Marx in London | Nikhil Sanjay-Rekha Adsule

Time seemed to be paused and basking in the serene atmosphere, we were sipping our hot coffee. The very pleasant British climate provided much energy at Hendon Central in London for me and Comrade. Prakash Reddy. His infectious energy was evident in our conversation while discussing the recently conducted Lok Sabha Elections as well as the British Elections. While chit chatting on the Left Movement in Maharashtra, he out of no context asked me whether I had visited the places in central London, associated with Karl Marx. I jolted back and started thinking how could I have not thought about visiting the places where Karl Marx must have adorned.I had known about it, in fact known about utopian socialism in Britain, but still it didn’t occur to me to think on those lines. I made a mental note of it and promised Comrade. Reddy that I shall definitely visit them next time.

The above episode happened in June. I returned back to India and started meticulously planning my next visit to London, especially keeping at least 3 days to visit the places associated with Karl Marx. In September, I got the much awaited opportunity to implement my plans. After finishing my work at London School of Economics, equipped with my meticulously prepared notes, I ventured excitedly to search for ‘Marx in London’.

Soho

Before I illustrate, let me confess, I had the best experience of my Life for the next two days. To begin with a historical understanding Karl Marx was expelled successively from Prussia, France, Belgium and thus with a firm belief in his materialist framework to understand history he came to London, thinking it to be a temporary stay.

I first visited Soho, located in Central London.

It was the place where Karl Marx shifted to from his earlier residence at Leicester square (popular for German migrants). He first stayed here in flat no 64 and later changed it to flat no 28. This place located in the heart of London was a multicultural habitus that may have had an impact on his writings and personality. Even the famous writer, Charles Dickens has written about this place which was swarmed with book shops, restaurants, refugees and great meeting points for the people. While talking with some visitors from Austria, they told me Soho was loved to hearts content by Marx as it was vibrant with many social interactions and he also took picnics to the nearby Hampstead Heath.

Kentish Town

Next, I ventured to Kentish town. The history goes as, in 1856, Marx shifted away from Central London in a spacious eight room house in Kentish Town. Later, he moved from there to another nearby house at 1 Modena Villas. When I visited those places, I could sense how Karl Marx must have experienced serenity, away from the hustle bustle of London which must have given him required peace and privacy to focus on his rigorous intellectual work. But, still records show that he used to come to Central London via bus and moreover, in those times too when Marx moved here it was already well connected by Railways. I pondered, had Marx embraced the chaos that he was acquainted with in Central London or was he thinking of silence as refuge of the privileged or elitist ? With these questions I ended my day !

The modu-vivendi of Marx

Next day, I ventured to a formerly called Red Lion pub at 20 Great Windmill Street, which housed the London branch of the Communist League. It was here, Marx and Engels had written, The Communist Manifesto. It was also the home to the German Workers Educational Society, founded in 1840 and lasted into the twentieth century. It is said that this way the place loved by Marx and here, drank merrily, smoked, dined to his heart’s content and in fact played chess also.

Later, while roaming in ChinaTown area, famous for its varied eateries, it is said it was here where Marx used to meet his fellow comrades and exiled radicals.

While reading and talking with curious visitors I got to know more about the connection of Marx and Soho. It is from Soho, he used to walk all the way to the British Museum Reading Room where he wrote his famous Das Kapital. Here, the later greats like Lenin, Ambedkar, Gandhi Sun-yet-sen, Silvia Pankhurst, Oscar Wilde also spent considerable amounts of time sharpening their intellect. Later, when he shifted to Kentish town, which I had visited earlier, he took a bus to reach the British Museum library and sometimes brought his daughters along to help him with his research work.

37a Clerkenwell Green

My research led me to a place which houses Marx Memorial Library (estd. 1933) as well as Workers school. This place was indirectly linked to Marx but had radically connected to the Marxist movement. It was here, where the first edition of British socialist paper i.e Red Republican was printed. Also, from here only the votes for women suffragette newspapers were published. Along with the above, in this place around seventeen issues of Lenin’s newspaper, Iskra were published. Thus, visiting here felt like experiencing a praxis of Marxism and Feminism.

Marx in peace ?

Marx, passed away in 1883. He and his partner Jenny (who passed away in 1881) were buried in a cemetery at Highgate. In 1954, their remains were moved to a more prominent place in the same cemetery. Here stands the monument of Marx surrounded by the graves of other radical figures of famous historian Eric Hobsbawm, Journalist cum activist Claudia Jones, and British sociologist Ralph Miliband. This was the last leg of my tour.

I sat for considerable amount of time here, basking in the memories of the works of Marx, imagining what he must have felt or thought about his works, thinking loudly whether he had an iota of idea that a person from India (His famous - Asiatic Mode of Production) would come here and sit near his grave, thanking him for existing in this world and guiding millions for challenging the man crafted inequalities and injustices ?

(Authors: Nikhil Sanjay-Rekha Adsule, Senior Research Scholar, IIT-DELHI.
LLM, TISS (Best Canditate). Dewey Emerging Scholar, U.S.A. DAIC Fellow, Min of Social Justice & Empowerment))