Getting into Marxism/socialism

[Dingle]

Hi all, I'm British and sixteen years old. I got into politics around three years ago, and since then I have abhorred capitalism in all its forms. Even thinking about it makes me angry. Anyway, I've been looking at the Marxist Internet Archives and am at a loss on where to start or where to go to study socialism and/or Marxism. I wish to do political science at university so I would like to form my own political beliefs, and to do this I need to study socialism and Marxism. My question is, where the heck do I start? How exactly do I read socialist literature? Do I make notes? Should I approach it with an open mind? That was actually four questions haha, but my point remains. Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks in advance.

[Connolly1916]

I can't offer you much advice, except to say that when reading political theory - quality is better than quantity. Skimming through two or three books on Socialism in a week is worthless, as you will absorb very little of the information they contain. Make notes if you want, but I prefer to just read over the parts I feel are important and then they tend to stick in my mind. A few books I found helpful were 'Socialism: A Very Short Introduction' by Michael Newman, 'The Ragged-Trousered Philanthropists' by Robert Tressell, and 'Marx For Beginners' by Rius. Happy reading :)

[The Jay]

What you should start with depends on what you already know. Can you give a brief list of any political, economic, or philosophical books that you have read so that we can give better recommendations?

[RedWorker]

Read the books slowly or quickly but surely, and do it through the means you want. In a library or put them on your e-Reader, etc. Ask about anything you don't understand in RevLeft, or read articles about the concepts.

For starters
The Communist Manifesto (http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1848/communist-manifesto/index.htm), K. Marx, F. Engels
Principles of Communism (http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1847/11/prin-com.htm), F. Engels
Socialism: Utopian and Scientific (http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1880/soc-utop/index.htm), F. Engels
Critique of the Gotha Program (http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1875/gotha/index.htm), K. Marx

On economics
Wage Labor & Capital (http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1847/wage-labour/index.htm), K. Marx
Value, Price and Profit (http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1865/value-price-profit/index.htm), K. Marx
There is also Capital, which is extremely long and thoroughly explains the functioning of the capitalist mode of production.

Extended
Anti-Dühring (http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1877/anti-duhring/index.htm), F. Engels - an "encyclopedic survey" of everything that was known about scientific socialism at the time
Origin of the Family (http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1884/origin-family/index.htm), F. Engels
On Freedom of the Press (http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1842/free-press/index.htm), K. Marx
The State and the Revolution (http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1917/staterev/index.htm), V. Lenin *
The Revolution Betrayed (http://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/1936/revbet/index.htm), L. Trotsky *
History of the Russian Revolution (http://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/1930/hrr/index.htm), L. Trotsky *

Witnesses' accounts of revolutionary situations
Ten days that shook the world (http://www.marxists.org/archive/reed/1919/10days/10days/index.htm), J. Reed
Soviets in action (http://www.marxists.org/archive/reed/1918/soviets.htm), J. Reed
The structure of the soviet state (http://www.marxists.org/archive/reed/1918/state.htm), J. Reed
Homage to Catalonia, G. Orwell

* = I don't necessarily agree with it or necessarily vouch for its accuracy, it's just an interesting read.

Consider researching into political groups near you such as the SPGB and CPGB(PCC).

[Ceallach_the_Witch]

David Harvey's A Companion to Marx's Capital' is a handy book to have around if you decide to make a start on Capital

[FieldHound]

Not sure if I'm able to post links or not as a new user but the Socialist Party of Great Britain put out a pdf called 'An A-Z of Marxism' that I've been studying a bit. It's a little bit subjective/opinionated (as though Marxism is a dogma, saying that other methods don't work because this and that rather than 'we believe' or 'marxists believe') but if you can bear that in mind whilst reading it I've found it very useful.

As for introductory books (I'm still very much a novice myself) I found 'Marx for Beginners' by Rius and Marx: The Key Ideas [Teach Yourself] by Gill Hands to be good introductions.

[Ethics Gradient, Traitor For All Ages]

I have recommended The Reproduction of Everyday Life to a couple of people who were not familiar with communist politics and have gotten positive feedback. That would be my suggestion for a good starting place as it's pretty short and sweet: http://libcom.org/library/reproduction-everyday-life-fredy-perlman

It may upset some people to say but I don't think Marx is a particularly good writer, and time has had it's way with his writing on top of that. I would suggest some more modern texts to familiarize yourself with some basic concepts before really starting in on him. You're 16, you have all the time in the world, there's no need to rush imo.

[Anglo-Saxon Philistine]

It may upset some people to say but I don't think Marx is a particularly good writer, and time has had it's way with his writing on top of that. I would suggest some more modern texts to familiarize yourself with some basic concepts before really starting in on him. You're 16, you have all the time in the world, there's no need to rush imo.

