Elements of Topicality of the Communist Manifesto Cover Image

Elementi aktualnosti Manifesta
Elements of Topicality of the Communist Manifesto

Author(s): Luka Bogdanić
Subject(s): Philosophy
Published by: Hrvatsko Filozofsko Društvo
Keywords: The Communist Manifesto; the modernity; instruments of production; relation of production; bourgeoisie; individual; freedom; de-alienation

Summary/Abstract: The intention of this article is to show present-day relevance of analyses of capitalist society mechanisms contained within the Communist Manifesto. Drawing on different examples from recent history, the paper illustrates significance of the argument that bourgeoisie has often played a revolutionary role in history. I argue that an inherent characteristic of capitalism is to continuously transform conditions of human life together with transforming ethical principles and customs of modern society. This is discernible in the ability of modern society to remove any critical or subversive content from thought and practice and to turn it into something socially acceptable. Global capital not only renders this content socially acceptable but also turns it into profit. The paper ends by providing evidence that the conditions of bourgeois society in a globalised world, as Marx and Engels predicted, are too narrow to comprise the wealth that is created by them.

  • Issue Year: 31/2011
  • Issue No: 01/121
  • Page Range: 147-164
  • Page Count: 18
  • Language: Croatian