]> 2026-05-04T12:45:17+00:00 Freedom of Association/Philosophical Origins/Tradition contributions/Marxism 0 en One central idea of Marx’s theory is the free association of producers. That is, workers are able to freely determine what associations and organizations they can form to contribute to the economy (Fetscher, [[Probable year:: 1973]], 459). Though this is not what one would conventionally describe as free association - which usually refers more to civic and political groups - it is an interesting contribution to the study of free association. In Volume One of Capital, Marx states the following: “The lifeprocess of society, which is based on the process of material production, does not strip off its mystical veil until it is treated as production by freely associated men, and is consciously regulated by them in accordance with a settled plan. This, however, demands for society a certain material groundwork or set of conditions of existence which in their turn are the spontaneous product of a long and painful process of development” ([[Probable year:: 1867]]) . References: Fetscher, Irving “Karl Marx on Human Nature,” Social Research Fall 1973; 40, 3; Periodicals Archive Online Marx 1867: https://web.stanford.edu/~davies/Symbsys100-Spring0708/Marx-Commodity-Fetishism.pdf 1867 1973 2402967.5 2441683.5 What have religious and philosophical traditions contributed to our understanding of this right? 2023-04-24T02:33:57Z 2460058.6069097 Freedom of Association/Philosophical Origins/Tradition contributions/Marxism Page name 102 en Page name