Klappentext

This book discusses Marx s relations with Russia, which have always been ambivalent. In his youth, and indeed a good way into the 1860s, Marx might even be called a Russophobe. Around 1870, however, his views on Russia undergo a change; he becomes acquainted with a new kind of Russian radical and revolutionary movement and begins to study Russian. It becomes clear that Marx begins to feel that Russia is some kind of a touchstone for his theories. Offering a new and original interpretation of Marx s theoretical development, Marx s Russian Moment analyzes the following themes: Marx s concept of ideology (as developed in the German Ideology) and its fortunes in Russia; Marx s encounter with Bakunin and Russian nihilism; Marx s and Engels s studies of primitive societies; Engels s views of the developmental perspectives of small Slavic nations; and Marx s views on Finland, the Russian Grand Duchy. Considering these topics as case studies, Oittinen argues that Marx s encounter with Russia substantially influenced Marx s (and Engels s) views not just on current political and economic matters but also on a philosophical and methodological level.