Left communist reading recommendations please.

[Susurrus]

I am looking for some good classic left communist texts that are either essays I can find online or books I can look for IRL. What are your favorites?

[Искра]

Lenin: http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1920/lwc/index.htm
Gorter: http://www.marxists.org/archive/gorter/1920/open-letter/index.htm

and then this:
Bourrinet, Philippe
The Bordigist Current (http://libcom.org/files/p.bourrinet%20-%20the%20%27bordigist%27%20current.pdf)
The German/Dutch Communist Leftt (http://libcom.org/files/dutchleft.pdf)

[Искра]

Also, you can read this:
Workers' Opposition (http://www.marxists.org/archive/kollonta/1921/workers-opposition/index.htm) (A. Kollontai)

and ICC has a lot of good books about Dutch/German current, about British left, about Italian left and about Russian left. You can find some of them over on Amazon.com.

There are some of interesting text on KAPD over on libcom.org (just search for them!) etc.

Also, Bordiga's Fundaments of Revolutionary Communism (http://theoryandpractice.org.uk/library/fundamentals-revolutionary-communism-part-1-amadeo-bordiga-1957) is something you should check.

[Susurrus]

Is Bordiga really to be considered a left communist? I've always thought him to be a leninist of sorts.

[Omsk]

Italian Communist Left: Bordiga http://marxists.org/archive/bordiga/index.htm
North Communist Left: Anton Pannekoek http://marxists.org/archive/pannekoe/index.htm

Rosa Luxemburg was also very influental among the later left communists.

[ The Accumulation of Capital: A Contribution to an Economic Explanation of Imperialism , 1906: The Mass Strike ,1900: Reform or Revolution]

You could also take a peak at: The Right of Nations to Self-Determination: "Practicality" In The National Question (http://marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1914/self-det/ch04.htm) [Related to Rosa]


Is Bordiga really to be considered a left communist? I've always thought him to be a leninist of sorts.

He considered himself a leninist.

[Искра]

Is Bordiga really to be considered a left communist? I've always thought him to be a leninist of sorts.
What is left communist?
What is leninist?

Most of left communists could be leninist, after all we support 3rd International until 3rd Congress in 1921. Also, left communism, communist left or "ultra-left" is more like a historical term to mark certain groups within communist movement.

Also, there are two majory currents which form "left communism": Dutch/German, which latter turned into council communism, and Italian, "bordigist".

So yeah, Bordiga was left communist.

He was also cool and kicked Stalin's ass... also he hated hippies and he's writing like he has an OCD which is why I love him.... ;)

[Искра]

Rosa Luxemburg was not left communist, but she influenced left communists with her Acumulation of Capital, which was used to form a theory of Capitalist Decedence (http://en.internationalism.org/pamphlets/decadence).

Also her writings on national question etc. were quite important.

[Omsk]

Rosa Luxemburg was not left communist, but she influenced left communists


I know,although Rosa Luxemburg died before left communist actually became a tendency,her writings made heavy impact on the German and Dutch left communists.
As for the revolution in Russia,i think that a lot of the left communists support the revolution,but disapprove of the methods used in the revolution.

On a side note,WW2 was devastating for left communism,as Italy fell to fascists and Germany to nazis..

[NoOneIsIllegal]

Rosa Luxemburg was also very influental among the later left communists.

[ The Accumulation of Capital: A Contribution to an Economic Explanation of Imperialism , 1906: The Mass Strike ,1900: Reform or Revolution
Reading some Luxemburg is good stuff. However, if anyone is relatively new to Marxist theory or Luxemburg herself, read the latter two first ("The Mass Strike" and "Reform or Revolution")
Her most theoretical and highly intellectual book, The Accumulation of Capital, is not for the weak. You can't tackle this book without first reading & understanding Capital, especially Capital vol. 2
I plan on trying to understand this mind-fuck someday. Otherwise, her other writings are fairly easy to grasp and good stuff.

[Caj]

I recently read this: http://www.amazon.com/Non-Leninist-Marxism-Writings-Workers-Councils/dp/0979181364/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1325625690&sr=8-1

Highly recommend it.

[Susurrus]

Yeah, I picked a really cool copy of Reform or Revolution in Cuba, bundled with the Commie Manifesto and Socialism and Man in Cuba by Che. Have started it, not gotten far.

