SOC 201 Chapter Notes - Chapter 1.13: The Communist Manifesto, Friedrich Engels, Bourgeoisie
Document Summary
Although many sociologists rank karl marx among the most important founders of sociology (along with durkheim and weber), it is curious that they do so. As one of his biographers wrote, to write about marx as a sociologist is to be hedged in with perils. Marx did not think of himself as a sociologist, and indeed, he was contemptuous of the sociologists whom he knew. As far as marx was concerned, their focus on the social was entirely misdirected; only economics counted. Marx was born in germany in 1818 and studied philosophy and law. His early political activities made it impossible for him to achieve an academic position and, ultimately, even to stay in germany. When he fled to france and continued to criticize the german government, After a short stint in brussels, he found himself in england, where he would stay almost continuously until his death in 1883.
