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
So, in addition to all the great recommendations, I want to put forward an additional suggestion for those who struggle to sit and just read (like myself) which is the podcast Marx Madness. They read through a lot of these and then contextualize the books since they were written about a different time and place, so the additional contextualization helps a ton. So far they’ve done: Capital, Imperialism, State and Rev, Wretched of the Earth, Black Reconstruction, Neo-Colonialism, Blood in my Eye, The Red Deal, and now they’re working on a Gramsci reader.
Here are two lists from ProleWiki:
CRITIQUE OF THE GOTHA PROGRAMME!!! I can’t stress this enough, my politics was like a Before and After picture when I read that text. I was so juvenile when I started reading it, I was like “yea man, labor creates ALL value, that’s why I’m entitled to all value I create” and Marx just dunked on me hard af like listen to 679 by Fetty Wap while looking at this image pls
At the minimum, these three should be required introductory reading for every communist:
I found YouTube links in your comment. Here are links to the same videos on alternative frontends that protect your privacy:
Link 1:
Link 2:
Link 3:
https://voidnetwork.gr/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Power-A-Radical-View-Steven-Lukes.pdf
The basis in Marx and Engels for Gramsci’s idea is their claim that the ‘ideas of the ruling class are in every epoch the ruling ideas: i.e., the class, which is the ruling material force of society, is at the same time its ruling intellectual force. The class which has the means of material production at its disposal, has control at the same time over the means of mental pro- duction, so that thereby, generally speaking, the ideas of those who lack the means of mental production are subject to it’ (Marx and Engels 1965[1845]: 60). For discussions of Gramsci on hegemony, see Williams 1965 and Bates 1975
