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IndianaUniversity
to a "myth
Manypoliticaltheorists
arguethatKarlMarxsubscribed
and thusfailedto appreciate
theimportance
of individualism"
of
in themodernworld.Thisarticle
republicanism
faultsthat
and claimsinsteadthatMarx'stheory
andpracticeare
interpretation
is seenas a centralconcern.The
unlessrepublicanism
unintelligible
authorinsists
thatan examination
further
ofMarx'scritiqueof
butalso
is notmerely
republicanism
of historiographical
significance
lessonsforcontemporary
and
republican
yieldsimportant
theorists.
communitarian
C. Isaac is AssociateProfessor
ofPoliticalScienceat Indiana
Jeffrey
He is theauthorof Powerand MarxistTheory:A Realist
University.
View,as wellas of articlesin numerous
journalsofpoliticalscience
andpoliticaltheory.
in vogueamongpoliticaltheorists.
is currently
PrescripRepublicanism
andcommunity
tiverepublicans
invokethethemes
ofvirtue,
patriotism,
inpurported
ofcontemporary
criticism
socialandpoliticalarrangements
and communist
states.1
in bothcapitalist
democracies
Historiographical
seekto locatethesethemesin modernpoliticaldiscourse,
republicans
liberalsand
the so-calledWhiggishviewsof celebratory
subverting
1. On prescriptive
seeAlasdairMacIntyre,
republicanism,
(Indiana:UniAfterVirtue
of NotreDamePress,1981);MichaelSandel,Liberalism
and theLimitsofJustice
versity
(Cambridge:
Cambridge
University
Press,1982),and "The Procedural
Republicandthe
Unencumbered
Self." PoliticalTheory,12 (February
1984);CharlesTaylor,Hegeland
ModernSociety(Cambridge:
Press,1980);SheldonWolin,"The
Cambridge
University
1 (January
People'sTwo Bodies." democracy,
1981);BenjaminBarber,StrongDemocPoliticsina NewAge(Berkeley:
ofCalifornia
racy:Participatory
Press,1984);
University
RobertN. Bellah,etal., HabitsoftheHeart:Individualism
andCommitment
inAmerican
of California
Press,1985);and Sara M. Evansand HarryC.
Life(Berkeley:
University
Boyte,FreeSpaces: TheSourcesofDemocratic
ChangeinAmerica(NewYork:Harper
andRow,1986).
Polity
VolumeXXII, Number3
Spring1990
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C. Isaac 463
Jeffrey
inanysimplistic
sense,butitdidbreakradically
republicanism
repudiate
had assumedin theninefromthedominantformthatrepublicanism
The reasonsforthissuggestthecomplexity
teenthcentury.
of Marx's
ownpolitics,
whicharemoreoftenthannotgrossly
even
oversimplified,
theimportance
ofconbythose,likePocock,whootherwise
emphasize
textin interpretation.
Theyalso suggestthe dangersof an uncritical
recourse
to republicanism
inthecontemporary
world.It is worthunderthatthisarticleis notan attempt
to identify
thedemocratic
and
scoring
humanist
a taskablydischarged
originsof Marx'sthought,
longago by
bothWestern
andEasternMarxists.
Itis,rather,
an effort
toinsistonthe
criticalwayin whichMarxappropriated
theseidioms.The MarxI will
discussis nota republican
orcommunitarian
so muchas a vigorous
critic
of theformssuchorientations
havetakenin themodernworld.
is a termthatgoesundefined
Curiously,
"republicanism"
bymanyof
thosewhouseitmostvociferously,
insupport
orcriticism,
whether
andI
wanttobe clearas tomyunderstanding
ofit.Thetermrefers
toa viewof
fromthe classicalidealsof ancient
politicsthatdrawsits inspiration
Greeceand Romeand emphasizes
theprimacy
ofcivicvirtueand public
in social life. Republicanism
exalts,in the words of
participation
Pocock,"a wayof lifegivenoverto civicconcernsand theultimately
of citizenship."'7
As a consequence
of Pocock'spathpoliticalactivity
this
has cometo be associatedwitha
discourse
breaking
historiography,
virtualcanon thatincludesAristotle,Cicero,Polybius,Machiavelli,
Harrington,
Burgh,Rousseauand Jefferson.
Republicanideas have
an
and
roleinthehistory
clearlyplayed important, frequently
neglected,
of modernpoliticalthought
I
as
have
their
though,
arguedelsewhere,
with
liberalism
to
is
serious
disjuncture
open
questioning.8
I shouldnotealso at theoutsetthatthereis somejustification
forthe
that
Marx
saw
individualism
he
looked.
viewpoint
bourgeois
everywhere
This observation,
madecurrent
in ThePolitical
by C. B. Macpherson
Possessive
its
finds
most
notable
textualsupIndividualism,9
Theoryof
in
Marx's
in
assertion
The
Communist
port
oft-quoted
Manifesto:
... hasleftremaining
Thebourgeoisie
no othernexusbetween
man
andmanthannakedself-interest,
thancallous"cash payment."It
has drownedthe mostheavenlyecstaciesof religiousfervor,of
7. Pocock,TheMachiavellian
Moment,p. 56.
8. See my"Republicanism
vs. Liberalism?
A Reconsideration."
Historyof Political
IX (Summer,1988),and Ian Shapiro,"RepublicanProperty:
Thought,
Antibourgeois
Alternative?"
Critical
Review(forthcoming,
1990).
9. C. B. Macpherson,
ThePoliticalTheory
Individualism
(Oxford:Oxford
ofPossessive
University
Press,1959).
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464 MarxonRepublicanism
chivalrousenthusiasm,
of philistine
in the icy
sentimentalism,
waterof egotistical
calculation.
. . . In oneword,forexploitation,
and politicalillusions,ithas substituted
veiledbyreligious
naked,
. ... All fixed,fast-frozen
shameless,
direct,brutalexploitation.
withtheirtrainof ancientand venerable
and
relations,
prejudices
onesbecomeantiquated
opinions,aresweptaway,all new-formed
beforetheycanossify.
Allthatis solidmeltsintoair,all thatis holy
is profaned,
andmanis at lastcompelled
to facewithsobersenses,
hisrealconditions
of life,and hisrelations
withhiskind.10
In thistext,politicalideologiesseemnotevenepiphenomenal
illusions;
Marx'slanguageimpliesthatall illusionsaresweptawaybytheceaseless
and market
expansionof capital,leavingonlypossessiveindividualism
andrendering
suchrelationships
But
conflictive.
exchange
transparently
thisseemshardlylikely.First,sucha viewis dramatically
at oddswith
Marx'sownconception
its
ofhisproject:"enablingtheworldto clarify
toit
... waking
itfrom
consciousness
itsdreamaboutitself... explaining
themeaning
ofitsownactions.""'Second,itwouldbe a seriousmistake
totakeMarx'sboldstatement
aboutthebourgeois
ofall illudestruction
sionsat facevaluefor,ifPocockhastaughtus anything,
itis thatwecan
a textifwe can locateitscontext.
