Support the "Historical-Critical Dictionary of Marxism"

 "A message in the bottle for a different future." - Fredric Jameson

Nine volumes of the Historical-Critical Dictionary of Marxism have been published since 1994 - with around 1,200 keyword articles ranging from A for "Abbau des Staates" (dismantling the state) to N for "Nazismus" (Nazism). When the dictionary reaches its conclusion at Z, six more volumes will have been added. More than 800 academics from all over the world have participated in the project to date. And its impact has long been international - translations into English, Spanish, Chinese, and Turkish are available and still in progress.

The ambiguous title of the Historical-Critical Dictionary of Marxism is programmatic: the thematic field is opened up on the one hand by questions pertaining to Marx, i.e. to his work and the history of his impact, and on the other hand by questions raised by Marx, which focuses on the relations of domination and exploitation past and present, and thus speaks to the crises and struggles of today's world. The dictionary does not present a closed world view, but is an open workshop - plural and experience-based.

The dictionary has long straddled the divide between impatient leftist activism and sober academic analysis. But today there are other challenges as well: While prices and costs are rising everywhere, spaces are shrinking - namely those spaces in which critical theory can take shape and is in demand. Sponsors who have supported the dictionary's work to date are themselves being forced to make drastic cuts. This means that the dictionary is facing an uncertain future.

It therefore needs your support now!

Work on the next volume of the dictionary - ranging from N for "Nebenwiderspruch" (secondary contradiction) to Ö for "Ökosozialismus" (eco socialism) - is already in full swing. An editorial team of volunteers, without whose commitment the dictionary project would not exist, is supported by a staff of four employees, each with half-time positions, who ensure continuity and provide support.

In order to avoid layoffs and cuts to the most essential aspects of dictionary work, it is important to replace the financial pillars that are collapsing - and to close the looming budget gap before the entire dictionary cooperative begins to falter.

We owe its completion to future generations. It’s too precious to give up now. Get involved!

 "The whole enterprise is a project in the best sense of the word: a venture based on solidarity and cooperation; something 'thrown forward', as the original Latin puts it. [...] In a society in which connection, experience and memory are subject to a creeping devaluation, such intergenerational projects do not only document individual achievements. They are indispensable documents of the social and cultural cohesion of a society." - Oskar Negt