Notes on the national issue in the Communist Manifesto, in Marx and in Marxism

Abstract

The article is based on the notion that, in general, ideas regarding nation come from two  basic ideas. On one hand, there are those who understand nationality as a phenomenon that belongs to the essence of a people, putting it,  therefore, above the social classes. On the other hand, within a supposed and non-justified Marxist orthodoxy, there are those who understand nationality as inherent only to the phase of development of the bourgeoisie. My discussion is based on Marx's ideas, especially on the Communist Manifesto, but it extends to Luxemburg and Lenin. I suggest that the central focus of Marx's analysis and of the different Marxist followers do not take into account the themes related to the national issue and the international relations  when analysing the Revolution. The current phase, globalization - end of the 20th century and beginning of the 21st century - seems to debilitate once more the themes related to nationality, strengthening the themes in which groups, interests and social classes confront eache other, linked in the international level.