Marx as a Migrant – A digital narrative

Karl Marx lived a long life as a migrant. Fleeing from the Prussian state, censorship and possible arrest, important stops on his journey were Paris, Brussels and London. These cities shaped his political activities, his engagement with political fellow-travellers, as well as his intellectual development and thus his entire work.

At the click of a mouse, you can follow Marx as a migrant from city to city. You can not only immerse yourself in his time, but also discover that even today, traces of his life and work continue to be seen in Paris, Brussels and London.

Each station takes about 45 minutes.

Contact: info@marx200.org

Marx as a Migrant

  • Paris
  • Philosophy, Politics and Economy

“Triarchy” of philosophy, politics and economics – the influence of Paris

Paris, October 2017. Boulevard Auguste Blanqui. He, one of the most famous leaders of a secret workers’ society, was in prison in 1844. Marx did not make his acquaintance, like many of the other Neo-Babouvists, Saint-Simonists, Communists, and humanists who organised the workers and craftspeople and in whose circles they were read.

But it's certain that Marx was personally acquainted with the publicist Pierre Leroux whose younger brother coined the phrase “A moi! Prolétaires de toutes les nations!” in 1842, which four years later became known as “Workers of the world, unite”. He was in contact with Pierre Vincard whose Histoire du travail et des travailleurs Marx consulted in preparing the third volume of Capital. He was also in contact with Numa Dufraisse, who is said to have been in 1840 the first to publicly employ the term ‘communism’. He also knew Théodore Dezamy who had organised the first communist banquet that same year.