much more than “junior partner” to Karl Marx or “second fiddle” in the Marxist orchestra. The nineteen critical essays in this collection are the work of scholars from Germany, USA, UK, Italy, China, India, Mexico and the Philippines. Together they present and evaluate archival material and scholarly commentary that covers epistemology, political economy, political theory, gender studies, cultural studies, political geography, philosophy of social science and sociological studies of class-conflict. Students, activists and specialists will find fresh consideration of familiar works, such as The Condition of the Working Class in England, The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State, and The Dialectics of Nature. They will also be able to explore Engels’s less familiar pamphleteering, literary criticism and political commentary through detailed contextualization andcareful analysis. Friedrich Engels for the 21^st Century: Perspectives and Problems is unique in putting different intellectual and political receptions of Engels’s work into productive conversation, particularly from non-Anglophone scholars, translated here into English. Readers will appreciate why Engels has been so widely celebrated some two hundred years after his birth.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9783030971373
Publisher:	Springer International Publishing
Publication date:	05/17/2022
Series:	Marx, Engels, and Marxisms
Edition description:	1st ed. 2022
Pages:	405
Product dimensions:	5.83(w) x 8.27(h) x (d)

About the Author

Terrell Carver is Professor of Political Theory at the University of Bristol, UK. He is co-general editor of the series “Marx, Engels, and Marxisms”. His most recent books are Engels Before Marx and The Life and Thought of Friedrich Engels, 30th Anniversary Edition, both from Palgrave Macmillan (2020).

Smail Rapic is Professor of Philosophy at the Bergische Universität Wuppertal, Germany. He has published widely on philosophical topics relating historical materialism to classical thinkers, such as Rousseau, and to contemporary philosophers, such as Habermas.

Table of Contents

Chapter One: Introduction.- Section 1 Epistemology and Philosophy of Nature.- Chapter Two: Engels and the dialectic of nature.- Chapter Three: Engels and the “Dialectics of Nature”.- Chaper Four: Was Engels a dialectical materialist?.- Chapter Five: Engels and the end of philosophy.- Section 2 Political Economy.- Chapter Six: Outlines of a Critique of Political Economy: the is/ought question.- Chapter Seven: The young Engels and the critique of capitalism: his influence on the young Marx.- Chapter Eight: Engels on the „external market“ and „de-industrialization“.- Section 3 The Condition of the Working Class.- Chapter Nine: The constitution of the proletariat: bringing together Friedrich Engels, Edward P. Thompson and Michael Vester.- Chapter Ten: The Housing Question Revisited.- Section 4 Theorizing Power.- Chapter Eleven: Engels theorizes gender hierarchy inThe Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State.- Chapter Twelve: The concept of power in Engels’s theory of the state.- Chapter Thirteen Re-reading Engels in the twenty-first century: state, nationalism, and internationalism.- Section 5 Engels and Literature.- Chapter Fourteen: The proletariat and the „people“: Engels and the „social prose“ of the 1840s.- Chapter Fifteen: Engels’s philosophical mock-epic: The Triumph of Faith.- Chapter Sixteen: Engels and German literature: a political history to the present.- Section 6 Emancipation – Revolution – Communism.- Chapter Seventeen: Engels on post-capitalist society: continuity or discontinuity with Marx.- Chapter Eighteen Engels and the remaking of communism in the twenty-first century.- Chapter Nineteen: Afterword: whither Engels?

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

‘This impressively internationalist collection is an essential read for those interested in Engels in his own right rather than as just a “second fiddle” to Marx. All contributions present fresh perspectives based on the latest research. They do full justice to the many areas in which Engels displayed his prodigious talents.’

– David McLellan, Professor Emeritus of Political Theory, University of Kent, UK

‘Based on the results of archival research, this book contributes to the liberation of Engels from the entrenched image that he is the man who distorted and dogmatized Marx's theory. This will allow us to appreciate Engels as an independent theorist and to understand his great achievements as they really are.’

– Ryuji Sasaki, Associate Professor of Economics, Rikkyo University, Japan

‘This fascinating collection of nineteen essays by an international cast of distinguished authors—expertly edited by Terrell Carver and Smail Rapic—reconsiders Engels’s many projects, problems, and prospects. Engels here gets the attention he sorely deserves as a solo act. Highly recommended.’

– James Farr, Professor of Political Science, Northwestern University, USA

‘This impressive collection demolishes the notion that Engels paved the way for a dogmatic interpretation of Marxism or that he was merely a populariser of Marx’s ideas. Instead, it establishes Engels as an independent and creative Marxist thinker whose ideas continue to enlighten us in the 21^st century. ‘

– Camilla Royle, Fellow in Geography and Environment, London School of Economics, UK

‘This timely volume on Engels corrects a number of misconceptions about this fundamentally important yet underrated thinker. Its richness in historical detail offers new insights into Engels’s work and presents a genuinely interdisciplinary and global reading. It will be of great interest for scholars and students of politics, history, ecology and philosophythe world over.’

– Shannon Brincat, Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Relations, University of the Sunshine Coast, Australia

‘Why should we continue to read Engels in the 21^st century? Because—as leading experts in the world establish here—the breadth and depth of his contribution to the critical social sciences is remarkable, and its resonance palpable. If you want to learn more about Marx’s too often underestimated and misunderstood intellectual partner—and you should—then you must read this book.’

– David Bates, Professor of Contemporary Political Thought & School Director of Research and Enterprise, Canterbury Christ Church University, UK