State and Law in young Marx: epistemological and theoretical elements from a post-Marxist approach

Abstract

This paper seeks to identify some epistemological and theoretical paths in young Marx´s writings about law, in order to suggest a critique of current state and law from a post-Marxist view. First, the paper argues that young Marx draws the basis for a materialist and political critique of law against idealistic and dogmatic approaches. Second, the bourgeois opposition between unreal generality and real individuality -identified by the young Marx – allows us to analyse law as a juridical form rather than a utopian or essential content of the social. Finally, the young Marxian distinction between political emancipation and human emancipation leads us to think, on the one hand, about the juridical institution of the liberal individual – as isolated monads – and, on the other hand, about the intimate relationship between law and its transgression.