Reading `Opium of the People': Expression, Protest and the Dialectics of Religion

Abstract

Marx's phrase `opium of the people' is one of the most frequently quoted lines he ever wrote; perhaps because of that, it has been just as frequently misunderstood. By returning to the various meanings of opium in the mid-19th century, I revisit Marx's analysis, offering a way of reading the metaphor that is more consistent with Marx's dialectical method. The paper provides a revised analysis of Marx's “Towards a Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right: Introduction”, as well as suggestions about how this new more open-ended reading can contribute to Marxian analyses of religious beliefs and practices in late capitalism.