Historians call for action after second attack on Marx’s gravestone in Highgate

The London Socialist Historians Group which organises the socialist history seminar at the Institute of Historical Research at the University of London, Senate House (currently suspended due to the IWGB boycott) has called for action to be taken after it was reported that a second attack on the gravestone of Karl Marx in Highgate Cemetery has taken place in a matter of weeks.

The historians say that while they see Marxism as a set of ways of understanding the world and a guide to action rather than something that is buried in a cemetery there is no question that the attacks on Marx’s gravestone are the sign of a resurgent far and fascist right who want to deny legitimacy to the ideas of the left.

The London Socialist Historians Group will back calls for a day of action to mark the importance of Marx’s work and political activity in London. There are also calls to raise funds to repair the damage and protect the gravestone in future.

LSHG Convenor Dr Keith Flett said, if these attacks had been made on a significant memorial of, for example, Winston Churchill, imagine the media furore and the police activity. As it is a second attack on Marx’s gravestone has taken place with very little being done. We have already seen efforts to disrupt Bookmarks, the flagship socialist bookshop in central London. The aim of these attacks is to silence the ideas of the left. We are determined to stop that.

For more information please contact Keith Flett on the address above https://kmflett.wordpress.com/2019/02/16/historians-call-for-action-after-second-attack-on-marxs-gravestone-in-highgate/

Statement from Bookmarks Bookshop: https://www.facebook.com/bookmarks.bookshop/posts/2093697404052336