Seeking books & papers to read

[stranger]

I'm looking to get a list of "Must Read!" books for communism and the related fields for study. I'm very new to this and I'm sure none of you will be hard pressed to name a few Classics and Contemporaries that are important to learn from.

Thanks a lot!

[Bright Banana Beard]

welcome, in this place, we call communism a classless, stateless society. Marxist is the correct term you talking about but there more than just Marxist.

read redstar2000's what is communism http://rs2kpapers.awardspace.com/theory676a.html?subaction=showfull&id=1082898978&archive=&cnshow=headlines&start_from=&ucat=&

then read Das Kapital and The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx & Frederick Engels. that should give you basic idea of what Marxism is.

[Magic Snowman]

"Das Kapital" is a little heavy, to say the least.

My quick recommendations for basics of Marxism:

Communist Manifesto (Marx & Engels)
Transitional Program (Trotsky)
Wage, Labour and Capital (Marx)
Socialism: Utopian and Scientific (Engels)
State and Revolution (Lenin)

[Q]

"Das Kapital" is a little heavy, to say the least.

My quick recommendations for basics of Marxism:

Communist Manifesto (Marx & Engels)
Transitional Program (Trotsky)
Wage, Labour and Capital (Marx)
Socialism: Utopian and Scientific (Engels)
State and Revolution (Lenin)
I agree. But I would like to add the "Critique of the Gotha Programme" (Marx).

[last_angry_man]

Just to offer some 'light" reading as a break from the hard core theory...

You might want to take a look at the old MIM archives:

http://www.etext.org/Politics/MIM/

(no snide remarks, this isn't an endorsement of MIM, only a recommendation of the archive of cool shit of their website!)

Specifically, I'm suggesting their archive of old issues of the Black Panther Party newspaper. It was a truly remarkable paper, filled with a mix of original articles, reprints lifted straight from Mao, and the wonderful artwork of Emory Douglas.

Hey, there is no faster way to discourage potential recruits than to bury them with 150 year old theory without some way to relate it all to modern life (admittedly, 1969 seems like ancient history to someone born in 1985, but the BPP newspaper still has things to offer today's kids.)

(And the hairstyles and clothes on display in the paper will either keep you in hysterics or motivate you to go shopping...depending on your sense of style)

[mikelepore]

There is an old recommendation among many Marxists that goes back to the 19th century -- for anyone who begins to read Marx's "Capital" and feels that it's too complicated at that point in their study, they may choose at that time to read Marx's two pamphlets "Wage-Labor and Capital" and "Value, Price and Profit", treating those pamphlets as an introduction to "Capital", and then return to chapter 1 of "Capital".

[AGITprop]

Communist Manifesto
Wage Labour and Capital
Left-Wing Communism: An infantile disorder.

[Niccolò Rossi]

I would stress that you should read the works of Marx and Engels before anything else. I would above all suggest you buy the book "The Marx-Engels Reader" by Robert C. Tucker. The best compliation of the works of Marx and Engels ive ever seen. You can get some really cheap copies ($5) off Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/Marx-Engels-Reader-Second-Karl-Marx/dp/039309040X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1205212364&sr=8-1 (http://www.amazon.com/Marx-Engels-Reader-Second-Karl-Marx/dp/039309040X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1205212364&sr=8-1In)

But if you want to just read it all online (via Marxists.org) I would recommend the following order (note this is really the basic of the basic):

"What is Marxism" by Emile Burns (good intro to what Marxism is all about)
"Manifesto of the Communist Party" by Marx & Engels (speaks for itself)
"Principles of Communism" by Engels (no fuss FAQ)
"Wage Labour and Capital" by Marx (intro to Marxian economics)
"Value, Price and Profit" by Marx (intro to Marxian economics)
"Capital" by Marx (if your really eager about Marxian economics)
"Socialism: Utopian and Scientific" by Engels (part II and III are useful for an understanding of the Materialist Dialectic and Historical Materialism)
"The German Ideology Part I" by Marx (fantastic demonstration of Historical Materialism)I would recommend further reading of Marx and Engels from here, but you could skip over to Luxembourg, Lenin if you really wanted to after my list.