Monday, February 27, 2006
Marxists Internet Archive
An excellent electronic resource for students of classical social theory is the Marxists Internet Archive (MI Archive), found at http://marxists.org. The MI Archive includes archives of Marxist writers, history and subjects, an encyclopedia of Marxism, and a "guide to writers relevant to understanding the concept of Marxism" (http://marxists.org/reference/index.htm. As evidence of the worldwide interest in Marxism and commitment of the volunteer non-profit organization that created and manages the web site, the MI Archive is translated into at least thirty-nine languages, and its servers are found in Asia, Britain, France, Galicia, Russia, and parts of the United States to expand its access.
The MI Archive is visually pleasing and logistically well constructed so that it is easy to navigate. On the home page, equally sized digital images of Marx, Engels, Lenin, and Trotsky frame large bold letters that identify the site, its primary contents, and other important links such as searches and contact information. A simple click on one of the four images forwards the student to the archive about that marxist author. For example, by clicking on the photograph of Marx, one is forwarded to the "Marx & Engels Internet Archive", which includes date, subject and multi-lingual indices, collected and selected works, biographies and letters, and an image gallery, First International Archive, PDF Index, link to contact the sponsor of the web site, and multiple search options (http://marxists.org/archive/marx/index.htm.
Each archive within the MI Archive contains multiple links to associated topics and texts within and without it to aid the beginning student. For example, someone new to Marx and Marxism can search the web site's encyclopedia for the concept, "class struggle". That search being the student to the section on "class", which defines the Marxism concepts of class and class struggle and includes passages authored by Marx and Engels to illustrate the uses and meanings of those concepts and links to related concepts and suggested further readings within the MI Archive (http://marxists.org/glossary/frame.htm.
For the more advanced student of Marx and Marxism, the links of subjects, authors and writings provide useful insights into the common and divergent threads within the Marxian theoretical tradition. For example, one who is interested in learning more about the rift within the Marxian theoretical tradition regarding the humanism of the young Marx versus the structuralism of the old Marx can begin with a subject search of "humanism". That search results in thirty-seven matches ranked by the quality of the match. Each match has a number of conspicuous yellow starts to denote the quality of the match with the subject search. A click on the first of the two highest ranked matches leads to the document, "Marxist Humanis and the 'New Left'" (http://marxists.org/subject/humanism/index.htm. That document describes the development of Marxist Humanism as an historical event that emerged from rejection of orthodox Marxism, attraction to and growing acceptance of liberal sentiments, and "failure of the Communist Parties to adquately respond to these sentiments." The document also explains that Marxists Humanists usually ground themselves in the humanistic writings of the young Marx, especially the Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1988, and to give emphasis to that written explanation, the document includes an image of the young Marx. It also includes links to the Manuscripts, relevant sections of the encyclopedia, archives of Marxist Humanist writers, and other archives, such as the archive of antihumanist Marxist, Joseph Stalin.
Links to the MI Archive can be found in academic, labor, and other web sites, which further demonstrate its quality and widespead appeal and use. For example, a quick Internet search yielded many web sites with links to the MI Archive of which four are listed below:
The MI Archive is visually pleasing and logistically well constructed so that it is easy to navigate. On the home page, equally sized digital images of Marx, Engels, Lenin, and Trotsky frame large bold letters that identify the site, its primary contents, and other important links such as searches and contact information. A simple click on one of the four images forwards the student to the archive about that marxist author. For example, by clicking on the photograph of Marx, one is forwarded to the "Marx & Engels Internet Archive", which includes date, subject and multi-lingual indices, collected and selected works, biographies and letters, and an image gallery, First International Archive, PDF Index, link to contact the sponsor of the web site, and multiple search options (http://marxists.org/archive/marx/index.htm.
Each archive within the MI Archive contains multiple links to associated topics and texts within and without it to aid the beginning student. For example, someone new to Marx and Marxism can search the web site's encyclopedia for the concept, "class struggle". That search being the student to the section on "class", which defines the Marxism concepts of class and class struggle and includes passages authored by Marx and Engels to illustrate the uses and meanings of those concepts and links to related concepts and suggested further readings within the MI Archive (http://marxists.org/glossary/frame.htm.
For the more advanced student of Marx and Marxism, the links of subjects, authors and writings provide useful insights into the common and divergent threads within the Marxian theoretical tradition. For example, one who is interested in learning more about the rift within the Marxian theoretical tradition regarding the humanism of the young Marx versus the structuralism of the old Marx can begin with a subject search of "humanism". That search results in thirty-seven matches ranked by the quality of the match. Each match has a number of conspicuous yellow starts to denote the quality of the match with the subject search. A click on the first of the two highest ranked matches leads to the document, "Marxist Humanis and the 'New Left'" (http://marxists.org/subject/humanism/index.htm. That document describes the development of Marxist Humanism as an historical event that emerged from rejection of orthodox Marxism, attraction to and growing acceptance of liberal sentiments, and "failure of the Communist Parties to adquately respond to these sentiments." The document also explains that Marxists Humanists usually ground themselves in the humanistic writings of the young Marx, especially the Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1988, and to give emphasis to that written explanation, the document includes an image of the young Marx. It also includes links to the Manuscripts, relevant sections of the encyclopedia, archives of Marxist Humanist writers, and other archives, such as the archive of antihumanist Marxist, Joseph Stalin.
Links to the MI Archive can be found in academic, labor, and other web sites, which further demonstrate its quality and widespead appeal and use. For example, a quick Internet search yielded many web sites with links to the MI Archive of which four are listed below:
- "Guide to Philosophy on the Internet" Earlham College, Richmond, Indiana www.earlham.edu/~peters.philinks.htm
- "Historical Studies World Wide Web Resources" Historical Studies-Social Science Library, Institute for Advanced Studies, Princeton, New Jersey http://www.admin.ias.edu/hslib/hsres.htm
- "Labor Studies and Radical History" Holt Labor Library, San Francisco, California http://hll.org/Links.html and
- "Socialist Links" Chicago Socialist Party http://www.chicagosocialistparty.com/links.html.