I think Marx is a decent enough writer, particularly if you appreciate his sense of humour, and the problem with a lot of these "Reading Capital" or "Companion to Capital" things is that they put the words of the author into Marx's mouth. "Socialism, scientific and utopian" is a good place to start, as is the entire anti-Duhring (I read anti-Duhring at that age, and I'm an imbecile, so it can't have been that hard).

I would also recommend Draper's "Two Souls of Socialism" with a dash of Trotsky's "In Defence of Marxism" to disabuse the reader of any notions about "bureaucratic collectivism". "In Defence of Marxism" is by itself an extremely important collection of texts.

[Ethics Gradient, Traitor For All Ages]

Its not that I think one needs a certain level of intelligence before they can read Marx, i think he's just kind of boring as a starting place. If someone were just getting into things I would want to start them off on something that hits the ground running a little quicker than Marx does.

The comment about their age had nothing to do with their reading comprehension, just me speaking from experience. I also started reading Marx at around that age, but his writing was not very appealing and it wasn't until I returned to him years later that I could actually enjoy reading it, not to mention really make sense of it.

[Chomskyan]

Hi all, I'm British and sixteen years old. I got into politics around three years ago, and since then I have abhorred capitalism in all its forms. Even thinking about it makes me angry. Anyway, I've been looking at the Marxist Internet Archives and am at a loss on where to start or where to go to study socialism and/or Marxism. I wish to do political science at university so I would like to form my own political beliefs, and to do this I need to study socialism and Marxism. My question is, where the heck do I start? How exactly do I read socialist literature? Do I make notes? Should I approach it with an open mind? That was actually four questions haha, but my point remains. Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks in advance.


I'd start with the Communist Manifesto. That really opened up my mind. It's short, sweet and to the point. You also want to understand the different schools ('tendencies') of Socialism, so read Lenin and Trotsky. But I'd also say to read the Anarchists and some of the Left Communist writers, so you get a more holistic view of the tradition.

"'Socialism: A Very Short Introduction' by Michael Newman" Yeah, I didn't like it. It was very hard for a beginner to understand. Marx's Manifesto is so riveting that I could re-read it three times in a row and still not absorb all of it's wisdom.

If you love political science, I'd recommend the "Reading List" on the Political Compass website.

[Anglo-Saxon Philistine]

Its not that I think one needs a certain level of intelligence before they can read Marx, i think he's just kind of boring as a starting place. If someone were just getting into things I would want to start them off on something that hits the ground running a little quicker than Marx does.

The comment about their age had nothing to do with their reading comprehension, just me speaking from experience. I also started reading Marx at around that age, but his writing was not very appealing and it wasn't until I returned to him years later that I could actually enjoy reading it, not to mention really make sense of it.

I guess it depends on what one finds interesting I would still caution against companion pieces to Capital, as those I'm aware of are awful (except Reading Capital, but that's a blatant piece of philosophical buggery, to utterly misuse Deleuze's term).

But then again, I almost recommended the World Prospect for Socialism, so what do I know?

[The Garbage Disposal Unit]

Look, nothing wrong with reading "the classics" (some of which have been mentioned already) - but, for real, read some of your contemporaries! Radical politics didn't hit its theoretical high watermark 150 years ago!

So, you might need to familiarize yourself with Marx et al. to "get" some of the lingo being thrown around, but, really, check out people who are active and engaged in your city/region/country! Have some irl chats and ask a lot of questions.

Also, this. Because communist hipsters are hilarious. Notably lacking however: feminist and anti-racist lenses. (http://vimeo.com/54313688)

[Hit The North]

Communist Manifesto is a definite starter, if you want to understand a Marxist sociology. Then, Lenin's State & Revolution for a clear guide to a Marxist politics. I'd also suggest getting a Marxist reader which will contain key texts with some explanatory preamble. Something like this (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Marx-Gramsci-Revolutionary-Marxist-Politics/dp/1573924911/ref=sr_1_24?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1411662809&sr=1-24&keywords=Marxism%3A+a+reader). A dictionary of Marxism (http://www.revleft.com/vb/a dictionary of marxist thought) would also be useful.

Always take notes when you are studying as this way things stick and you can see your understanding build up before you on the page. You jot down questions for further research, etc.

Be careful when you come to chose your political science course as most are dry, academic and neglect Marx as a political thinker. In the academy it is still sociology and media studies which afford the best opportunity for discussing Marxism.

[RedWorker]

This encyclopaedia of Marxism (http://www.marxists.org/glossary/index.htm) is pretty good to have around and search terms... though I don't agree with some of the things it says.

