This week’s reading was written between 1875 and 1878 in response to the spurious theses of Dr. E. Duhring of Berlin University. The text was edited into its present form in the later 1880s. As an intervention in a particular conjuncture it is both a witness to and a product of that period. This text provides us with a good point of departure for our study of the “World Communist Movement” in that it traces the historical roots of the struggle for socialism. It also elucidates those aspects of the capitalist mode of production that remain of constant concern to Marxist of all periods.
1. What did the great utopians have in common? What was the nature of the Hegelian dialectic? Why was Marx able to transcend these (Hegel and the Utopians)?
2. How does the contradiction between social production and capitalist appropriation manifest itself? Specifically:
a. anarchy of production
b. class forces
c. transition to another mode of production
d. discuss other aspects of importance.
3. What is missing in Engels’ discussion of state power? How could this affect the socialist movement?
Frederick Engels, Socialism: Utopian and Scientific, The Introduction to the English Edition is especially recommended.