After bonapartism. historical vicissitudes of a political concept

Abstract

Considered the most important historical work of Karl Marx, The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte not only offers the immediate account of a complex episode of the French 19th century, but has been recognized as a source of original ideas for historiography and political theory. This work attempts to situate Marx's book in the development of his theory, pointing out some topics in which he distances himself from previous conceptions of it, for example those embodied, with Engels, in the famous Communist Manifesto. In particular, the scope of central notions such as that of the State or class struggle is reviewed. Likewise, the contributions of two new editions in Spanish are highlighted. In the critical studies that accompany them, emphasis is placed on the validity of different categories set forth in The Eighteenth Brumaire, in particular the notions of republic and “Bonapartism.” An attempt is made here to evaluate these visions and develop that of “Bonapartism”, now apparently replaced by a broad use of the word “populism”.