Magnus Møller Ziegler

I am a Danish academic and researcher with a background in the history of philosophy but a broad orienation toward intellectual history more generally.

My research interests sit at the intersection of intellectual history, the history of philosophy, and social theory. The overarching topic of my research is the intellectual discourse of the German Vormärz period (c. 1820-1848), especially the intellectual, political, and social reception of G.W.F. Hegel's philosophy. I am mainly interested in Young Hegelianism, but also in the formation and development of the Hegelian school more broadly, and in the debates in which they participated: about constitutionalism, freedom of the press, and the relationship between religion, the state, and politics, etc. Finally, I also work on Karl Marx as both an integral part of and an outlier in these debates.

Currently, I am trying to finish my Ph.D. dissertation on Young Hegelian continuities in Karl Marx's Capital, which I hope to hand in ✨Soon✨, though a global pandemic, small children, several precarious jobs, and other nuisances have all done their part to halt my best efforts. I am also the Managing Editor of the academic journal Acta Sociologica; I am an Assistant Lecturer in the Department of Political Science, UCPH, where I teach philosophy of science, political theory, and sociology; and finally, I review books (and sometimes write articles) for the Danish daily Dagbladet Information.

I was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1989 and still live there with my partner and our two children. Along the way, I have also lived in Wales, mainly in Cardiff but also up north for a bit. In 2019 I had a brief stay in Oxford where I visited for Hilary term to work with David Leopold at the Department of Politics and International Relations and Mansfield College.

Having two small children means I mainly spend time with my family, but I also enjoy having beers with friends in quiet pubs, collecting books, listening to podcasts (mainly history and politics) and 90s hip hop, and looking at ancient stone dolmen.

my research.

areas of specialisation.

Hegelianism, esp. Young Hegelianism ⁕ Karl Marx ⁕ intellectual history of the German Vomärz period (c. 1820-1848) ⁕ Friedrich Engels

areas of competence & interest.

G.W.F. Hegel ⁕ history of political thought ⁕ philosophy of science ⁕ German idealism ⁕ intellectual history of Marxism (c. 1840-1970) ⁕ Søren Kierkegaard ⁕ intellectual history of the Danish 'Golden Age' (c. 1800-1860) ⁕ digital humanities and text-as-data methods ⁕ critical theory ⁕ Aristotle

current working papers &c.

NB! Please do not cite without permission.

• "On the wider Young Hegelian origins of Marx's concept of alienation" [PDF]
• "Fowl Play: Owls, Eagles, and the Future in Marx and the Young Hegelians" [PDF]
• "Cannibals and Animals of Capital" [PDF]
• "All or Nothing: Althusser, Feuerbach and the Method of Inversion" [PDF]
• "Young Hegelianism in Engels's Evaluation of Hegel and Feuerbach" [PDF]
• "Macedonians and Teutons: Symbolic Topography and Metaphors of Space in Young Hegelianism" [PDF]
• "A Queer Reading of Karl Marx’s Relationship to K. F. Köppen"

publications.

forthcoming.

1. Kohei Saito. Marx og det antropocæne. Mod idéen om modvækstskommunisme, translated by Magnus Møller Ziegler (København: Djøf Forlag). (Under contract.)
2. Magnus Møller Ziegler. Review of Jon Stewart, Hegel's Century. Alienation and Recognition in a Time of Revolution (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2022), in Hegel Bulletin, 2023.
3. Magnus Møller Ziegler, "Skinner, Wood og kontekstens toleddede problem", i Filosofiens idéhistorie, red. Mikkel Thorup (København: Baggrund).

2022.

4. Magnus Møller Ziegler, Jakob Bek-Thomsen, Bertel Nygaard, & Anne Engelst Nørgaard (eds.), Kapitalen på dansk. Marx-læsninger gennem 150 år (Aarhus: Forlaget Slagmark, 2022).
5. Magnus Møller Ziegler, "Edgar Bauer", in Den Store Danske, Lex.dk (March 2022). [online]
6. Søren Harnow Clausen; Magnus Møller Ziegler, "hegelianisme", in Den Store Danske, Lex.dk (February 2022). [online]

2021.