And Marx'scontext
onlyunderstand
a polemicalpamphlet
fortheComhereis clear.Politically,
heis writing
munist
formassdistribution,
on theeveofwidespread
League,designed
Marx'sdismissiveness
aboutillusionsand fixed
Europeanrevolutions.
andhisoptimism
aboutimminent
werewidely
revolution,
relationships,
sharedatthattime.Rhetorically,
Marxis sketching
outa grandhistorical
narrative
intended
to invokeHistory
and to evokesupportamongEurofora communist
about
peanworkers
politics.The placeof hisremarks
thesorts
the"cashnexus"inthetextis thusnotaccidential.
Preempting
moraldepravity,
of criticisms
aboutcommunist
anarchism,
etc.,which
an
wouldinvariably
be expressed
bythebourgeoisie
during anticipated
whichis revolutionary,
redscare,Marxassertsthatitis thebourgeoisie
whichholdsno respectfortradition,
religion,
politics,and thefamily,
ofMarx'sboldclaims,
is
force
This
the
andis themorally
dissolute
group.
After
whichare otherwise
incomprehensible. all, theManifestois not
itis a moralcriticism
ofcapitalism,
as well
a
narrative;
simply descriptive
as a critiqueof theillusionsplaguingthevariousEuropeandemocratic
wouldhardlyhavebeen
Suchan undertaking
and socialistgroupings.
10. KarlMarxand Frederick
Party,in The
of theCommunist
Engels,TheManifesto
C. Tucker(NewYork:Norton,1972),pp. 337-38.
Reader,1sted.,ed. Robert
Marx-Engels
11. KarlMarx,"For a Ruthless
Criticism
of Everything
Existing,"in Tucker,MarxEngelsReader,p. 10.
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C. Isaac 465
Jeffrey
of politicalideologies.1
had Marxbelievedin thesuperfluity
necessary
TextualsupportforPocock'sthesisalso comesfromanothersource,
Brumaireof Louis Bonaparte.Here,afterobMarx's TheEighteenth
that"theheroesas wellas thepartiesandthemassesoftheold
serving
thetaskof theirtimein Romancostume
FrenchRevolution,
performed
and withRomanphrases,thetaskof unchaining
and setting
up modern
bourgeoissociety,"Marxnotesthat.
Colossi
thenewsocialformation
onceestablished,
theantidiluvian
Romanity-theBrutuses,
disappearedand withthemresurrected
thesenators,
andCaeserhimself.
Gracchi,Publicolas,thetribunes,
its trueinterBourgeoissocietyin its soberrealityhas begotten
in the Says, Cousins,Royer-Collards,
pretersand mouthpieces
andGuizots.... WhollyabsorbedintheproBenjaminConstants
itno longer
ductionofwealthandin peacefulcompetitive
struggle
thatghostsfromthedaysof Romehad watched
comprehended
overitscradle.13
Hereideologyplaysa crucialrolebut,as Marxseemsto have it, the
anachronistic
politicalideology
necessarily
giveway
ghostsofrepublican
beforeclassicalpoliticaleconomyand theideologyof themarket.But
thiscan hardlyprovePocock's point,fortheRoman"costumesand
phrases"arethefocusofMarx'sanalysis,and ifso it can hardlyprove
theimportance
thatMarxfailedto recognize
of republican
ideology.
the
most
obvious
dismissed
Having
groundsforPocock'sclaim,I will
his
nowanalyzethreecontexts
in whichMarxaddressed
republicanism:
in
on
which
he
articulated
earlywritings democracy,
clearlyrepublican
and the capitalist
themes;his earlycritiqueof politicalemancipation
and
his
of
of
the
failure
the
of
revolutions
1848.Mypoint,
state;
analysis
was a livingand
once again,is to insistthatforMarxrepublicanism
of modernpolitics.
feature
problematic
I. Marx'sEarlyRepublicanism
Thereare twosensesin whichMarx'searliestpoliticalwritings
can be
construed
as republican.
themes:
First,theyarticulate
clearlyrepublican
12. See DavidMcLellan,KarlMarx:His Lifeand Thought
(NewYork:Harper,1973);
and Citizens(NewBrunswick,
NJ: Rutgers
Alan Gilbert,
Marx'sPolitics:Communists
aboutMarxandJustice."
Press,1981);andNormanGeras,"The Controversy
University
NewLeftReview,150(March-April
1985).
Brumaireof Louis Bonaparte,in Karl Marx and
13. Karl Marx, The Eighteenth
Frederick
MECW), vol. 11(NewYork:International
Engels,CollectedWorks(hereafter
Publishers,
1979),p. 104.
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466 MarxonRepublicanism
tomonarchy
andto established
whether
or
opposition
privilege,
religious
and advocacyof a universal
statebasedon thevirtues
ofracorporate,
As Marxputit,"everymodern
tionalparticipation.
personunderstands,
andcanunderstand,
toallhisfellow
bythestateonlythespherecommon
into
fall
the
of
tobe repubwhat
is
taken
Second,
they
range
citizens.'"14
licanbyhiscontemporaries.
As is wellknown,theyoungMarxwas an associateof "the Young
and
humanism,
Hegelians,"whosoughtto radicalizeHegel'srationalist
to executea radicalcritique
ofthereligious
andpolitical
establishment.'5
DavidMacLellancitesthedismissive
Leo, a conservopinionofHeinrich
ativeopponent,
thattheYoungHegelianswere"a neweditionoftheEnandtheheroesoftheFrenchRevolution."''16
Thegroupwas
cyclopaedists
to accepteither
aversion
to
Germanliberalism's
radical,unwilling
clearly
to settlefora constitutional
rebellionor its inclination
As
monarchy.
ArnoldRugeputit: "the Germanworldhas to adoptthenewwayof
which... makesfreementheprinciple
andthepeopletheobthinking
in
liberalism
into
of
its
it
has
to
transform
other
words
action,
ject
this
A
to
number
of
were
affixed
tendlabels
political
democracy.""'7
ency-"humanism,""democracy,""republicanism"and, by the
of these
as well.'8Theconflation
sometimes
"communism"
mid-1840s,
is
to
us
More
which
have
such
distinct
terms,
meanings, significant. imis
whichwas denoted,
the
though,
portant,
generalpoliticalviewpoint
which
forms
of particularism
in
Rousseau
criticized
all
one inspired
by
state.
thenameof humanism
and a universalist,
democratic
His first
Marxbeganhiscareeras a political
article,"Comjournalist.
was written
in
mentson theLatestPrussianCensorship
Instruction,"
Jahrbucher.
