Karl Marx’s Account of Revolution and the Free Rider Problem, Revisited

The YTL Centre for Politics, Philosophy and Law is delighted to host Dr Jan Kandiyali for the 26/27 KJuris programme.
About this Event

Time: 17:00-19:00

Venue: Council Room, King's College London, Strand Campus, WC2R 2LS

Title: Karl Marx’s Account of Revolution and the Free Rider Problem, Revisited

Abstract:

Karl Marx’s account of revolution is often thought to face a free-rider problem. Contribution to revolutionary activity is costly, and it is highly unlikely that any single individual’s contribution will make a difference to the outcome. Moreover, if socialism is achieved, the benefits will be freely available to all irrespective of prior contribution. As such, it has been argued that the rational course of action – one that maximizes each agent’s welfare – is to free-ride off the efforts of others. In this talk I draw on themes from Marx’s early writings to provide a novel solution to this problem. The basic idea is simple: the good of revolution is not independent of one’s contribution to it; rather, participation in revolutionary activity is constitutive of the good itself. It follows that those who attempt to ‘free ride’ off the efforts of others are not enjoying the benefits while avoiding the costs. They are missing (some of) the benefits. Having sketched the solution, I defend it against the various objections it elicits.

Speaker Bio:

Jan Kandiyali is Associate Professor in Political Theory in the School of Government and International Affairs at Durham University. His publications include the monograph Flourishing Together: Karl Marx’s Vision of the Good Society(Oxford University Press, 2026), and articles in the journals Ethics, Political Philosophy, Politics, Philosophy & Economics, and Philosophical Quarterly.