Marx and the State

An interpretative exercise on Karl Marx’s reflections on the State, this book seeks to articulate different moments and tensions within Marx’s thought – rejecting both the thesis of a “gap” and the idea of a single, fully formed position. Marx and the State examines the development and revisions of Marx’s conception of the State as it appears in his work, from the statist program of The Communist Manifesto to his later writings that point toward a non-statist conception of the transition to communism. Emphasizing the historical and evolving character of Marx’s thought and drawing attention to the changes in his positions over time – informed by the developing conditions within industrial capitalism together with the experience of the 1848 revolution, the phenomenon of Bonapartism, and the Paris Commune – Rafael de Almeida Padial reveals the role of the State in capitalist domination and addresses central topics such as productive labour to the problem of the disappearance of the State, based on the “Critique of the Gotha Programme”. Providing a clear and accessible introduction to Marx’s theory of the state that connects his theoretical analysis to the problem of transition beyond capitalism, including the role of the Commune and workers’ self-organization, this concise and student-friendly book offers an ideal analysis for undergraduate teaching as well as independent study.