MacLellanquotes
1842forRuge'sDeutsche-Franzoesische
"It is a greatpity
theopinionofconservative
HegelianKarlRosenkranz:
butRugehas lethimself
aboutthisjournal,whichbeganso excellently;
to radicaltendencies.
. . . The Jahrbucher
succumbcompletely
have
is acceptedunlessitis written
in
cometo thepointwhereno contribution
a brusque,dictatorial,
andrepublican
tone."19Marx'sessay,a
atheistic,
strident
decreeof 1841,satisfies
polemicagainstthePrussiancensorship
all of theseadjectives.
andtheAugsburg
14. KarlMarx,"Communism
Allgemeine
Zeitung,"inMECW,vol.
1, p. 220.
15.SeeSidenyHook,FromHegeltoMarx(NewYork:Humanities
Press,1950);George
Marxism:An Historicaland CriticalStudy(NewYork:Praeger,1971);and
Lichtheim,
DavidMcLellan,The YoungHegeliansandKarlMarx(London:Macmillan,
1969).
16. McLellan,The YoungHegelians,p. 24.
17. Ibid., p. 25.
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C. Isaac 467
Jeffrey
of restricEchoingLocke,Marxobjectsthat,dueto thearbitrariness
is undersuspicion,
of ideas,"myexistence
tionson thefreedom
myinin
insists
a
constiHe
nermost
that,
individuality."
properly
my
being,
enterthe
tutedstate,"only insofaras I manifest
myselfexternally,
Apartfrom
sphereof theactual,do I enterthesphereof thelegislator.
forthelaw,am no objectforit.'"20Premyactions,I haveno existence
of a situationwhere"every
Mill,he pointsout theabsurdity
figuring
withan inexhaustible
play
dropof dewon whichthesunshinesglistens
ofcolours,butthespiritual
sun,however
manythepersonsandwhatever
mustproduceonlythe official
the objectsin whichit is refracted,
Marx
oftheYoungHegelians,
colour."'21
atheism
Drawingonthecritical
of thecensorship
decreeto simultaneously
criticizes
theeffort
prohibit
and "thefanatical
conservatism,
ideas,a nodto religious
anti-religious
ofreligious
offaithintopolitics,"a nodto German
articles
transference
a religious
statewhich
between
liberalism.
Drivinghomethedistinction
artiandfanaticism,
certain
ofnecessity
privileging
producesintolerance
cles of faithto theexclusionof others,and a disestablished
state,he
writes,"Hence eitherforbidreligionto be introducedat all into
politics-butyoudon'twantthat,foryouwantto basethestatenoton
freereason,buton faith,religion
beingforyouthegeneralsanction
for
of religioninto
whatexists-or allow also thefanaticalintroduction
politics.'"22
more
areall characteristically
Thesethemes
liberal,thoughapparently
wont
to
admost
of
the
were
so
than
German
liberals
time
consistently
withcharacteristimit.Butwhatis interesting
is theireasyconjunction
themes.
callyrepublican
EchoingRousseau,Marxclaimsthatcensorship
the
common
good,and "is nota law of thestatepromulgated
damages
foritscitizens,
butthelaw of onepartyagainstanother
party.The law
on theLatestPrussianCensorship
20. KarlMarx,"Comments
MECW,
Instruction,"
extoois an actbywhichI "manifest
vol. 1,p. 120.It is truethatforMarxwriting
myself
a consummately
andinthissensewriting,
act,"entersthesphereofthe
political
ternally,"
toarguethat,however
AndyetitisalsoclearthatMarxwishes
publican activilegislator."
shouldnotbesubjecttothesphereofthelegislator,
i.e.,thestate.Thiscouldbe
ty,writing
toleration
to thewayin whichLockejustifies
similar
religious
arguedin Lockeanterms,
in his"LetterConcerning
and private
Toleration,"
i.e., thatthepropertaskof
property
ofcertain
thefreeexercise
orcoercively
butnotdetermine
thestateis to guarantee,
affect,
in consequential
It couldalso be justified
socialalbeitproperly
terms,
privateactivities.
ofothers,
on therights
my
theyareproperly
i.e., untilmyownactivities
palpablyinfringe
becausethepolitical
inRousseauean
itcouldbejustified
own.Finally,
i.e., precisely
terms,
is constituted
myviews
myequalrightto express
bytheequalityof citizens,
community
of whichI am a part.Marx,of course,doesnotso
mustbe sustained
bythecommunity
Buttheintenarticulated
as invokepreviously
muchprovide
arguments.
precisearguments
violatesa certainsphereofprivacy.
tionof thistextis clear-censorship
21. Ibid.,p. 126.
22. Ibid.,p. 118.
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. .
to the
of its specificpopularspirit,[is] repugnant
specificexpression
of
the
estate,"insisting
that,unlike member
speakerfromtheprincely
not
to
do
"the
does
want
to
have
themedievalestate,
citizen
anything
withrightas privilege."''26
thattheconEvenrepresentative
he pointsout,requires
government,
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Jeffrey
C. Isaac 469
cernsof thepublicand thedebatesof itslegislators
"be converted
into
thepubliclyaudiblevoiceof thecountry."Otherwise
is
representation
as "a representation
whichis divorcedfromtheconsimplya fiction,
sciousnessof those whom it representsis no representation
. . . it is a
that my self-activity
senselesscontradiction
should consistof acts
unknown
to meand donebyanother."27
And so, Marxconcludes,
centhebodypolitic:
sorshipsuffocates
politicallifeand corrupts
fromitis themostpowerful
andfrom
vice,hypocrisy,
Inseparable
whichlackeventhe
this,itsbasicvice,comeall itsotherdefects,
ofvirtue,
anditsviceofpassivity,
rudiments
loathsome
evenfrom
the aestheticpointof view.The government
hearsonlyits own
voice,itknowsthatithearsonlyitsownvoice,yetitharborstheillusionthatithearsthevoiceofthepeople,anditdemandsthatthe
people,too, shoulditselfharbourthisillusion.For itspart,therefore,thepeoplesinkspartlyintopoliticalsuperstition,
partlyinto
or,completely
politicaldisbelief,
awayfrompoliticallife,
turning
becomesa rabbleofprivateindividuals.28
Marx's1843Contribution
toa CritiqueofHegel'sPhilosophy
ofLaw
On onelevelit
to republicanism.
evincesa moreambiguous
relationship
of Marx'sdemocratic
a continuation
republican
posiclearlyrepresents
thatHegelinverts
Marx'sargument
need
to
rehearse
is
no
There
tion.
