Karl Marx’s conceptions of the bureaucratic structure and its implicative significance

Resumo

Marx’s conception of the bureaucratic structure represents an important yet insufficiently explored component of his theoretical legacy, despite its enduring theoretical and practical relevance for contemporary societies. Rather than treating bureaucracy merely as an administrative or technical apparatus, Marx approached it as a historically constituted form of power embedded in the social contradictions of modernity. By examining the cultural and ethical–political dimensions of bureaucracy within Marx’s empirically grounded and economically determinist framework, this study seeks to illuminate how bureaucratic practices, norms, and institutional logics are shaped by material conditions and class relations. On this basis, it critically reassesses Marx’s insights from the standpoint of contemporary theoretical debates on bureaucracy, power, and governance, thereby highlighting both the continuing significance and the theoretical limits of his approach in understanding modern forms of political organization.