Engels kept hedgehogs when in Manchester, partly as pets, but in Victorian times hedgehogs were also used to clear the kitchen of insects. There is no reference in Marx and Engels Collected Works to the political perspectives of the hedgehog
However Isiah Berlin’s 1953 essay, The Hedgehog and the Fox seeks to grapple with the matter from a Tolstoyian perspective.
In his view Foxes accept a variety of perspectives on life, and are therefore acceptable to liberal capitalism. Hedgehogs by contrast are single minded, believing the world can be understood in its totality. Berlin therefore sees them as marxists.
Context is important here. Berlin was writing at the early height of the Cold War of which he was an enthusiastic supporter.
Hedgehogs are regular visitors to our central Cardiff garden. They are only woke at night however and I have yet to discuss Capital with one. Foxes are not seen. By contrast in North London foxes are regular visitors to the garden, while hedgehogs are not. A dialectical conundrum
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