the subjectand the predicate,treatingman as the predicateof a
stateratherthanthe stateas a predicateof man. What
hypostatized
followsfromthisforMarxis thatHegelmystifies
andthus
actualhistory
failsto appreciatethespecificity
of themodernstate.He therefore
is
of
"the
worst
kind
of
and
for
rationales
a
guilty
syncretism,"29 provides
numberof practices
whichMarxbelievesirrational
and obsolete.30
that"thusat the
EchoingThomasPaine,Marxwritesof monarchy
summit
of
the
instead
the
wouldbe
of
very
state,
reason, merely
physical
decisive.Birthwoulddetermine
thequalityof themonarch,
as it deterAndheobserves
minesthequalityofcattle.'"31
oftheestatessystem
that
27. Ibid.,pp. 148-49.
28. Ibid.,pp. 167-68.
to theCritique
29. KarlMarx,Contribution
ofLaw, inMECW,
ofHegel'sPhilosophy
vol. 3, p. 95.
in theMarxiancritique
of Hegel'spolitical
30. On thissee R. N. Berki,"Perspectives
ed. Z. A.
philosophy,"in Hegel's PoliticalPhilosophy:Problemsand Perspectives,
Press,1971),and K. -H. Ilting,"Hegel's
University
Pelczynski
Cambridge
(Cambridge:
conceptofthestateandMarx'searlycritique,"in TheStateandCivilSociety:Studiesin
ed. Z. A. Pelczynski
University
Cambridge
(Cambridge:
Hegel'sPoliticalPhilosophy,
Press,1984).
"Government
on hereditary
31.MECW,vol.3, p. 33. As Painewrites
ought
monarchy:
toallthe
as tobe superior
Itoughttobeso constructed
tobe a thing
alwaysinfullmaturity.
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C. Isaac 471
Jeffrey
In a rationalstate,to sitan examination
shouldbe demanded
ofa
shoemaker
ratherthanan executive
civilservant.For shoemaking
is a skillwithout
whichone can be a good citizenof thestateand
socialhumanbeing;whereasthenecessary
"politicalknowledge"
whicha personin thestatelivesoutside
is a requirement
without
fromtheair.The "examination"
is
thestate,cutofffromhimself,
buta Masonicright,
thelegalrecognition
ofcitizenship
as
nothing
a privilege.35
ButMarxdoesnotsimply
fromthepercriticize
Hegel'sanachronisms
forHegel's
moderndemocratic
of a consistently
republicanism,
spective
does notsimplyupholdtheresiduesof thepast.He also
"syncretism"
criticizes
ofthemodernstateparexcellence,
Hegelforbeingthetheorist
notfor"depicting
thenatureofthemodern
stateas itis,
tobe challenged
thatwhichis as thenatureof thestate."36 In this
but forpresenting
by Marxto have isolatedthecentral
respect,Hegel is acknowledged
ofstateandcivilsociety,
ofmodernpolitics,
feature
i.e., theseparation
and the dualismof bourgeoisand citizen."In modernstates,as in
ofmatters
oflaw,theconscious,
thetrueactuality
of
Hegel'sphilosophy
formal,or, onlywhatisformalis an actual
generalconcernis merely
"37 All ofHegel'sdifficulties
matter
andhistortuous
ofgeneralconcern.
to rato invokeextinct
stemfromhiseffort
politicalpractices
attempts
Marx
"has
the
tionalizethisstateof affairs.Hegel,
argues
presupposed
and
the
state
modern
of
civil
political
society
separation
condition],
[a
itas a necessary
element
andexpounded
oftheidea,as absoluterational
truth."38
thatthemodernstateis a greatadvance.For thefirst
Marxcontends
theequalityof thespeciesand thecommunal
timein humanhistory,
The modernrepresentative
state
natureof manis generally
recognized.
with
of
monarch
the
of
the
the
the
sovereignty peoreplaces sovereignty
andis thusdefective,
"a merely
particuple.Butitdoesso onlyformally
ofuniversality.
Underthe
thanthetruecontent
larformofstate"rather
is whatrules,
politicalrepublic,"the state,the law, the constitution
of
without
thecontent
without
reallyruling-i.e.,
materially
permeating
39
of
a
form
This
as
Paul
Thomas
has
theremaining
it,
is,
put
spheres.""
"the
In truedemocracy,
Marx
"alien politics."40
contrast,
insists,
by
35. Ibid.,p. 51.
36. Ibid.,p. 63.
37. Ibid.
38. Ibid.,p. 73.
39. Ibid.,p. 75, 28, 30-32.
40. See Paul Thomas,KarlMarxandtheAnarchists
& KeganPaul,
(London:Routledge
1980),pp. 56-122,and "AlienPolitics,"inAfterMarx,ed. TerenceBall andJamesFarr
Press,1984).
(Cambridge:
Cambridge
University
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C. Isaac 473
Jeffrey
seemsliableto thesameobjection.
"s Marx'sCritique
puredemocracy.
Whileitclearly
criticizes
themodern
ofstateandcivilsociety,
separation
it does so in thenameof thefullrealizationof politicalreasonand
ratherthanin thenameof proletarian
socialism.It is thus
citizenship
hardtoagreewithAvineri's
assertion
that"Marx'sdemandforuniversal
does notdrawitsarguments
froma democratic
or republican
suffrage
towardtheabandonment
ofmodern
radicalism.''46WhileMarxgestures
theRousseaueanarguments
he exploitsin hiscritique
of
republicanism,
overintohiscritique
seemcarried
ofHegel'smodHegel'sanachronisms
ernisms
as well.In anycase,however
oneinterprets
theCritique,
itclearMarx'searlyrepublicanism
and prefigures
hislater
ly bothpunctuates
critiqueof it.
II. Marx'sCritiqueof PoliticalReason
Marx's1843essay,"On The Jewish
Question,"marksa decisivebreak
withrepublicanism.
Theimmediate
purposeofthisessaywastocriticize
BrunoBauer'sanalysisof Jewishemancipation,
butthemoregeneral
to
was
a
of
purpose
provide critique politicalemancipation-the
of all socialdifferences
fromthesphereof thestatedisestablishment
thatpoliticalstandpoint
andtocriticize
whichconflates
thiswithgenuine
In thisessay,Marxrecapitulates
humanemancipation.
manyofthearguinthecritique
ofHegel,buthealso deepenshiscritique
mentsdeveloped
of republicanism.
of
Bauer,Marx claims,believesthatthe politicaldisestablishment
to
the
abolition
of
leads
This
he
suffers
continues,
view,
religion
religion.
fromtwo basic flaws.The firstis broadlyphilosophical,
namelythe
beliefthatthe task of philosophyis theologicalcriticism,
i.e., the
criticism
of religion.Thissecularhumanist
wascharacteristic
viewpoint
oftheYoungHegelians,according
to whomthedestruction
ofreligious
wouldbringin its traintheruleof humanreasonand its
superstition
thepoliticalrepublic.47
Againstthisview,
properpoliticalincarnation,
that"we do notturnsecularquestions
intotheological
Marxasserts
intosecular
weturntheological
questions
questions;
ones.'"48In other
tothe
ofreligion
thetaskoftheory
istogobeyond
thecriticism
words,
or
andsociety
criticism
ofpolitics
as such,andtheexistence
of"defects"
Noteson theArticle
45. KarlMarx,"CriticalMarginal
bya Prussian,"inMECW,vol.
