Karl Marx on the Jewish Question

Karl Marx’s 1843 essay On the Jewish Question has been the subject of controversy, with accusations ranging from antisemitism to an allegedly non-Marxist character of this early text. Despite his own Jewish origins, Marx’s main concern was not to analyze the Jewish religion or history. His essay was a response to Bruno Bauer’s views on Judaism, the critique of which would allow him to reflect upon the issue of political emancipation, the modern state, and civil society. While formulating the limited character of political emancipation, Marx laid grounds for the understanding that the Jewish question, or the question of the persecution and oppression of the Jews, would not end with the conquests of the French revolution. The second and most criticized part of On the Jewish Question represents a crucial moment in the development of historical materialism.