What would you consider necessary theory to read?
What would you consider necessary theory to read?
Hey all,
We all know the importance of reading theory, but with so many leaders with so many works what should we consider absolutely necessary reading for an committed communist, and what is, for lack of a better term, supplemental?
While reading everything would be nice, there is so much to read, not mentioning works by other authors and theorists, that I'm not sure if reading literally everything Marx or Lenin wrote is the most helpful. Some works will be more universal and others, while still containing important information, may be more niche and specific.
I'll admit I'm probably a terrible Marxist for not having read anything from Marx, or Engels, besides the manifesto. But again, Marx and Engels have a lot of works and knowing what is more important than others I think would be helpful for everyone, especially baby Marxists. How important is reading Kapital, The Civil War in France, Critique of the Gotha Program, On the Origins of the Family, etc? Which should be prioritized over others?
I've read more Lenin but not much, only State and Revolution and Left-wing Communism. I'm trying to get through the beginning of Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism but it's so hard, so many facts and I'm not sure what he's even saying with them.
I also want to read Mao and have absolutely no idea where to even start there.
What would you say are the most important and necessary works of foundational leaders and theorists (Marx, Engels, Lenin, Mao)? Here's my list so far:
Marx Engels Lenin: State and Revolution, Left-wing Communism: An Infantile Disorder Mao
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you don't necessarily have to read the original works to be exposed to their content, but for some introductory reading:
- Wage Labour and Capital (Marx), to understand the basics of capitalism
- The State and Revolution (Lenin), to understand what a state is and what statelessness is (e.g. it doesn't necessarily mean there's no central government)
- Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism (Lenin), to understand imperialism
- Something that explains dialectical materialism, e.g. Anarchism or Socialism? (Stalin)
- Something about colonialism and its connection to capitalism, e.g. The Wretched of the Earth (Fanon)
it's practically impossible to read every work of Marxist/Marxist-adjacent theory, so your choices beyond the introductory stuff should be based on your own circumstances
I second this list. Theory, as you know, doesn’t just come from Marx, Lenin, and their contemporaries; theory is constantly being developed and refined. Marx and Lenin were, of course, brilliant theorists in their own right, but reading only their works will never give us a full picture of our current material conditions. Here are some works that I recommend that weren’t on the original list and are more recent:
- Settlers by J. Sakai. Being primarily a history book, you don't necessarily need a deep understanding of Marxism to understand its thesis, but it's an absolutely necessary read to get a better grasp on settler-colonialism and its relationships.
- Trans Liberation by Leslie Feinberg. The gender and liberation movements are central to Marxism, and Feinberg brilliantly shows the connections between the movements and the wider proletarian movement.
- Socialism with Chinese Characteristics by Roland Boer. A wide-encompassing book that looks at the political economy, culture, and history of China. One of the most important features of this book is how Boer firmly explains what classes are and how socio-historical conditions shape them.
- Elementary Principles of Philosophy by Georges Politzer. This book goes through materialism, idealism, dialectics, metaphysics, and the broad history of these philosophies. Most importantly, it shows how to put into practice the dialectical method and why it's important.
- Political Economy: A Beginner's Course by A. Leontiev. This book goes through the most important aspects of Capital volumes 1-3 and Imperialism, the Highest Stages of Capitalism.