3, p. 199.
KarlMarx'sThought,
46. Avineri,
p. 37.
47. See McLellan,The YoungHegelians,
pp. 6-33.
48. KarlMarx,"On theJewish
Reader,p. 29.
Question,"in Tucker,Marx-Engels
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to actaftertheirownfashion,
as private
occupation,
namely,
property,education,occupation,and to manifesttheirparticular
nature.Far fromabolishing
theseeffective
it onlyexdifferences,
istsso faras theyare presupposed.
..49
The "politicalstandpoint"
of democratic
is thuslimited
republicanism
A number
ofimportant
andillusory.
follow
from
Marx'spoint.
insights
The firstis that,contrary
to theviewof theCritique,universal
sufa
of
nineteenth
democratic
frage, majorobjective
century
republicans,
oftruedemocracy
doesnotconstitute
thevictory
andthetriumph
ofthe
commonmanoverwealthand privilege:
"The stateas a stateabolishes
(i.e., mandecreesbypoliticalmeanstheabolitionof
privateproperty
whenitabolishestheproperty
forelectors
private
property)
qualification
and representatives,
as has beendonein manyof theNorthAmerican
States."It is truethatfromthepoliticalstandpoint
"the masseshave
a
over
owners
and
... Butthe
wealth.
gained victory property
financial
of
not
does
not
abolish
politicalsuppression privateproperty only
it
its
existence."50
This
is
a more
privateproperty; actuallypresupposes
of stateand civilsocietythanthatofradicalcritiqueof theseparation
feredin theCritique,becausehereuniversal
is viewedas consuffrage
stitutive
of thisseparation.
49. Ibid., p. 31.
50. Ibid.
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C. Isaac 475
Jeffrey
ThisleadstoMarx'ssecondinsight,
thatrepublicanism
andtheexaltationof moderncitizenship
is notsimply
a cognitive
errorbuta causally
illusion.In short,
Marxengagesina critique
efficacious
ofrepublicanism
of
as ideology,
that
notions
andcommuinsisting republican
citizenship
of
are
constitutive
at
the
same
that
time
misdescribe
nity
reality
they
it."5
ForMarxthishasbothan historical
anda structural
dimension.
Historically,republican
ideologywas an indispensible
weaponin thestruggle
forpoliticalemancipation:
The politicalrevolution
whichoverthrew
thispowerof theruler,
theaffairs
ofthepeople,andthepolitical
whichmadestateaffairs
statea matter
ofgeneralconcern,
shati.e., a realstate,necessarily
teredeverything-estates,
corporations,
guilds,privileges-which
life. . . [It]
expressedtheseparationof thepeople fromcommunity
thepoliticalspiritfromitsconnexionwithcivillifeand
liberated
made of it the community
sphere,the generalconcernof the
people.
"theconsummation
oftheidealismofthestate
But,as Marxcontinues,
ofcivilsocieofthematerialism
wasat thesametimetheconsummation
thispoint,thatpoliticalemancipation
liberates
ty.'52 To demonstrate
boththelanguageof civicvirtueand thelanguageof individual
rights,
Marxexamines
theFrenchDeclaration
oftheRightsofMan and Citizen
of Pennsylvania
and NewHampand theAmericanstateconstitutions
of modernpolitics.Thesetexts,he argues,
shireas centraldocuments
normsof modernpoliticallifeare
thattheconstitutive
clearlyillustrate
in substance.
thelatterin form,theformer
liberaland republican,
as
of citizenship,
The formalism
however,shouldnot be construed
incivilsociety.
is determined
somehowunrealsimply
becauseitscontent
Marxintoitsfulldevelopment,"
"Wherethepoliticalstatehasattained
in
... butinreality, life,a double
sists,"manleads,notonlyinthought
He livesin thepoliticalcommunity,
and terrestrial.
existence-celestial
wherehe regardshimselfas a communalbeing,and in civilsociety,
" Politicalparticipation
is
wherehe actssimplyas a privateindividual.
It
is
the
is
not
"but
this
of
sophistry
personal.
"sophistical,"
sophistry
of YoungHegelian
thepoliticalstateitself."Mockingtherationalism
Marxassertsthatcitizensof thedemocratic
republicare
republicanism,
religious
ed.
51. Fora discussion
ofMarx'sconcept
ofideology,
seeIssuesinMarxist
Philosophy,
JohnMephamand David Hillel-Ruben,
3 vols. (AtlanticHighlands,NJ: Humanities,
1979).
52. Marx,"On theJewish
Reader,p. 43.
Question,"in Tucker,Marx-Engels
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476 MarxonRepublicanism
in thesensethatmantreatspoliticallife,whichis remotefromhis
own individualexistence,
as if it werehis truelife. . . Political
is Christian
in thesensethatman,notmerely
oneman
democracy
but everyman,is thereconsidered
a sovereign
being,a supreme
man
existence,
being;butitis ... manjustas heis inhisfortuitous
as hehasbeencorrupted,
losttohimself,
tothe
alienated,
subjected
and elements,
ruleof inhumanconditions
bythewholeorganizationof our society-inshort,manwhois notyeta realspeciesoffantasy,
ofChristianity,
dreams,thepostulates
being.Creations
thesovereignty
of man . . . all thesebecome,in democracy,
the
secularmaxims.53
reality,
tangibleand present
intheconstitutional
embodied
is thusa vitaldiscourse,
Republicanism
conand in theeveryday
and statutory
laws,in thepoliticalrhetoric,
ofthemodernstate.Man's communal
ofthecitizens
sciousness
identity
callshis"politicallion'sskin,"coexists
as citizen,
whatMarxfacetiously
of
as member
in an uneasybutstabletensionwithhisprivateidentity
of thebellum
as an ideologicallegitimation
civilsociety.It functions
forthe
civilsociety,
omnescontraomneswhichconstitutes
compensating
thealienatedmanto
lifebyelevating
of ordinary
practicaldebasement
It
the statusof species-being.
This elevationis, of course,fictitious.
doesnotmeanrealand effective
equality,nordoesitentailthegenuine
of socialexistence.
