Why Is Marx Classical? : The 18Th Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte and Marxist Legacy in Historical Sociology

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to partially provide an answer for the critical question of "Why Is Classical Theory Classical," in the case of Karl Marx. This paper argues that Marx, as the canon of sociology is still relevant because of his contribution to contemporary sociology in his discussion of class formation and the comparative analysis of social revolutions, and that his classical work The 18th Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte has been extremely influential in shaping the theory and the method of contemporary sociology. I discuss how concepts and comparison in The 18th Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte provided a basis for further sociological studies, such as E. P. Thompson's study on English working class formation as well as Barrington Moore's comparisons among bourgeois revolution, revolution from above, and peasant revolution.