7. Magnus Møller Ziegler, "På sporet af kapitalens magt", review of Søren Mau, Stum tvang (Klim 2021), Magasinet Arbejderen nr. 5, 2021. [online]

2020.

8. Magnus Møller Ziegler, review of Douglas Burnham & Peter Lamb: The First Marx: A Philosophical Introduction, in Marx & Philosophy Review of Books, May 6 2020. [online]

2018.

9. Tobias Dias & Magnus Møller Ziegler, "Karl Marx: Redaktionelt forord", Slagmark 77 (June 2018): 7-20. [online] [PDF]
10. Tobias Dias & Magnus Møller Ziegler, "Marx i Amerika: Et interview med professor Andrew Hartman", Slagmark 77 (June 2018): 133-148.
11. Karl Marx; Arnold Ruge, "To breve (1843)". Translated by Magnus Møller Ziegler, Slagmark 77 (June 2018): 97-102. [PDF]
12. Magnus Møller Ziegler, "To breve af Arnold Ruge og Karl Marx", Slagmark 77 (June 2018): 87-96. [PDF]

2017.

13. Tobias Dias & Magnus Møller Ziegler, "Marx in the United States. An Interview", U.S. Intellectual History Blog, October 4 2017. [online]
14. Magnus Møller Ziegler, "Verdens vigtigste værk”, Dagbladet Arbejderen, September 14 2017. [online]

presentations.

conferences.

1. "Om den bredere unghegelianske baggrund for Marx fremmedgørelsesbegreb". 2023 annual meeting. Danish Philosophical Society. Danmarks institut for Pædagogik og Uddannelse, Aarhus Universitet. Copenhagen, 4 March 2023.
2. "On the Wider Young Hegelian Origins of Marx's Concept of Alienation". Marx and the Critique of Humanism. University of Lisbon, 7-8 November 2022.
3. "Fowl Play. Owls, Eagles, and the Future in Marx and the Young Hegelians." Capital, Climate, Crisis. 6th Annual Conference of the Danish Society for Marxist Studies. Aalborg Universitet. Aalborg, 2 October 2021.
4. "Young Hegelianism in Engels's Evaluation of Hegel and Feuerbach".Colóquio Engels: Bicentenário do nascimento. Universidade de Lisboa. Lisbon, 17 November 2020. [Via Zoom].
5. "All or Nothing: A Critique of Althusser’s Conception of Feuerbach". Historical Materialism 15th Annual Conference. SOAS University of London. London, November 2018.
6. "Alt eller intet: En kritik af Althussers opfattelse af Feuerbach". 2018 Annual Meeting, Danish Philosophical Society. University of Roskilde. Roskilde, March 2018.
7. "Friedrich Engels and Marxism as the Apex of Human Thought". 2017 General Conference, European Consortium for Political Research. University of Oslo. Oslo, September 2017.
8. "Duzbrüder: Edgar Bauer og hans forhold til Marx". Marx Nu! 1st Annual Conference of the Danish Society for Marxist Studies. Aarhus University. Aarhus, September 2016.
9. "Engels’ anvendelse af hegelianske begreber". 2016 Annual Meeting, Danish Philosophical Society. University of Copenhagen. Copenhagen, March 2016.

seminars &c.

1. Research Unit for the History of Political and Economic Thought. Aarhus University, Department of Philosophy and the History of Ideas. Aarhus, 7 October 2020.
2. Research Unit for German Idealism and Post-Idealism. Aarhus University, Department of Philosophy and the History of Ideas. Aarhus, 17 December 2019.
3. "Karl Marx and the Young Hegelians". Critical Social Theory at McGill seminar. McGill University. Montréal, QC, 7 December 2019.
4. "Karl Marx og karrieren". Pædagogisk Filosofisk Forening. Aarhus, 1 November 2019.
5. Research Unit for the History of Political and Economic Thought. Aarhus University, Department of Philosophy and the History of Ideas. Aarhus, 24 April 2019.
6. "Karl Marx og karrieren". Pædagogisk Filosofisk Forening. Copenhagen, 5 October 2018.

extra-academic writings, media, &c.

