Table Of ContentTHE INVENTION OF MARXISM
THE INVENTION
OF MARXISM
HOW AN IDEA CHANGED
EVERYTHING
CHRISTINA MORINA
Translated from the German by Elizabeth Janik
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Originally published by Random House Germany under the title Der Erfindung der Marxismus
This translation of the work was funded by Geisteswissenschaften International – Translation
Funding for Work in the Humanities and Social Sciences from Germany, a joint initiative of the
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Contents
Acknowledgments vii
Abbreviations xi
Prologue: The Founding Generation of Marxism xiii
I. SOCIALIZATION
1. Born in the Nineteenth Century: Origins and Influences 3
2. Adolescence and Its Discontents: Emerging Worldviews 37
3. Beating the Drum: Literary Influences 84
II. POLITICIZATION
Paths to Marxism I: London, Paris, Zurich,
Vienna (1878–8 8)
4. Translating Marx: Guesde and Jaurès 119
5. Star Students: Bernstein and Kautsky 157
6. Theory and Practice: Adler’s Belated Marxism 182
Paths to Marxism II: Geneva, Warsaw,
St. Petersburg (1885–1 903)
7. The Social Question as a Political Question: Plekhanov’s
Turn toward Marx 205
8. The Social Question as a Question of Power: Struve
and Lenin 227
9. Engagement as Science: Luxemburg 265
vi Contents
III. ENGAGEMENT
On Misery, or the First Commandment:
The Radical Study of Reality
10. Miserable Lives: The Everyday World of Proletarians and
Peasants 291
11. Miserable Labor: The Proletarian World of Work 310
On Revolution, or the Second
Commandment: Philosophy as Practice
12. Revolutionary Expectations 341
13. Revolution at Last? Dress Rehearsal in St. Petersburg,
1905– 6 356
Conclusion: From Marx to Marxism: Fieldworkers, Bookworms,
and Adventurers 399
Notes 413
Bibliography 483
Index 523
Acknowledgments
Thirteen years ago, when I knocked on Norbert Frei’s office door in
Jena to discuss an idea for my second book, there was no immediately
obvious connection between my proposal and his work on the history
and aftermath of National Socialism. He nevertheless encouraged my
questions about Marxism, the other extremely consequential polit-
ical worldview of the modern age. He shared my curiosity about
how Marxism came to be, how the first Marxists actually “ticked,”
and about the relationship between their lifeworlds and their politics.
Thanks to a fellowship from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft,
I was able to begin my research in the archives of the International
Institute of Social History (IISH) in Amsterdam. However, this pro-
ject would never have gotten underway without Norbert Frei’s initial
encouragement and critical engagement. I therefore extend my sin-
cere thanks to him first of all.
I am also grateful to the late Helga Grebing for her constructive
criticism and unflagging support. She brought the perfect mixture
of wisdom and dissent to our many conversations, and she con-
stantly reminded me that political history is indeed history, and that
conditions in the world today demand not just scholarly engagement.
In an even more profound way, the expertise, advice, and friend-
ship of Jeffrey Herf has deeply influenced this book, even though our
conversations became less frequent after I finished my doctoral thesis
with him. The fundamental issue I tackle here, and have tackled in
many other projects—n amely, how ideas matter in politics—i s one
of the core questions in his work as a historian, teacher, and public
viii Acknowledgments
intellectual. I deeply cherish the lessons I have learned from and with
him, including how to disagree in mutual respect.
Over the course of this project I received countless suggestions from
other scholars—i ncluding my colleagues in Jena (Franka Maubach,
Thomas Kroll, Lutz Niethammer, and Joachim von Puttkamer), at
the Duitsland Institut Amsterdam (Ton Nijhuis, Krijn Thijs, Hanco
Jürgens, Moritz Föllmer, and the late Angelika Wendland), and at
the IISH (Götz Langkau, Ulla Langkau-A lex, and Marcel van der
Linden). I have learned much from Gerd Koenen—n ot only from his
books but in lively dialogue about the historicization of communism,
a field in which we have each sought to make our own contribution.
And I have benefited from fantastic discussions at the colloquia of
Ingrid Gilcher- Holtey, the late Thomas Welskopp, Matthias Steinbach,
Ulrich Herbert, and Paul Nolte.
I extend my gratitude to Louisa Reichstetter, Alexandra Stelzig,
Daniël Hendrikse, Christian Laret, and David Rieter for their assis-
tance with transcription and editing, and to the staff of the IISH for
their unfailing helpfulness. Last but not least, I am immensely grateful
to my editor at Oxford University Press, Timothy Bent, and my con-
genial translator, Elizabeth Janik, for their enthusiasm and professional
expertise at every step along the way toward this English edition of
Die Erfindung des Marxismus.
I dedicate this book to my parents. They raised my sister and me
in socialist East Germany, a land of very limited opportunities, and
they ensured that questions about what was right, just, and acceptable
were a regular topic of family conversation— perhaps not every day,
but often at breakfast. Since part of our family lived in the “other,”
western part of Germany, beyond the Iron Curtain, these questions
were always present. My parents gave me a happy childhood but still
conveyed their deep discomfort with the absurdities and inhumanity
of East German socialism, to which I had to swear an oath of alle-
giance and accommodate my expression. The history in this book—
and thus, in a sense, also my own—c ould not have been told without
the principles they instilled in me.
Acknowledgments ix
Thanks to my husband and sons, my home today is full of life. They
ground my work and help in difficult moments with gestures large
and small. I’m grateful for their presence every day.
My grandmother Marianne Neuber, who has since passed away,
helped me incorporate into this project hundreds of letters written
in the Sütterlin script. She always listened patiently, even if she was
sometimes unsure of what I was up to with these letters. She would
have been so proud and pleased about this book, especially now that
it has also been published in English.
