Marxist inspired movements now include literary criticism, postcolonial studies, and the ever-present ubiquitous critical theory. My purpose today is, in part, to ask why Karl Marx’s reputation is so resilient from the disastrous political track record. But it’s also to ask another question. Why is Karl Marx even relevant at all? Why does he have an intellectual reputation at all? And to understand that question, we must go all the way back to Karl Marx’s lifetime.