1. Magnus Møller Ziegler, "Happy Halloween! Det er kapitalismen, der er monstret". Dagbladet Information, 28 October 2023. [online].
2. Magnus Møller Ziegler, "Neoliberalismen er forhadt, men hvad betyder det egentlig? Ny bog giver et overraskende svar", review of Jacob Jensen, The Marketizers. Public Choice and the Origin of the Neoliberal Order (London: Goldsmiths Press 2023). Dagbladet Information, 24 June 2023. [online].
3. Magnus Møller Ziegler, "Ny bog opruller oprørsbekæmpelsens idéhistorie – og dens talrige nederlag", review of Joseph MacKay, The Counterinsurgent Imagination. A New Intellectual History (Cambridge University Press, 2023). Dagbladet Information, 4 March 2023. [online].
4. Magnus Møller Ziegler, "Hvad tuder vi for? Måske findes en del af svaret i 1700-tallets Frankrig", review of Marco Menin, Thinking About Tears. Crying and Weeping in Long-Eighteenth-Century France (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2022). Dagbladet Information, 17 December 2022. [online].
5. Magnus Møller Ziegler, "Kan fløjene mødes i politik? Nok ikke", interview by Svend Brinkmann, in Brinkmanns briks, DR P1, 19 October 2022. 55 mins. [online].
6. Magnus Møller Ziegler, "Fornuft ved første blik", Dagbladet Information, 22 November 2022. [online].
7. Magnus Møller Ziegler, "Hærværk mod valgplakater kan godt være en legitim politisk handling", Dagbladet Information, 6 November 2021. [online]
8. Magnus Møller Ziegler, "Druedahls kritik af Søren Mau viser, at han ikke formår at sætte sig ud over markedslogikken", Dagbladet Information, 27 October 2021. [online]
9. Magnus Møller Ziegler, "Arven efter Hegel kan hjælpe os med at forstå vor tids klimakampe", op-ed, Dagbladet Information, 27 August 2020, pp. 14-15. [online]
10. Magnus Møller Ziegler, "Rücksichtslose Kritik alles Bestehenden", junge Welt, May 5 2018.
11. Magnus Møller Ziegler, "Marx 200. Marx in Context: The Beginnings of a Critical Theory”, Morning Star, May 4 2018. [online]
12. Magnus Møller Ziegler, "Marx 200 år. Træk af en ung Karl Marx", Dagbladet Arbejderen, May 4 2018. [online]
13. Magnus Møller Ziegler, "Roskilde Festival: Das größte Festival Nordeuropas als reaktionäres Massenphänomen”, Melodie & Rythmus (No. 5), September-October 2014
14. Magnus Møller Ziegler, "Post hoc! Valget er fyldt med logiske fejlslutninger", Kommunikationsforum, June 11 2015. [online]

teaching.

current.

• Philosophy of Science and Methodology (Department of Political Science, UCPH, recurring)
• Marx for the 21st Century (Deparment of Political Science, UCPH, Spring 2021, 2024) [syllabus]

previous.

• Sociology 101 (Department of Political Science, UCPH, Spring 2021, 2022)
• BA project seminars & supervision (Department of Political Science, UCPH, Spring 2021)
• History of Philosophy 2 (Deparment of Philosophy and the History of Ideas, AU, Spring 2018)
• Political philosophy graduate seminars (Deparment of Philosophy and the History of Ideas, AU, Fall 2019)

services, affiliations, &c.

current.

• Member of the the executive commitee, Danish Society for Marxist Studies (2015-); co-organiser, annual conference 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023
• Member of the Danish Philosophical Society
• Member of the Hegel Society of Great Britain
• Member of the Internationale Hegel-Gesellschaft

previous.

• Member of the editorial board, Slagmark - Tidskrift of idéhistorie (2017-2022); acting editor-in-chief (2020)

find me.

If you would like to send me a nice letter, a copy of your latest book, or even a death threat due to my exceedingly controversial views on the relationship between Karl Marx and K.F. Köppen, please feel free to do so. I am also open for enquiries concerning research, events, speaking engagements, job opportunities, collaborations, articles, etc. etc. Contact me at:

Magnus Møller Ziegler
Bårsevej 3
DK-2650 Hvidovre
Denmark

magmoelzieg[at]gmail[dot]com

Mastodon [@magnusz@mastodon.nu]

University of Copenhagen employee page

Bluesky

Twitter