Karl Korsch (1886-1961)

by cominsitu

“Marxism as an historical phenomenon is a thing of the past. It grew out of the revolutionary class struggles of the first half of the nineteenth century, only to be maintained and re-shaped in the second half of the nineteenth century as the revolutionary ideology of a working class which had not yet regained its revolutionary force. Yet in a more fundamental historical sense, the theory of proletarian revolution, which will develop anew in the next period of history, will be an historical continuation of Marxism. In their revolutionary theory, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels gave the first great summarization of proletarian ideas, in the first revolutionary period of the proletarian class struggle. This theory remains for all time the classical expression of the new revolutionary consciousness of the proletarian class fighting for its own liberation.” – The Crisis of Marxism, 1931

Books (pdfs):

Marxism and Philosophy (1923) – by Karl Korsch

Karl Marx (1938) – by Karl Korsch

Karl Korsch: Revolutionary Theory – edited by Douglas Kellner (1977)

Karl Korsch: A Study in Western Marxism – by Patrick Goode (1979)

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Articles:

Biography

Photo: Korsch in 1936

Memories of Karl Korsch, Hedda Korsch 1972

Materialism Versus Objectivism, 1894
Theses on the Materialistic Conception of History, 1902
Evolution of the Problem of the Political Workers Councils in Germany, 1921
Introduction to Critique of Gotha Programme, 1922
Marxism and Philosophy, 1923
The Marxist Dialectic, 1923
The Marxism of the First International, 1924
Lenin and the Comintern, 1924
On Materialist Dialectic,1924
Revolutionary Commune, 1929
Marxism and Philosophy: An Anti-critique, 1930
The Spanish Revolution, 1931
The Crisis of Marxism, 1931
Theses on Hegel and Revolution, 1931
On an Activistic Form of Materialism and on the Class and Partisan Character of Science, 1931
Introduction to Capital, 1932
Theses toward a Critique of the Fascist Conception of the State, 1932
Some Fundamental Presuppositions for a Materialist Discussion of Crisis Theory, 1933
Why I am a Marxist, 1934
On the New Program of the American Workers Party, 1935
Position on Russia and the Communist Party, 1935
Leading Principles of Marxism: A Restatement, 1937
The Passing of Marxian Orthodoxy, 1937
The Marxist Ideology in Russia, 1938
Lenin as Philosopher, 1938
Karl Marx, 1938
Economics and Politics in Revolutionary Spain, 1938
Marxism and the Present Task of the Proletarian Class Struggle,1938
Collectivization in Spain, 1939
State and Counterrevolution, 1939
The Fascist Counterrevolution, 1940
The Workers’ Fight against Fascism, 1941
Britain And The War Aims Of The Working Class, 1941
A Non-Dogmatic Approach to Marxism, 1946
Ten Theses on Marxism Today, 1950

Further reading

Letter to Karl Korsch, Amadeo Bordiga 1926
Review of “Karl Marx” by Paul Mattick, 1939
Karl Korsch: His Contribution to Marxism, Paul Mattick 1962
The Marxism of Karl Korsch, Paul Mattick 1964