[FieldHound]

The problem with Marx is not that he's an uninteresting writer but that there are too many references for beginners (like me) to make sense of. So if you study with intention to later study Marx, you could spend a long time coming to grips with lots of other philosophers, movements, terminology, concepts etc for perhaps years only to finally get to the point of reading Marx and perhaps finding that you don't like/agree with his ideas afterall. So don't pressure yourself or centre all of your studies around understanding Marx, check out his easy to read stuff (Communist Manifesto), Engels stuff, and other leftist commie/anarchist writers and build up to a bigger general understanding (not just of 'Marxism') is the way I'd go (or the way I am going I suppose).

[Kingfish]

My question is, where the heck do I start? How exactly do I read socialist literature? Do I make notes? Should I approach it with an open mind? That was actually four questions haha, but my point remains. Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks in advance.

In addition to the suggestions already mentioned I would encourage you to also read non socialist literature such as Hayeks Road to Serfdom or works by or on Friedman and especially Keynes and maybe a work like You Can Trust The Communists (to be Communists). A real danger you will face when getting into politics is becoming emotionally invested or feeling that your identity is tied to a particular ideology which will slowly close your mind and deform your ability to think critically.

By reading these other works not only will you help delay the chance of this happening but it will also allow you to "test" your understanding of what you are reading. Initially you will just have a gut feeling they are wrong or some similar sense which though real you cant really put into words or explain, however as you read and learn more eventually you will be able to start articulating proper criticisms and thats when the magic will start to happen.

[FieldHound]

In addition to the suggestions already mentioned I would encourage you to also read non socialist literature...a real danger you will face when getting into politics is becoming emotionally invested or feeling that your identity is tied to a particular ideology which will slowly close your mind and deform your ability to think critically.

By reading these other works not only will you help delay the chance of this happening but it will also allow you to "test" your understanding of what you are reading. Initially you will just have a gut feeling they are wrong or some similar sense which though real you cant really put into words or explain, however as you read and learn more eventually you will be able to start articulating proper criticisms and thats when the magic will start to happen.

Great post, gonna note this down in my 'quotes' file later.

[motion denied]

For an overview of the materialist conception of history I'd start with the first chapters of the German Ideology, Theses on Feuerbach and then move to The Class Struggles in France. From a more strictly theoretical critique to the analysis of the real movement (which is also rich in theory of course).



Radical politics didn't hit its theoretical high watermark 150 years ago

It did though.

[Dingle]

Thanks everyone for your suggestions, I really appreciate it. Again, thank you. Is there a sort of reading list I could use? I'm not the most organised of people, so a reading list would be very good. And Kingfish, I was planning on reading non socialist works anyhow, thank you for your suggestion. :)

[Lowtech]

there are many resources here at revleft in addition to the links already provided. the best advice I can provide is to fully understand the LTV and how it relates to the "orthodox" or "accepted" view of economics and espcially the ways in which "modern" economists attempt to falsify the LTV. Secondly, study the differences between Marx and Lenin.

if you cant explain something simply, you don't understand it well enough.

[Lower Case S]

if you cant explain something simply, you don't understand it well enough.

It's the total opposite for me personally. The more I know about a subject, the less able I am to present it in simple terms. If I have too much information, it's impossible to even know where to start without an ultra-specific question.

To address the OP, I don't have much to add to all the great recommendations here, but I'll give you a few suggestions. I don't find a lot of Marx's writing very engaging, so that might be a tough place to start, but The Communist Manifesto is a definite exception. You can read it pretty comfortably in one sitting, making it easy to go back and re-examine the sections that you may not understand right away. Lenin's The State and Revolution is another text that shouldn't be too difficult to get through on first read. It's definitely my favorite of the classics.

I'd also caution you against reading only theory. If your studies are too skewed towards theoretical works, it can make your understanding of politics overly scholastic. Obviously, it's important to have a theoretical base, but I think it's critical study revolutionary politics in action. So, I'd recommend that you read up on past revolutions and revolutionary figures as well.

There are dozens of books I could recommend that would fall into this category, but I'll just name a few (or at least as few as possible): John Reed's Ten Days That Shook The World (about the October Revolution), Fidel Castro's My Life (a series of interviews with Ignacio Ramonet), John Anderson's Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life, Han Suyin's Wind in the Tower (a biography of Mao), We Created Chavez (about the Venezuelan/Bolivarian Revolution)by George Ciccarello Maher, William Hinton's Fanshen (about revolutionary politics/life in a liberated base area during the Chinese Civil War), George Orwell's Homage to Catalonia (about the Spanish Civil War), and Black Against Empire (a good, recently published overview of the Black Panther Party's politics and history).

Again, there are many other books of this sort that I could list, but I tried to provide somewhat diverse material. And I thought these were all engaging reads (a number of which were some of the first books I read when I first became interested in revolutionary politics), so they should be interesting even beyond whatever you take from them politically.