Marxology is a systematic scholarly approach to the understanding of

Karl Marx Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...

and

Friedrich Engels Friedrich Engels ( ;"Engels"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''.Marxism Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflict, ...

. The term was first used by David Ryazanov, librarian of the Marx-Engels Institute in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

, around 1920 as he set out to publish the complete works of Marx and Engels. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Maximilien Rubel Maximilien Rubel (10 October 1905, in Chernivtsi – 28 February 1996, in Paris) was an Austrian Marxist historian, humanist, and council communist. Rubel was educated in law and philosophy in Vienna and Chernivtsi National University, the t ...

introduced the term into

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. He was astonished by the lack of any sustained understanding of the life and works of Marx by self-proclaimed Marxists active in the

French resistance The French Resistance ( ) was a collection of groups that fought the German military administration in occupied France during World War II, Nazi occupation and the Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy#France, collaborationist Vic ...

during the

occupation of Paris The city of Paris started mobilizing for war in September 1939, when Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union attacked Poland, but the war seemed far away until May 10th 1940, when the Germans attacked France and quickly defeated the French army. The ...

Marxology in the Soviet Union

A number of official publications in the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

praised Ryazanov as a Marxologist in 1930. He was: * “the most eminent Marxologist of our time”, '' Izvestia '', 10 March 1930 * “the most renowned and the most important of the Marxist scholars of our time” (''

Inprecor ''Inprecor'' is a multilingual monthly Marxist magazine published by the reunified Fourth International. Its name is a contraction of International Press Correspondence and indicates that the magazine translates articles and letters from revol ...

'', no.26, 19 March 1930) * “under Riazonov’s direct scientific and administrative leadership, he Marx-Engels Instituteaccomplished impressive work …with his considerable scientific and investigative activity in the sphere of marxology”, ''

Pravda ''Pravda'' ( rus, Правда, p=ˈpravdə, a=Ru-правда.ogg, 'Truth') is a Russian broadsheet newspaper, and was the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, when it was one of the most in ...

'' However during investigations in preparation for the

1931 Menshevik Trial The Menshevik Trial was one of the early purges carried out by Stalin in which 14 economists, who were former members of the Menshevik party, were put on trial and convicted for trying to re-establish their party as the "Union Bureau of the Mensh ...

, Ryazanov was implicated under duress by his colleague

Isaak Illich Rubin Isaak Illich Rubin (Russian language, Russian: Исаак Ильич Рубин; 12 June 1886 – 27 November 1937) was a Soviet Union, Soviet lawyer, Marxian economics , economist and scholar of Marx's work. His most important published work ...

and expelled from the Communist Party.Roy Medvedev, ''Let History Judge: The Origins and Consequences of Stalinism.'' George Shriver, trans. Revised Edition. New York: Columbia University Press, 1989;

Some Marxologists

In 1982 the following were listed in ''Review: Tendencies in Marxology and Tendencies in History'' (1982): *

Michel Henry Michel Henry (; ; 10 January 1922 – 3 July 2002) was a French philosopher, phenomenologist and novelist. He wrote four novels and numerous philosophical works. He also lectured at universities in France, Belgium, the United States, and Jap ...

: ''Marx: A Philosophy of Human Reality'' (

976 Year 976 ( CMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * January 10 – Emperor John I Tzimiskes dies at Constantinople, after returning from a second campaign against ...

English translation with Michel Henry: Marx: A Philosophy of Human Reality, 1983) *

G. A. Cohen Gerald Allan Cohen ( ; 14 April 1941 – 5 August 2009) was a Canadian political philosophy, political philosopher who held the positions of Quain Professor, Quain Professor of Jurisprudence, University College London and Chichele Professor of ...

: ''

Karl Marx's Theory of History ''Karl Marx's Theory of History: A Defence'' is a 1978 book by the philosopher G. A. Cohen, the culmination of his attempts to reformulate Karl Marx's doctrines of alienation, exploitation, and historical materialism. Cohen, who interpret ...

'' (1978) * John McMurtry: ''The Structure of Marx's World-View'' (1978) * Melvin Rader: ''Marx's Interpretation of History'' (1979) * Robert Kurz: ''Geld ohne Wert: Grundrisse zu einer Transformation der Kritik der politischen ekonomie,'' ''and: Marx lesen!'': ''die wichtigsten Texte von Karl Marx für das 21. Jahrhundert'' Other important works of Marxology include: *

Roman Rosdolsky Roman Osipovich Rosdolsky (, ''Roman Osypovyč Rozdol's'kyj''; July 19, 1898 – October 20, 1967) was a prominent Ukrainian Marxian scholar, historian and political theorist. Rodolsky's book of 1968 entitled ''Zur Entstehungsgeschichte des Mar ...

: ''The Making of Marx's Capital'' (1977) *

Moishe Postone Moishe Postone (17 April 1942 – 19 March 2018) was a Canadian historian, sociologist, political philosopher and social theorist. He was a professor of history at the University of Chicago, where he was part of the Committee on Jewish Studi ...

: '' Time, Labour and Social Domination (1993)'' *

: ''Marx, Life and Works'' (1980)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marxology Marxism Karl Marx Paris in World War II