[Leo]

The books that personally lead me to the positions of the communist left were The 1844 Manuscripts (http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1844/manuscripts/preface.htm) by Marx and The National Question (http://www.marxists.org/archive/luxemburg/1909/national-question/index.htm) by Rosa Luxemburg.

The Communist Left and the Continuity of Marxism (http://en.internationalism.org/the-communist-left) by the International Communist Current is a text I would strongly recommend for someone who is newly discovering left communism. I think it explains the history of left communism, how different positions evolved and where the different organizations of today come from quite well. The ICC's books on the Italian, Dutch, Russian and British communist lefts mentioned by Kontrrazvedka are very good for those who want to learn about the history of the communist left in more detail (the two books of Bourrinet linked are actually the same as the ICC's books on the Italian and Dutch lefts, Bourrinet is an ex-member of the ICC and the author of the mentioned books who re-published basically the same books with more councilist political nuances in the introduction and the conclusion). I personally find the ICC's book on the Dutch left to be a bit weak in regards to the German left despite its title, so I would additionally recommend The Communist Left in Germany: 1918-1921 (http://www.marxists.org/subject/germany-1918-23/dauve-authier/index.htm) by Gilles Dauvé and Denis Authier.

Kontrrazvedka already posted a link to Herman Gorter's Open Letter to Comrade Lenin. I would add World Revolution and Communist Tactics (http://www.marxists.org/archive/pannekoe/tactics/) by Anton Pannekoek to that for anyone who would like to get a more in-depth idea about the position of the Dutch and German communist left. For those who would rather focus on the Italian communist left, I would recommend The Democratic Principle (http://www.sinistra.net/lib/upt/compro/liqe/liqemcicee.html)and Party and Class (http://www.sinistra.net/lib/upt/compro/lipe/lipedbiboe.html) by Amadeo Bordiga.

Workers' Councils (http://www.marxists.org/archive/pannekoe/1947/workers-councils.htm) by Pannekoek and Anti-Bolshevik Communism (http://www.marxists.org/archive/mattick-paul/1947/germany.htm) by Paul Mattick are good reads for those interested in the councilism which developed out of the Dutch/German left communist current. Proletarian Dictatorship and Class Party (http://www.sinistra.net/lib/upt/compro/lipe/lipexbibue.html) and The Fundamental Thesis of the Party (http://www.sinistra.net/lib/upt/compro/liqa/liqamcebue.html) by Bordiga would be good additions to the Fundamentals of Revolutionary Communism for those who want to examine the positions of the Bordigist current which evolved from the Italian communist left.

For those interested in the positions of the main contemporary left communist organizations, that is the International Communist Current and the Internationalist Communist Tendency, here's The Platform of the ICC (http://en.internationalism.org/platform) and The Platform of the ICT (http://www.leftcom.org/en/about-us). For other articles of interest by these two organizations, The State in the Period of Transition (http://en.internationalism.org/node/2648) and Terror, Terrorism and Class Violence (http://en.internationalism.org/ir/014_terror.html) by Marc Chirik, one of the founders of the ICC and Bourgeois Violence and Proletarian Defense (http://www.leftcom.org/en/articles/1999-11-01/bourgeois-violence-and-proletarian-defence) by Onorato Damen, one of the founders of the Internationalist Communist Party of Italy which is today the Italian section of the ICT and The New International will be the International Party of the Proletariat (http://www.leftcom.org/en/articles/2001-08-01/the-new-international-will-be-the-international-party-of-the-proletariat) by Mauro Stefanini, the son of another founder of the Internationalist Communist Party of Italy and himself one of the founder of the International Bureau for the Revolutionary Party (the previous name ICT was known as until 2009)

And for those who want to go into the depths of the grand historical as well as contemporary debate about economics in the left communist movement, here's The Accumulation of Capital (http://www.marxists.org/archive/luxemburg/1913/accumulation-capital/index.htm) by Rosa Luxemburg and Economic Crisis and Crisis Theory (http://www.marxists.org/archive/mattick-paul/1974/crisis/index.htm) by Paul Mattick. Additionally, texts mostly defending the analysis of Luxemburg can be found in the ICC's website (although there are those who are closer to Mattick's analysis in the ICC as well), and texts mostly defending Mattick's analysis can be found in the ICT's website.