Hannah Arendt Library: Karl Marx

On a recent trip to the Hannah Arendt Library at Bard College, we came across this small collection of books on economic theory. A number of titles can be identified from the photograph below. These include The Accumulation of Capital: A Contribution to an Economic Explanation of Imperialism, which is the principal work of Marxist theorist Rosa Luxemburg; Capitalism Today, a collection of 12 essays that, in the minds of some reviewers, cohere around the notion of capitalism providing unlimited material progress; and The Idea of Usury, a historical analysis of usury dating back all the way to the text of Deuteronomy.

Also readily apparent are several different copies of Karl Marx's Capital. Arendt was highly critical of some of the ideas put forth by Marx, including his reduction of all aspects of society to the fulfillment of labor and life's necessities, his characterization of social phenomena as symptoms of trans-historical processes, and his belief that self-alienation--not world-alienation, as proposed by Arendt--has dominated the modern age. No doubt these and other works of Marx played an important role in shaping Arendt's understanding of politics, economic affairs, and the world.