Specters of Marx - The State of the Debt, the Work of Mourning and the New International

Oct 12, 2026

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Specters of Marx presents an interpretation of Marx shaped by history, politics, and the tensions of the post-1989 world. It frames Marxism as haunted by historical forces while asking what survives after communism’s collapse. The book situates deconstruction within contemporary debates on the “end of history,” socialist visions, nationalisms, and pressing realities such as homelessness, health care shortages, environmental degradation, and mounting national debt.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLiterature

FormatPDF

Pages277

Reading Time7 h 7 min

AccessFree to download

Editor’s Introduction

Contents

Notes

Index

Specters of Marx ‘One of Derrida’s best books . . . More explicitly than before, he has taken politics and history as his themes.’ New Statesman ‘Always a man of the left,[Derrida] felt able to write this book only when Soviet communism had collapsed, as his espousal of Marx was then, he said, less likely to be misunderstood.’ The Guardian ‘Derrida presents a provocative and . . . insightful interpretation of Marx. Derrida shows convincingly that Marx is haunted by history and that he wants to put it to an end.’ RRPE ‘. . . Derrida is considered a classic of the postmodern canon.’ New York Review of Books ‘. . . its importance within the Derridean canon cannot be overemphasized . . . the text that scholars turn to . . . to understand the politics of deconstruction.’ Southern Humanities Review Jacques Derrida Specters of Marx The State of the Debt, the Work of Mourning and the New International Translated from the French by Peggy Kamuf With an introduction by Bernd Magnus and Stephen Cullenberg New York and London Originally published in French as Spectres de Marx,© Editions Galileé, 1993 First published in English in 1994 by Routledge First published in Routledge Classics 2006 by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Simultaneously published in the UK by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business English Translation © 1994 Routledge © 1994 Routledge Typeset in Joanna by ReﬁneCatch Limited, Bungay, Suffolk All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data A catalog record for this book has been requested British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN10: 0–415–38957–7 ISBN13: 978–0–415–38957–0 CONTENTS Editor’s Introduction vii Note on the Text xiii Dedication xiv Exo rdi um xvi 1 Injunctions of Marx 1 2 Conjuring—Marxism 61 3 Wears and Tears (Tableau of an ageless world) 96 4 In the Name of the Revolution, the Double Barricade (Impure “impure impure history of ghosts”) 118 5 Apparition ofthe Inapparent: The phenomenological “conjuring trick” 156 Notes 223 Index 247 EDITORS’ INTRODUCTION In the wake of the orgy of self-congratulations which followed the 1989 crumbling of the Berlin Wall, the subsequent dissolution of the Soviet Union, and a series of confrontations perhaps forever to be captured best in Tiananmen Square in the image of a single individual blocking the path of an onrushing military tank, a wave of optimism engulfed the Western democratic States. This contagious optimism was best exempliﬁed by the conﬁdence and popularity of Francis Fukuyama’s claim that the end of history was at hand, that the future—if that word could still be said to have the same meaning—was to become the global triumph of free market economies. At the same time many of us felt a vague sense of foreboding, a haunted sense that international changes of such magnitude were as likely to result, at least initially, and perhaps for a longtime to come, in transformations as malign as they are benign. Some of us grew tired more quickly than others of the many hasty postmortems of Marxism, as if the virtually global collapse of communism and Marxism referred to the very same thing, viii editors’ introduction especially in diﬀerent times and places as well as to diﬀerent thinkers. And yet, it seemed to many that the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, as well as democratic insurgencies in China, had created a new world order. Politici

FAQs

What does the book argue about Marx and history?

The text highlights that Marx is “haunted by history” and that Marxism is tied to political and historical forces that do not simply end.

How does the introduction connect 1989 events to debates about Marxism?

It links the fall of the Berlin Wall and Soviet dissolution to Western optimism and the claim that the end of history is near, while also emphasizing lingering foreboding and the need to rethink Marxism.

Which major issues does the introduction say require new analysis after communism’s collapse?

It points to questions about what remains of socialist visions, the fate of Marxism, the end-of-history debate, and practical crises such as homelessness, inadequate health care, environmental degradation, and national debt, alongside the rise of nationalisms and xenophobia.

Oct 12, 2026

Upload by Sarah