Sontraud Engels Benz

This edited volume discusses the life and scholarship of Friedrich Engels. Written to commemorate the two-hundred-year anniversary of Engels’ birth, the contributions take a look into his research from a variety of viewpoints, trace the influence of his predecessors, and critically evaluate his place within 19th century scholarship. In addition, specific topics are taken up, such as his (mis)assessment of American capitalism, his influence on the Italian labor movement, the thematization of social problems and the relevance of his thought in a global economy. Providing a fresh look at the co-founder of scientific socialism, this volume will be of interest to researchers and students of contemporary political, social and economic systems, the history of economic thought, and political history.

Friedrich Engels arrived in Manchester in 1842 and documented the plight of the city's working classes in The Condition of the Working Class in England (1845). 172 years later, Turner Prize-nominated artist Phil Collins is returning Engels to the city where he made his name - in the form of a Soviet-era statue, driven across Europe and permanently installed in the centre of Manchester as the closing event of this year's Manchester International Festival. Collins's film for BBC Four not only documents the statue's journey, but also the lives of Manchester workers today as well as a live inauguration event specially created by Collins to welcome the statue to the city.

Intorno alla concezione materialistica della storia – al «materialismo storico», come in seguito lo chiamerà Engels – è fiorita una quantità di luoghi comuni, non ultimo quello secondo cui le formulazioni che ad essa diedero Marx ed Engels nell’Ideologia tedesca sarebbero state un parto affrettato e precipitoso, una trovata intellettualistica fra altre, e nemmeno molto originale. Questa ampia scelta antologica offre l’occasione di ritornare ai testi, di ricostruire l’itinerario attraverso il quale Marx ed Engels, per strade diverse, giunsero alla convinzione che il «modo di produzione» è l’agente della storia.