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Citizen Marx: Republicanism and the Formation of Karl Marx’s Social and Political Thought
The first book to offer a comprehensive exploration of Marx’s relationship to republicanism, arguing that it is essential to understanding his thought
In Citizen Marx, Bruno Leipold argues that, contrary to certain interpretive commonplaces, Karl Marx’s thinking was deeply informed by republicanism. Marx’s relation to republicanism changed over the course of his life, but its complex influence on his thought cannot be reduced to wholesale adoption or rejection. Challenging common depictions of Marx that downplay or ignore his commitment to politics, democracy, and freedom, Leipold shows that Marx viewed democratic political institutions as crucial to overcoming the social unfreedom and domination of capitalism. One of Marx’s principal political values, Leipold contends, was a republican conception of freedom, according to which one is unfree when subjected to arbitrary power.
Placing Marx’s republican communism in its historical context—but not consigning him to that context—Leipold traces Marx’s shifting relationship to republicanism across three broad periods. First, Marx began his political life as a republican committed to a democratic republic in which citizens held active popular sovereignty. Second, he transitioned to communism, criticizing republicanism but incorporating the republican opposition to arbitrary power into his social critiques. He argued that although a democratic republic was not sufficient for emancipation, it was necessary for it. Third, spurred by the events of the Paris Commune of 1871, he came to view popular control in representation and public administration as essential to the realization of communism. Leipold shows how Marx positioned his republican communism to displace both antipolitical socialism and anticommunist republicanism. One of Marx’s great contributions, Leipold suggests, was to place politics (and especially democratic politics) at the heart of socialism.
In Citizen Marx, Bruno Leipold argues that, contrary to certain interpretive commonplaces, Karl Marx’s thinking was deeply informed by republicanism. Marx’s relation to republicanism changed over the course of his life, but its complex influence on his thought cannot be reduced to wholesale adoption or rejection. Challenging common depictions of Marx that downplay or ignore his commitment to politics, democracy, and freedom, Leipold shows that Marx viewed democratic political institutions as crucial to overcoming the social unfreedom and domination of capitalism. One of Marx’s principal political values, Leipold contends, was a republican conception of freedom, according to which one is unfree when subjected to arbitrary power.
Placing Marx’s republican communism in its historical context—but not consigning him to that context—Leipold traces Marx’s shifting relationship to republicanism across three broad periods. First, Marx began his political life as a republican committed to a democratic republic in which citizens held active popular sovereignty. Second, he transitioned to communism, criticizing republicanism but incorporating the republican opposition to arbitrary power into his social critiques. He argued that although a democratic republic was not sufficient for emancipation, it was necessary for it. Third, spurred by the events of the Paris Commune of 1871, he came to view popular control in representation and public administration as essential to the realization of communism. Leipold shows how Marx positioned his republican communism to displace both antipolitical socialism and anticommunist republicanism. One of Marx’s great contributions, Leipold suggests, was to place politics (and especially democratic politics) at the heart of socialism.
440 pages, Hardcover
Published November 19, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
April 19, 2025
Leipold's new book does what most Marxology usually fails to do: have a purpose.
Bruno traces Marx's development from democratic republicanism in the 1840s to republican communism post-1871. Throughout the book, Bruno analyses republican thought alongside what he terms "anti-political" socialist thought and how Marx engaged within the republican and socialist movement of its time to critique and provide a political alternative to both currents. This starkly contrasts the perception of certain self-declared Marxists that "Marxism, as developed by Marx, is not about emphasising differences with other people on the left".
Marx's critique of the anti-political socialists is probably the most helpful part of the book for contemporary communists. It offers a well-developed critique of those who either refuse the centrality of political struggle in contemporary society, opting for some form of sub-Bakuninism (most communists), those wishing for an anti-political transition between this and a future communist society and those whose view of a future communist society is some technocratic "administration of things" and an end to politics.
This, along with Bruno's epilogue and arguments for a social republic based on "popular delegacy," makes the book a must-read, especially for those who claim fidelity to Marx but have no positive relation to the republican communist politics he represented.
Bruno traces Marx's development from democratic republicanism in the 1840s to republican communism post-1871. Throughout the book, Bruno analyses republican thought alongside what he terms "anti-political" socialist thought and how Marx engaged within the republican and socialist movement of its time to critique and provide a political alternative to both currents. This starkly contrasts the perception of certain self-declared Marxists that "Marxism, as developed by Marx, is not about emphasising differences with other people on the left".
Marx's critique of the anti-political socialists is probably the most helpful part of the book for contemporary communists. It offers a well-developed critique of those who either refuse the centrality of political struggle in contemporary society, opting for some form of sub-Bakuninism (most communists), those wishing for an anti-political transition between this and a future communist society and those whose view of a future communist society is some technocratic "administration of things" and an end to politics.
This, along with Bruno's epilogue and arguments for a social republic based on "popular delegacy," makes the book a must-read, especially for those who claim fidelity to Marx but have no positive relation to the republican communist politics he represented.
