The years between 1864 and 1867 were among the most fulfilling
of Marx’s life. Not only were these the years in which he wrote up
Capital, it was also the period in which he became an active and
influential participant in the International Workingmen’s
Association, founded in London in 1864. Almost by chance, it fell
to Marx to compose the inaugural address of the Association and
formulate its rules. In this lecture, Gareth Stedman Jones argues
that in writing the address, Marx made his greatest and most
permanent contribution to the International: he had formulated the
new social democratic language of the 1860s, both in the definition
of the political and social end of the association, and in a global
diagnosis of the worker’s condition.
About the Podcast
Recordings from the popular public lecture series featuring new work on all aspects of intellectual history. Hosted by the Institute of Intellectual History at the University of St Andrews.