Marx: an introduction

This introductory textbook presents for the first time the fundamental lines of Marx's thought in an historical perspective informed by the most recent discussions and debates within Marxism. The author ar gues that there is no way to understand the concept of Marxism itself except as an historical construct and that the term denotes not a single doctrine but a set of doctrines with certain 'family resemblances.
The book provides a lucid and systematic analysis of the main corpus of Marx's work with special emphasis on historical materialism rather than the earlier work. The central body of Marx's work is systemati cally organised within a broad chronological-historical framework. Marx: An Introduction offers an immense amount of historical background and a highly informed perspective. It will be widely adopted as a main text for introductory and intermediate level courses: on Marx in departments of sociology, political science and philosophy.