Marx'sadvocacyofhumanemancipahumanization
is well known.But it is less widely
his argument
tionin concluding
thatMarxis also arguingthatit is in thenatureof the
acknowledged
to confuseitselfwith
i.e., republicanism,
"merely
politicalstandpoint,"
is toexA majorintention
ofhispoliticalwritings
humanemancipation.
ofillusions,
fortheabandonment
posethisillusionandto callnotsimply
thatrequireillusions.54
of socialinstitutions
butfortheabandonment
Marx thusproceededto the critiqueof politicaleconomy,a road
andended,
whichbeganwithhisEconomicandPhilosophic
Manuscripts
withthewriting
of Capital,butthecriticalanalysisof civil
unfinished,
in repubinterest
witha continued
societywas in no wayincompatible
the
In
insofar
as
civilsocietypresupposes state,Marx's
licanism. fact,
it.
economicconcerns
required Marx's1844"CriticalMarginalNoteson
subItsostensible
theArticlebya Prussian"is inthisregardsignificant.
uses
Marx
of
but
June
weavers'
was
the
Silesian
4-6, 1844,
uprising
ject
of his former
associate
thisoccasionto breakwiththerepublicanism
on classstruggle.
Rugeand to offersomegeneralreflections
53. Ibid.,p. 32, 37.
to
inhis"Contribution
54. I amhere,ofcourse,paraphrasing
statements
Marx'sringing
theCritique
ofHegel'sPhilosophy
inMECW,vol.3, pp. 175-187.
ofLaw: Introduction,"
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C. Isaac 477
Jeffrey
It wasRuge'sviewthattheworkers'
rebellion
wasa graveerror,
reprethe
of
a
interests
social
senting partial
particular
groupandsymptomatic
of thepoliticalbackwardness
of Prussia."It is impossible,"he wrote,
"to makesuchan unpolitical
as Germany
country
regardthepartial
distress
ofthefactory
as a matter
ofgeneralconcern.'"5
workers
Theimi.e., thevictory
plicationis that,givensufficient
politicaldevelopment,
of democratic
thedistressof theworkerscouldbe adrepublicanism,
dressedas a matter
ofpublicinterest.
ForMarx,thisis simply
inanother
stanceoftheillusions
ofthepolitical
mind.He pointsoutthatneither
the
ConvenEnglishPoor Laws, thedecreesof theFrenchRevolutionary
on theincieffect
tion,northedecreesofNapoleanhadanyappreciable
denceof poverty
and proletarian
distress.The state,Marxinsists,has
to affecttheissuesubstantially,
provenitselfto be powerless
ultimately
on eithercharity
or meageradministrative
measures."Fromthe
relying
politicalpointof view,"he argues,"thestateand thesystem
ofsociety
Thestateis thesystem
arenottwodifferent
ofsociety."Thestate
things.
is thusincapableofrecognizing
thesystem
ofsociety
inwhichitis implicatedas thesourceof socialills:
The contradiction
betweenthe purposeand goodwillof the
on theonehand,anditsmeansandpossibilities,
on
administration,
theotherhand,cannotbe abolishedbythestatewithout
thelatter
abolishingitself,foritis based on thiscontradiction.. . . Hence the
administration
has to confine
itselfto a formalandnegative
activfor
where
civil
life
and
its
labour
there
the
of
ity,
begin,
power administration
ends.... Ifthemodern
statewantedtoabolishtheimit wouldhaveto abolishtheprivate
potenceof itsadministration,
of
life today.56
withinthe
The politicalmind,in Marx's view,thinksexclusively
ofpoliticsandstateactionandis incapableofunderstanding
framework
socialillsandofacknowledging
theconstraints
underwhichpoliticalacNo
for
instance
demonstrates
this
Marxmorethanthat
tivity
operates.
of Frenchrepublicanism:
The classicperiodof politicalintellect
is theFrenchRevolution.
Far fromseeingthesourceof socialshortcomings
in theprinciple
of thestate,theheroesof theFrenchRevolution
insteadsaw in
socialdefects
thesourceofpoliticalevils.ThusRobespierre
sawin
andgreatwealthonlyan obstacletopuredemocracy.
greatpoverty
55. MECW. vol. 3, p. 192.
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C. Isaac 479
Jeffrey
moretheylocatethesourceof theirproblemsin thestateand itswill,
throwingtheir weightsenselesslyagainst political authorityand
theirpowerin revoltsoften"drownedwithblood." Politisquandering
inthestateis simply
ofmembership
a
cal struggle
basedon theassertion
"who believedthat
dangerousillusion,as witnesstheLyonsworkers,
theywereonlypursuing
politicalaims,thattheywereonlysoldiersofthe
republic,whereasactuallytheyweresoldiersof socialism."Marxthus
insiststhat:
thecommunity
fromwhichtheworkeris isolatedis a community
therealcharacter
andscopeofwhichis quitedifferent
fromthatof
Thecommunity
fromwhichtheworker
is
thepoliticalcommunity.
isolatedby his ownlabouris lifeitself,physicaland mentallife,
humanmorality,
humanactivity,
humanenjoyment,
humannature
...
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C. Isaac 481
Jeffrey
on thefaceofParis,on every
bigredletters
jail andon everybarrackscivilwar. . warof
has foritstrue,unadulterated,
prosaicexpression
laboragainstcapital.Thisbrotherhood
flamedfromall thewindowsof
ofJune25,illuminating
theParisofthebourgeoisie
Parison theevening
whiletheParisoftheproletariat
burned,bledandmoaned."ForMarx,
thedefeatoftheworkers,
andtheriseofpoliticalreaction,
was
however,
notin vain,forit servedto lay barethe"hazy,blueskyof republican
ofthe"opiumof 'patriotic'
effects
ideology"and revealthestupefying
feelings.''67
Marxextendsthiscritiquein hisclassicTheEighteenth
Brumaireof
LouisBonaparte(1852),whichprovidesa complexanalysisoftheshiftinFebruary
oftheFrenchrepublic
ingpoliticalalliancesfromthevictory
1848to itsdemisewiththecoupof LouisBonapartein December1851.
forourpurposesis thatforMarxat thecenter
Whatis significant
ofthe
narrative
illusions.Marxbeginswithreferliesthe"farce"ofrepublican
andphrasesof thefirstFrenchRevolution
enceto theRomancostumes
of 1789-94.As he observes,
As unheroicas bourgeoissocietyis, it nevertheless
tookheroism,
civilwar,and battlesof peoplesto bringit into
terror,
sacrifice,
of the Roman
being.And in the classicallyausteretraditions
foundtheidealsandtheartforms,
theselfRepublicitsgladiators
the
thattheyneededinorderto concealfromthemselves
deceptions
ofthecontent
oftheirstruggles
andto mainlimitations
bourgeois
taintheirpassionon thehighplaneof greathistorical
tragedy.68
ofbourgeois
illusionis, again,a constitutive
feature
revoluRepublican
tion.Butif in 1789this"borrowedlanguage"of republicanism
served
thecause of progress
and greatness,
in 1848,ghostlike
and farcical,it
servedthecauseof reaction.
