Help me find the books which will help me the most!

[Niggel]

Dear friends!

I would like to hear some ideas about what my next learning steps should be and which books/texts I should read.

I have read some basic stuff like Communist Manifesto, The Capital 1-3 and Killing Hope: US Military Interventions (Imperialism). I have read more, but just to give you a quick overview. Lately I have read Kropotkin (Mutual Aid, Conquest of Bread, Factories and Workshops) which I enjoyed so much. Afterwards I looked into anrcho-syndicalism as well (Rocker, Chomsky and Prodhoun; in addition I read Parecon by Michael Albert but not sure if this counts as anarcho-syndicalist). I think they have good ideas and valid points which seem valid for me but I did not take as much out of them as I did from reading Kropotkin. I just seem to agree with the latter on every point and I felt blown away after reading his work(s).


Different routes I am considering:


Reading every little bit by Kropotkin
Broadening my general knowledge about the revolutionary left by reading different works from different authors who belong to different branches of Anarchism/Communism
Getting good Ideas from the community from the community about works/authors who are anarcho-syndicalist but are less known or I have not been able to find yet! Is there a scientific debate nowadays?

I am aware that there exists a reading list and many ressources here on the forum but I am just not sure where to begin and what books can get me the furthest. :(

It would be greatly appreciated if you could give me any input! Maybe you have been at a similar point before and can give me advice. I do not have much spare time and do not want to work lots of books which are of little value to me! Links are always appreciated.

Thank you very much in advance! This forum has brought me so far already – thanks!

Regards
Niggel

[NoOneIsIllegal]

1. Getting good Ideas from the community from the community about works/authors who are anarcho-syndicalist but are less known or I have not been able to find yet! Is there a scientific debate nowadays
You may want to check out the books:
Anarcho-syndicalism in the 20th Century by Vadim Damier
(History, obviously)
Black Flame: The Revolutionary Class Politics of Anarchism and Syndicalism by Michael Schmidt and Lucien van der Walt
(Ideas and practices of anarchism/syndicalism)

If you've read plenty of Kropotkin and Rocker, you probably get the drift of these books, but they're still essential reading if you have the time and money.

Besides what you've read of Kropotkin (Mutual Aid, Conquest of Bread, Fields Factories and Workshops), you may want to check out "Anarchism: A Collection of Revolutionary Writings (http://akpress.com/2002/items/anarchismacollectionofrevolutionarywritings)" by Kropotkin (I haven't read this personally yet, just the aforementioned books) I would also recommend checking out "At the Cafe (http://akpress.com/2006/items/atthecafeconversationsonanarchism)" by Errico Malatesta.

[Arilou Lalee'lay]

Unbiased history is very important. If you want to start with the Russian revolution, I'd recommend The Russian Revolution by Sheila Fitzpatrick, Notes of a Red Guard, and if you have time and want some light reading, Chernyshevsky's What is to be Done. The latter gives great insight into both the utopian socialists and what was going on in Lenin's head. Also Lenin's The State and Revolution.

I think many Leftists don't focus nearly enough on alienation and the crappiness of life under capitalism, even if you didn't have to work. For these topics, check out Society of the Spectacle and The Revolution of Everyday Life. Both are online, difficult, and to be taken with a grain of salt.

If cultural theory is interesting to you, John Storey's book Cultural Theory and Popular Culture is a great start, or you could jump strait into the Frankfurt school, many of their papers can be found on Marxists.org iirc.

For analysis of the capitalist media and prison system, look up McChesney's Corporate Media and the Threat to Democracy and Reiman's The Rich Get Richer, the Poor Get Prison.

Those are the readings that have shaped my theory the most, and I started off as a syndicalist.

[The Idler]

How to Be a Communist (http://www.wikihow.com/Be-a-Communist)

How to Be a Socialist (http://www.wikihow.com/Be-a-Socialist)

How to Be an Anarchist (http://www.wikihow.com/Be-an-Anarchist)