A court in Hamburg, Germany, has stated in the details of a ruling concerning a Karl Marx reading group that Marx’s teachings may be contrary to the “free democratic basic order.”
On April 8, the “Marxist School of Politics and Culture Forum” (Masch) won its case against the State Office for the Protection of the Constitution (LfV) in the Hamburg Administrative Court.
The court ruled that the authorities could no longer classify the Hamburg-based association as “left-wing extremist.” Masch had won its lawsuit against its inclusion in the organization’s 2021 report and the revocation of its non-profit status in the same year.
Lack of ‘active militant attitude’ saved a Marx association, but…
Now, as reported by taz, it has emerged that this legal victory could backfire like a boomerang and pose a danger to all Marx reading circles in Germany.
The reason for this lies in what the Hamburg court wrote in its written decision on July 10. It is a common practice for courts to explain the precise reasons for their decisions in writing only weeks later, but the content of the decision is considered surprising.
The court affirmed its ruling in favor of Masch, declaring its inclusion in the constitutional protection report unlawful. However, it did so because its members lacked the “active militant attitude” to actually harm the constitution.
Court rules Marx is incompatible with the ‘free democratic basic order’
Masch has been active since 1981. It is best known in Hamburg for its annual reading groups on the first volume of Marx’s work Capital, but the group also publishes books and frequently organizes discussion events, often at the University of Hamburg.
It sees itself in the tradition of workers’ educational associations and Marxist workers’ schools and, by its own account, exhibits a “non-dogmatic and critical approach to Marxist theory.”
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