Marxdepictshowtheheterogeneous
movement
revolutionary
against
thebourgeoismonarchy
of February1848givesriseto thebourgeois
sectionofthebourgeoisie
ruledinthename
republic:"whereasa limited
of theking,thewholeof thebourgeoisie
willnowruleon behalfof the
people." The bourgeoischaracterof the stateis punctuatedby the
workers'revoltof Juneand its suppression,revealing"that here
of one class over
theunlimited
bourgeoisrepublicsignifies
despotism
to pointoutthat,thoughforMarxthis
otherclasses."69It is important
thecoercive
natureofpoliticalpower,thenotionof
incident
highlighted
67. Quoted in Gilbert,Marx's Politics,pp. 140, 142.
68. MECW, vol. 11, pp. 104-05.
69. Ibid., pp. 110-11.
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of thisexaltation
of bourgeois
One particularly
important
consequence
orderis thenegative
rolerepublicanism
accordstolaborunions.Marxon
morethanone occasionpointedthisout, criticizing
forinstancethe
Laws"
of
made
"theinciteFrenchrepublican
which
1830,
"September
mentofvariousclassesofthenationagainsteachother"a seriouspolitiandthisissuewasonewhichdistinguished
Marx'ssocialism
cal offence,
frombothbourgeois
and
the
various
forms
of "true"and
republicanism
Marx
socialism
which
scorned.73
utopian
consistently
70. MECW, vol. 6, p. 319.
71. MECW, vol. 11,pp. 114-15.
72. Ibid.
73. ForMarx'sviewsontheSeptember
laws,seeMECW,vol.6, p. 331,andHal Draper,
KarlMarx'sTheory
Volume2: ThePoliticsofSocialClasses(NewYork:
ofRevolution,
ReviewPress,1978).
Monthly
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C. Isaac 483
Jeffrey
totheexposure
ButMarx'sanalysisis notconfined
ofthehypocrisy
of
in
thebourgeoisie,
foritis theupshotofhisanalysisthatrepublicanism,
all of theforceswhichhad struggled
one formor another,mystified
Monofthepetty-bourgeois
democratic
He writes
againstthemonarchy.
the
'eternal
of
man'
that
it
limited
itself
to
rights
"defending
taigneparty
as everyso-calledpeople'spartyhas done,moreor less,fora century
Andhe
anda half,"a posturewhichservesto "veil" theclassstruggle.74
considers"Social-Democracy,"the more inclusivetendencywhich
withsocialists
unitedpettybourgeois
democrats
andworking
classorganizations,to be equallymystified
by the illusionsof merelypolitical
of Social-Democracy,"
he writes,"is
reason."The peculiarcharacter
institutions
are
epitomisedby the fact that democratic-republican
two extremes,
demandedas a means,not of superceding
capitaland
itinto
theirantagonism
andtransforming
wagelabour,butofweakening
with
associatesthisperspective
harmony."Marxsomewhat
reductively
ofthepettybourgeoisie,
butmoreimportant
for
theeconomicinterests
ourpurposesis hiscriticism,
that
the democrat.
..
The democrats
concedethata privileged
class
tagonism
generally.
confines
them,butthey,alongwithall therestofthenation,form
thepeople. Whattheyrepresent
is thepeople's rights;whatinwhena struggle
terests
themis thepeople'sinterests.
Accordingly,
is impending,
and positheydo notneedto examinetheinterests
tionsof thedifferent
to givethesignal
classes.Theyhavemerely
willfallupon
and thepeople,withall itsinexhaustible
resources,
theoppressors.
to thesameillusionsaboutthe
Thesocialdemocrat,
in short,subscribes
He thus
communal
natureofthestateas doesthebourgeois
republican.
of parfailsto "distinguish
thelanguageand theimaginary
aspirations
of
andtheirrealinterests,
tiesfromtheirrealorganism
theirconception
fromtheirreality."75
themselves
Whatfollowsfromthisis an inflated
senseof politicalpower,and a
at stakein
failureto recognizeboththereal issuesand antagonisms
in
of
conflict
and
the
substantial
obstacles
the
way a genuine
political
of thesocialworld.Suchillusionsdebilitate
humanization
anyserious
forsocialism.ThusMarxinsiststhattheproletarian
movemovement
of
the
mentmustbreakwiththerepublican
ideologies
past:
74. MECW, vol. 11, p. 127.
75. Ibid., pp. 133, 128.
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C. Isaac 485
Jeffrey
Polishindependence."
And it shouldnotbe surprising
to learnthata
of AbrahamLincoln,"the single-minded
son of theworking
portrait
theAmericlass," hungin theMarxlivingroom,or thathe considered
can CivilWar to be "the firstgrandwarof contemporary
history[in
formof popularself-government
tillnowrealizedis
which]thehighest
andmostshameless
formofman'senslaving
givingbattletothemeanest
recorded
in theannalsof history."78
Marxviewednotsimply
bourgeois
butthepolitically
forcesofproduction,
state,as
emancipated
bourgeois
a necessary
of humanemancipation."
hispolitics
condition
Moreover,
ofalwaysseeking
outbroaddemocratic
this.It would
alliancesreflected
be a mistaketo overestimate,
as Avineridoes,thedegreeof continuity
betweenpoliticaldemocracy
forMarx,butto
and socialistdemocracy
it wouldbe likewise
underestimate
mistaken.
Notonlyis itthecasethatMarx'sattitude
towardpoliticalrepublicanismwasoneofcritical
itis alsothecasethatMarx'sownundersupport,
ifitdidnot"drawuponthepoetryofthepast,"
of socialism,
standing
soundedseveralof its republican
themes.Thus theviewsof
certainly
manas "not merely
a gregarious
but
animal, an animalwhichcan individuateitselfonlyin the midstof society,"and of socialismas a
"naturalized
humanism"whereindividual
talentand interest
(virtue?)
draw
social
their
fromAristotle.80
existence,
govern
clearly
inspiration
class "social republic"of theParis ComThe outlineof theworking
fromRousseau.The conceptofthedictatormunedrawsitsinspiration
itself,muchmisunderstood
ship of the proletariat
by contemporary
its
has
of ancientRome;and the
theorists,
lineagein thephraseology
martialimagery
on whichit draws-of sacrifice,
solidarityvigilance,
moment"whichPocockhasdoneso muchto
evokesthe"Machiavellian
in Capitalis linkedto
delineate.81Even Marx'stheoryof exploitation
77. See Gilbert,
Marx'sPolitics,p. 139-58.
78. KarlMarx,OnAmerica
andtheCivilWar,ed. SaulK. Padover(NewYork,1972),p.
85.
79. This pointis madeemphatically
in MichaelHarrington's
Socialism(New York:
Bantam,1972).