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April 29, 2025I'll be writing a review essay in part about this (pairing it with Capital's Grave) for UnHerd, and I'll have Leipold on my show in June to talk about it, so I'll save most of what I have to say about CItizen Marx for those places but for now let me just say that it's very very good--the best book on Marx I've read in a while. You should read it.
September 23, 2025
One of, perhaps the, best book I've read on Marx.
December 26, 2025
It is easy to see why this book won the 2025 Deutscher Memorial Prize. It is the product of deep research. Each chapter averages 200 footnotes, covering primary sources in several languages, and a huge amount of secondary sources. At no point I felt the author was missing some important text or author. He is also very generous with direct quotations, something that I appreciate. And he is no stranger to humor, bringing up some funny anecdotes here and there to lighten up the book a little bit.
Overall, this is a book that I see firmly entrenched in the political Marxism current, of which probably Ellen Meiksins Wood is the best exponent. In fact, since I had read her book on Democracy and Capitalism just before this one, I felt that many of the ideas present in EMW’s book were present in Leipold’s book. However, the difference in scope and the focus on republicanism are important differences.
I have to say though that one thing that confused me a little bit was the political position of the author. I’m skeptical about the political recommendations at the end, of the value of the ideas of “freedom” “social republic” and a “socialist constitution” based on the Paris commune. I don’t think they seem particularly useful in the current time, and it is not clear to me where should this strategy be followed, or who would be the agent of this discourse.
On a more granular level, the best chapters for me are in the first half of the book, the “young Marx” period. I am not very familiar with that time, so it was nice to discover another side of Marx’s political thought. The second half, more focused on Capital and the Civil War in France covered more familiar grounds, and honestly I don’t think it was particularly original. However, it made sense in a project that tried to present the thought of Marx on a certain topic.
Another nice detail of the book is that the author does not present Marx’s thought as a break or an evolution. There is no “young Marx” “mature Marx” “late Marx” as discontinuous subjects, but he also avoids the idea of a republican start with a communist end. Instead, Leipold is very good at picking up both continuities and discontinuities in Marx’s works. He also gives Engels a lot of attention, showing their points of agreement or disagreement, or their different intellectual trajectories. There is careful thought put into calibrating the weight of published and unpublished work, carefully measuring the importance of each text.
In conclusion, this is a must read for anyone who is looking to understand in depth the political thought of Marx. Although it should have been abandoned a long time ago, there are still some believers in the idea of Marx as a determinist mechanical economic historicist. Instead, Leipold is very keen to show that the key contribution of Marx and Engels to socialism was the connection they made between political and social struggle. As Leipold says again and again, the difference between utopian socialism and communism was that the first rejected political struggle and political revolution as something useless. Although Marx never described the “perfect communist society of the future”, he was great at providing a path to achieve it, by fighting on every front.
Overall, this is a book that I see firmly entrenched in the political Marxism current, of which probably Ellen Meiksins Wood is the best exponent. In fact, since I had read her book on Democracy and Capitalism just before this one, I felt that many of the ideas present in EMW’s book were present in Leipold’s book. However, the difference in scope and the focus on republicanism are important differences.
I have to say though that one thing that confused me a little bit was the political position of the author. I’m skeptical about the political recommendations at the end, of the value of the ideas of “freedom” “social republic” and a “socialist constitution” based on the Paris commune. I don’t think they seem particularly useful in the current time, and it is not clear to me where should this strategy be followed, or who would be the agent of this discourse.
On a more granular level, the best chapters for me are in the first half of the book, the “young Marx” period. I am not very familiar with that time, so it was nice to discover another side of Marx’s political thought. The second half, more focused on Capital and the Civil War in France covered more familiar grounds, and honestly I don’t think it was particularly original. However, it made sense in a project that tried to present the thought of Marx on a certain topic.
Another nice detail of the book is that the author does not present Marx’s thought as a break or an evolution. There is no “young Marx” “mature Marx” “late Marx” as discontinuous subjects, but he also avoids the idea of a republican start with a communist end. Instead, Leipold is very good at picking up both continuities and discontinuities in Marx’s works. He also gives Engels a lot of attention, showing their points of agreement or disagreement, or their different intellectual trajectories. There is careful thought put into calibrating the weight of published and unpublished work, carefully measuring the importance of each text.
In conclusion, this is a must read for anyone who is looking to understand in depth the political thought of Marx. Although it should have been abandoned a long time ago, there are still some believers in the idea of Marx as a determinist mechanical economic historicist. Instead, Leipold is very keen to show that the key contribution of Marx and Engels to socialism was the connection they made between political and social struggle. As Leipold says again and again, the difference between utopian socialism and communism was that the first rejected political struggle and political revolution as something useless. Although Marx never described the “perfect communist society of the future”, he was great at providing a path to achieve it, by fighting on every front.
December 1, 2025
Decent account of the connection and divergence between Marx and Republican thought, it makes a lot of convincing points but some are either dragged on too long or seem like a stretch to support the author’s own thought (though he contrasts this with other interpretations that are much more extrapolating).
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews