On The Communist Manifesto: Ideas for the Newly Radicalizing Public

Abstract

A large number of people around the world now support the idea of socialism and are critical of capitalism. These numbers, though growing, are not yet enough to end capitalism, but they form the basis for a movement to win over more people to socialism and away from a system dominated by capitalist market relations. Besides, many of those who have a favourable view of socialism may not exactly know what it is or they may not exactly know how/why capitalism is the cause of their misery. A socialist movement requires ideas that not only defend socialism but also show how capitalism works and why it is harmful to the majority. Many of these ideas are present in The Communist Manifesto written by Karl Marx and Frederick Engels almost 175 years ago, in a context where people were turning to revolutionary ideas and practices in Europe. If, as Lenin said, a revolutionary movement needs revolutionary ideas, The Communist Manifesto is indeed a fertile source of some of these ideas. It makes two main kinds of knowledge claim: knowledge claims to describe and explain the world, and knowledge claims to critique the world and show that an alternative world is necessary and possible. Keeping in view the newly radicalizing elements of the public, including the youth, this article presents the ideas of The Communist Manifesto in terms of precise and systematically organized knowledge claims that cover three main areas of Marxism (historical materialism, political economy, and communist/socialist practice).