80. Theseideasare,of course,developedby Marxin hisEconomicand Philosophic
of 1844,in MECW, vol. 3, pp. 230-346,and his Grundrisse,
tr. Martin
Manuscripts
Nicolaus(NewYork:Vintage,1973).On this,see CarolGould,Marx'sSocial Ontology
MA: MIT Press,1980).AlanGilbert
has delineated
theAristotelian
rootsof
(Cambridge,
Marx'smoraltheory
in hisMarx'sPolitics,pp. 3-45,and his"Marx'sMoralRealism:
Eudaimonism
and Moral Progress,"in Ball and Farr,AfterMarx;. See also Nancy
Schwartz,"The DistinctionBetweenPublic and Private: Marx on the ZOON
POLITIKON," PoliticalTheory
(May 1979).
81. See Draper,KarlMarx's Thought,
vol. 3; FredericBender,"The Ambiguity
of
Marx'sConcepts
of'Proletarian
and'Transition
toCommunism,'
Dictatorship'
" History
2 (Winter
Leninism
and Western
Marxism
ofPoliticalThought,
1981);andRoyMedvedev,
(London:Verso,1979).
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inthelightofcurAndyetitwouldbe a graveerror,
however
tempting
toviewMarxas simply
a warmed-over
Aristotle
rentintellectual
fashion,
or Rousseau.Fordespitehisincorporation
ofrepublican
hewas
themes,
in
of
a
radical
critic
the
which
these
themes
were
ultimately
ideology
of his day,
embeddedin themodernworld.Unliketherepublicanism
hissocialism,
involved
a revoMarx's"red" or "socialrepublicanism,"
of
foundational
of
modern
the
lutionary
critique
principle
bourgeois
of stateand
politics-politicalemancipation-andof the institutions
servedto legitimate.
Marxdidnotseekto
economywhichthisprinciple
institutional
ofa
simply
judgeexisting
arrangements
againstthestandard
and
communitarianism.
He
to
vague
sought analyze scientifically
of capitalist
its
and
criticize
thestructure
manifest
latent
society,
antagonismsanditsfuture
He didnotdrawfromhisanalysisof
possibilities.
thedefectsof sociallifetheconclusion
thattheirsolutionlayin a more
a propersenseof
more
of
state,
perfected
political
capable inculcating
civicvirtue.Rather,theconclusionof his analysiswas themoraland
of creating
whichwould
a revolutionary
movement
practicalnecessity
theverystructure
of thecapitalist
state.
challenge
I beganthisarticlebysuggesting
thata critiqueof thecontemporary
historical
thesiscouldshedlighton thelimitations
of their
republicans'
thesis.In short,theirfailureto understand
prescriptive
adequately
of earlymodernrepublicanism
has led themto ignore
Marx'scriticisms
thechallenge
posedto theirownbeliefsbyMarx'scritique.Thisis not
ofMarx'swritings
orofMarxism.
theplaceto assessthegeneralvalidity
eventsin Eastern
and,if current
Indeed,thereis muchhereto criticize
is a
Europeareanyguide,itmaywellbe thatsomekindofrepublicanism
Butdespitethis,
to theshortcomings
ofMarxism.83
corrective
necessary
82. KarlMarx,"The CivilWarin France,"in Tucker,Marx-Engels
Reader,p. 559.
83. On theselimitsof Marxism,
see myPowerand MarxistTheory:A RealistView
Press,1987),pp. 192-213;"Arendt,
(Ithaca:CornellUniversity
Camus,andPostmodern
9 (Apriland July,1989),and "One StepSideways,
One
Politics,"PraxisInternational,
Postmarxism
and itsCritics,"Theory,
and Society(in press,
Culture,
StepBackwards:
1990).
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C. Isaac 487
Jeffrey
itis clearthatMarxhadgoodreasonsforcriticizing
modernrepublicanism,and we can learnseverallessonsfromthem.
The firstis thenecessity
thedistinction
of maintaining
betweenapin politicaltheory,
ofdistinguishing
"thelanguage
pearanceand reality
and theimaginary
of partiesfromtheirreal organism
and
aspirations
theirrealinterests."
Marxmakesclearthatmodernrepublicanism
is a
idealism-thatit suffers
froman exaggerated
speciesof philosophical
ofideasandoftheroleofpoliticalwill,
senseoftheindependent
potency
notionof community
thatit operateswitha reified
as publicsentiment
and virtue,
andthatitis blindto thestructural
andcondeterminations
straints
whichoperatein politicallife.Marxinsiststhatwe mustnot
ofcommunity
takeexisting
beliefsandunderstandings
as a given,
simply
butratherwe shouldinvestigate
thestructural
causesand consequences
ofbeliefswhichmaybe opaqueto thosewhoholdthem.Contemporary
who writeabout "embodiedselves"and "publicvircommunitarians
ourexisting
tues"andinviteus to cultivate
communal
attachments
have
to learnfromthis.Forwhattheirarguments
lackis
something
frequently
dimensions
of our political
precisely
any diagnosisof the structural
insteadgeneralappealsto thecommongood. In
malaise,substituting
thisregard,communitarianism
can be viewedas a variation
on themore
generalthemeof interpretative
sociology,replacingthe institutional
hascalledthe"exorbitaanalysisofsociallifewithwhatPerryAnderson
in publicvirtuewillnot
tionof language."84As Marxsaw, believing
to the
solve our publicproblems.Whatwill solve themis attention
and
relations
of
which
cause
them.85
material
practices
power
The secondis, quite simply,thatrepublicandiscoursehas served
as an absolutely
crucialideologicalsupportfortheinstituhistorically
tionsof capitalist
This
does notmeanthatall republican
ideas,
society.
or ideasofrepublican
aretherefore
tiedto the
inspiration,
ideologically
and
statusquo. But it does meanthatthe historical,
constitutional,
rhetorical
discoursesof capitalistsocietyare suffused
withrepublican
Thisclearlyhas an historical
It is no
dimension.
languageand imagery.
mistakethatthe mostinfluential
liberalrevolutions
of the modern
world-Englandin 1642,Americain 1776and 1861,Francein 1789and
1848-wereanimatedin largepartby republican
themeswhichcan be
tracedthroughout
thesubsequent
of
these
nations.
Butitalsohas
history
84. SeeAnthony
NewRulesofSociological
Method.A Critique
Giddens,
ofInterpretativeSociology(NewYork:Basic Books,1976),and PerryAnderson,
In The Tracksof
Historical
Materialism
of
(Chicago:University ChicagoPress,1984).
85. Fora discussion
ofsomeoftheseissues,seemyPowerandMarxistTheory,
andIan
of California
Shapiro,PoliticalCriticism
(Berkeley:
University
Press,forthcoming
1990).
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This content downloaded from 31.220.194.16 on Thu, 14 May 2015 12:45:04 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions