¹University of Warwick, Coventry, UK

Correspondence: RJ Ormerod, 26 Coulsdon Road, Sidmouth, Devon EX10 9JP, UK. E-mail: richard@rormerod.freeserve.co.uk

Received June 2006; Accepted June 2007; Published online 3 October 2007.

Abstract

The paper examines the origins of Marxism in Europe in the second half of the 19th century in the context of the industrial and political revolutions of the previous century. The philosophical, economic, social and ethical ideas of Marxism are explained and critiqued. It is suggested that although many of Marx's predictions have proved wrong and the application of his ideas often disastrous, his concern for the exploited and his emphasis on the dynamic of change still has relevance today for OR. The paper explores where that relevance lies and how advantage might be taken of the insights Marx's analysis of society offers.