Recommended Literature

[pw2007]

Just Wanted to pick your brains for literature that would help me to grasp the basics of socialism.

I have read so far:
The Communist Manifesto
Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life
Lenin: A biography


Thanks

[More Fire for the People]

Reform or Revolution? by Rosa Luxemburg
Repeating Lenin by Slavoj Zizek
The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction by Walter Benjamin
The Culture Industry by Theodor Adorno
One-Dimensional Man by Herbert Marcuse

You can find all of these except the The Culture Industry at http://marxists.org in either Marxist Writers or Reference. I would also check out the Antonio Gramsci archive.

[Rosa Lichtenstein]

Put these at or near the top of your list:

Wage, Labour and Capital, by Karl Marx.

http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works...abour/index.htm (http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1847/wage-labour/index.htm)

Preface to a Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy, by Karl Marx

http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works...omy/preface.htm (http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1859/critique-pol-economy/preface.htm)

Economic & Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844, by Karl Marx

http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works...pts/preface.htm (http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1844/manuscripts/preface.htm)

The State and Revolution, by V Lenin:

http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1917/staterev/

The History of the Russian Revolution, by L Trotsky:

http://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/wo...0-hrr/index.htm (http://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/works/1930-hrr/index.htm)

And for the 'also read' section, definitely:

State Capitalism in Russia, by Tony Cliff:

http://www.marxists.org/archive/cliff/work...tecap/index.htm (http://www.marxists.org/archive/cliff/works/1955/statecap/index.htm)

[Marion]

Originally posted by Rosa [email protected] 1 2006, 01:51 PM
Put these at or near the top of your list:

Wage, Labour and Capital, by Karl Marx.

http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works...abour/index.htm (http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1847/wage-labour/index.htm)

Preface to a Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy, by Karl Marx

http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works...omy/preface.htm (http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1859/critique-pol-economy/preface.htm)

Economic & Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844, by Karl Marx

http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works...pts/preface.htm (http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1844/manuscripts/preface.htm)

The State and Revolution, by V Lenin:

http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1917/staterev/

The History of the Russian Revolution, by L Trotsky:

http://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/wo...0-hrr/index.htm (http://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/works/1930-hrr/index.htm)

And for the 'also read' section, definitely:

State Capitalism in Russia, by Tony Cliff:

http://www.marxists.org/archive/cliff/work...tecap/index.htm (http://www.marxists.org/archive/cliff/works/1955/statecap/index.htm)
Personally I think if someone is just starting out to learn about socialism or communism they're best to steer clear of reading the full-length detailed works suggested here - especially the likes of Adorno and Benjamin. Read biographies, histories and get hold of a copy of selected works of Marx, Engels, Lenin etc (e.g. The Marx-Engels reader). Then try to read some basic stuff about the different schools of Marxism and try and understand the strengths/weaknesses of each (I've only looked at the very occasional bit, but McLellan's "Marxism after Marx" may be a good place to start). Perhaps then start ploughing through full-length Marx or Lenin and anything else that you think sounded interesting.

Plus, of course, read the criticisms of Marxism from other authors or schools of thought...

PS As the peeps earlier suggested, http://www.marxists.org/archive/ is a really good source to have on hand.

[Rosa Lichtenstein]

Marion, in a way you are right, but these are the one's I began with (and continually go back to), and they are not difficult works, which is why I suggested them.

Anyway, our friend has already read one original work, of equal 'difficulty' to the ones I listed.

[Tommy-K]

I would read all of Che's diaries. Motorcycle Diaries, Back On The Road, Bolivian Diaries are the ones I have read. There is also one from his time in the Congo and I think maybe one more which I can't for the life of me think what it is :huh:

[Marion]

Well, you were probably a step or two ahead of me in getting started on reading Communist literature then!

I found The Communist Manifesto quite a bit more accessible than most of the quoted works, but I guess it's always different for different people...

PS Yeah, the couple of Che's diaries (Congo and Bolivia) I've read are pretty interesting - not sure how much they teach you about socialism in general though.

[Global_Justice]

http://libcom.org/library/value-price-and-profit-karl-marx

value, price and profit. pamphlet by marx, i found it useful :D

[emma_goldman]

Originally posted by Hopscotch [email protected] 1 2006, 02:13 AM
Reform or Revolution? by Rosa Luxemburg
Repeating Lenin by Slavoj Zizek
The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction by Walter Benjamin
The Culture Industry by Theodor Adorno
One-Dimensional Man by Herbert Marcuse

You can find all of these except the The Culture Industry at http://marxists.org in either Marxist Writers or Reference. I would also check out the Antonio Gramsci archive.
OoO. Cool. Thanks. That's very helpful. :)