(Before
you read this summary make sure you read the summary of chapter 1 of the Communist Manifesto)
Chapter
2 of the Communist Manifesto discusses the relationship between the communists
and the proletariat. The initial argument presented in the beginning of the
chapter is the communists are the purest representation of the proletariat. The communists, argue Marx and Engels, differ from other parties in
that they tap into the material course of history and represent in their ideas
not some made up ideology (Marx is highly suspicions of ideology) but rather the manifestation
of the working of historical direction and its inevitable, rather than just
desires, direction.
An important distinction made by Marx and Engels in chapter 2 of
the Communist Manifesto is that communism is an international movement rather
than national (hence "Workers of the world - unite!). For Marx (and
others) capitalism is closely associated with the nation state and the
abolition of the former will also include the abolition of the latter.
Chapter 2, picking up from the chapter 1, analyzes capitalism as dependent on private property (see Marx on the structure of capitalism society). The core goal of communism is therefore set at canceling
private property, thus bringing about a classless society. Marx and Engels also
discuss hired labor and show it exploitative nature, connecting it as well to
capitalism and its eventual demise. They even go as far as calling for the
abolition of the family since it is also a mechanism of exploitation and a
means to capitalism's ends.
The purpose of communism as presented in the chapter to create a society
without any divisions, not social, not national and not even between parents
and children. Since these goals are highly ambitious Marx and Engels conclude part
2 of the Communist Manifesto with a list of short term means and actions that
can serve to move history in the right direction.
