If we leave aside the connections and the directions each one leads to, it is clear what the ‘Communist Manifesto’ is. It is one of the most important political publications of all time. Its brevity (it is not a book as such, after all, but a ‘manifesto’, closer to a pamphlet than a full-fledged essay like ‘Capital’ by Marx himself) does not detract one iota from its density, and its origin and co-authorship as a commission give it precisely that urgency which makes it valuable today.
We insist: no need to get nostalgic. Whatever your political affiliation, the clear presentation of the ideas of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels is worth studying. This has not prevented the Manifesto from being widely misinterpreted over the decades, both by malicious enemies and by like-minded people who had not read it before expressing their own views. This book, which has recently arrived in bookstores, aims to help rectify that situation.
‘A spectre is haunting the world – in the Communist Manifesto’ The title of this volume, which contains the ‘Communist Manifesto’ in its entirety, written by Akal…only a little over forty pages in total. In fact, the ‘Manifesto’ is only an appendix to the book, since the bulk of it is an essay by China Miéville on the significance and impact of Marx and Engels’ text.
Who is China Miéville?
One of today’s most unique and award-winning science fiction writers, his style is often associated with variants. new weird science fiction, but he wins awards for work that has nothing to do with it strangeWinner of the Hugo Award three times, the Arthur C. Clarke Award two times, and the Locus Award four times, among many other awards. He is also an activist of the British left, which permeates much of his work.
Although his work draws from many genres, he often creates fantasy worlds. (yes, not in the style of Tolkien, whom he considered a reactionary writer) sometimes elements that speak of a detective novel, sometimes of turn-of-the-century cheapies, sometimes of concepts that are absolutely unclassifiable. This is the case of his Bas-Lag trilogy, set in a world where magic and steampunk technology coexist. But without losing its political intent, as The Guardian put it when talking about one of his best books: “It shows the problems of a society where people are blind to others, and highlights how much things could improve if we just opened our eyes a little more.”
Perhaps his most popular novel is the magnificent and multi-award-winning ‘The City and the City’, in which a criminal investigation is simultaneously taking place in two cities in Eastern Europe, co-existing in the same location. Highly metaphorical yet also extremely fast-paced, the novel does a magnificent job of atmosphere, showing a complex vision of two realities co-existing at the same point in time and space, and manifesting themselves according to the will of their inhabitants. His latest book is a hyper-violent fantasy, ‘The Book of Another Place’, written with Keanu Reeves.
So why should I care about your thoughts on the Manifesto?
But… why is Miéville a good guide when delving into a text that has nothing to do with science fiction? Miéville is, as we have said, a left-wing writer, and he knows his material and its history very well. He is not only a committed activist, but also Takes the task of making a text understandable and explanatory very seriously It may be outdated in some ways due to the intervening decades (although unfortunately not in many of its demands, which were necessary in the context in which it was written).
What is the movie ‘A ghost is haunting the world’ about? The current myths about communism, which we have with the ‘Manifesto’, are largely not only false but also contradict the theses of Marx and Engels. For example, communism is against private property (only against private ownership of the means of production, not personal ownership by workers) or against democracy and in favor of dictatorships (Marx states the opposite, that the elimination of capitalism is necessary to lead to an effective and real democracy).
Because Miéville constantly brings the ‘Communist Manifesto’ into the presentMiéville’s greatest asset is explaining why this book is relevant now, given the deep social and class tensions we experience today, and why what he proposes undoubtedly affects contemporary society.
Of course, anyone looking for an “apolitical” approach to the ‘Manifesto’, which would be a highly absurd aim, will not find it: Miéville never hides his political affiliations, and his point of view is not that of Miéville. It is that of a political scientist giving an aseptic lecture at a congress, but that of a convinced leftist, extraordinarily articulate, with a deep knowledge of history and without a critical spirit.
Thanks to Miéville’s personality, ‘A Specter Wandering the Earth’ not only succeeds in being an in-depth analysis of the ‘Communist Manifesto’, but also greatly expands its field of vision. For example, Analyzes what a manifest is and how the format works and how this was affected by the fact that previous manifestos were almost always confined to the art world. It also tells us what phase communism was going through when the ‘Communist Manifesto’ was published in 1848, and how it was not as well received as one might think by those theoretically interested in the text.
In short, a deep immersion in a text that has an undeniable interest in itself, driven by a voice that is relevant and has something to say. Because whatever one’s ideology, such books show that context and information are always desirable and praiseworthy, and accompany every text. And then everyone can be as revolutionary as they want.
A ghost is haunting the world. About the Communist Manifesto: 40 (Front Side)
On Amazon today — 21.37 €
Title | ‘To the lighthouse of the Communist International’, V. Spassky
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Source: Xatak Android
Ashley Johnson is a science writer for “Div Bracket”. With a background in the natural sciences and a passion for exploring the mysteries of the universe, she provides in-depth coverage of the latest scientific developments.