Thread: Reading List For Beginners

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  1. #21
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    Ok, I have started putting them all into a list. Having not read them all myself, please correct me if I'm wrong on some of them. I'll be happy to move them to a different category.
    Economic Left/Right: -9.00
    Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -2.15
    "There are decades when nothing happens; and there are weeks when decades happen." - Lenin

  2. #22
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    Anti-Duhring by Frederick Engels dealing with Dialectal Materialism.


    On the Correct handling of Contradictions among the people ny Mao-Tse Tung. Sequel to "On Contriditons" and deals with Dialectal Materialism in the Peoples Republic in 1957.


    A Dialectial approach to inner-party unity By Mao-Tse tung.

    * all of those go under Philosophy but I'm not so sure if "Socialism and war" would go under State/Revolution but rather Philosophy for Socialism and war deals with the phiosophy about how Marxists deal with war.*


    Once again on the Trade Unions by Vladimir Lenin.

    Role and Functions of the Trade Unions by Lenin

    *both under Economics.*
    Marxism-Leninism-Maoism

    “Congratulating Stalin is not a formality. Congratulating Stalin means supporting him and his cause, supporting the victory of socialism, and the way forward for mankind which he points out, it means supporting a dear friend. For the great majority of mankind today are suffering, and mankind can free itself from suffering only by the road pointed out by Stalin and with his help.” – Mao Tse Tung
  3. #23
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    If we're going to recommend this many and go in depth anyway, then I'll add Reform or Revolution and The Russian Revolution by Rosa Luxemburg.
  4. #24
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    It does seem like alot, but perhaps we can narrow it down later? I'm also hoping to get things from all different tendencies.
    Economic Left/Right: -9.00
    Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -2.15
    "There are decades when nothing happens; and there are weeks when decades happen." - Lenin

  5. #25
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    On the Significance of Militant Materialism-Lenin *Philosophy*
    National Factors in Party and State Affairs-Stalin *State/Revolution*
    Against Federalism-Stalin *State/Revolution*
    Economic Problems of the USSR-Stalin *Economics*
    Foundation of Leninism-Stalin *Philosophy*
    Marxism and the National Question-Stalin *State/Revolution*
    Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism-Lenin *Economics*
    Aim of the Proletarian Struggle in Our Revolution-Lenin *State/Revolution*
    The Soviets at work-Lenin *History*
    Marxism-Leninism-Maoism

    “Congratulating Stalin is not a formality. Congratulating Stalin means supporting him and his cause, supporting the victory of socialism, and the way forward for mankind which he points out, it means supporting a dear friend. For the great majority of mankind today are suffering, and mankind can free itself from suffering only by the road pointed out by Stalin and with his help.” – Mao Tse Tung
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  7. #26
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    We all must remember this thread is for beginner material. I don't think beginners will read every single book out there. :P

    Let's keep it simple?
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    Stickied the thread.
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  10. #28
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    Conquest of Bread, Mutual Aid and Fields, Factories and Workshops all by Peter Kropotkin should be on the list.
    "Direct Action is a notion of such clarity, of such self-evident transparency, that merely to speak the words defines and explains them. It means that the working class, in constant rebellion against the existing state of affairs, expects nothing from outside people, powers or forces, but rather creates its own conditions of struggle and looks to itself for its means of action. It means that, against the existing society which recognises only the citizen, rises the producer. And that that producer, having grasped that any social grouping models itself upon its system of production, intends to attack directly the capitalist mode of production in order to transform it, by eliminating the employer and thereby achieving sovereignty in the workshop – the essential condition for the enjoyment of real freedom.” Emile Pouget
  11. #29
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    Why isn't Gramsci up there? Selections from the Prison Notebooks is a "general" must. I've also heard good things about The Philosophy of Marx by Etienne Balibar. With regards to feminism, The Second Sex by Simone De Beauvoir. With regards to (post)colonialism, Orientalism by Edward Said.

    Also, for a general (anarchist) collection, No Gods No Masters by Daniel Guerin cannot be beat.
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  13. #30
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    I would recommend ...

    Society of the Spectacle by Guy Debord

    Critique of Political Economy and the Exploitation of the Unique by Asger Jorn
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    I don't think any beginner would really want to read Debord.


    Ivan "Bonebreaker" Khutorskoy
    16.11.2009
    "We won't forget, we won't forgive"
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  16. #32
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    I think reading lists are a bit silly. The only people who usually care about them are people who've already read a bunch of books. Beginners will open the thread, see a long list of thick, old books on an assortment of topics and close thread, because there's no real starting point. People rarely read from lists; reading choices are a much more organic and unpredictable process.

    In all but the most uncommon cases, giving someone a long list of books to read in order to develop an "adequate revolutionary consciousness" is bound to end in boredom. Threads like these usually just boil down to people endorsing whatever pieces endorse their specific tendencies with little attention paid to the historical relevancy of the text.

    Besides, look what a generation of Chinese reading Mao's little red book did for their glorious communist state . There's a lot more to reading than just words on the page.
  17. #33
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    I think reading lists are a bit silly. The only people who usually care about them are people who've already read a bunch of books. Beginners will open the thread, see a long list of thick, old books on an assortment of topics and close thread, because there's no real starting point. People rarely read from lists; reading choices are a much more organic and unpredictable process.

    In all but the most uncommon cases, giving someone a long list of books to read in order to develop an "adequate revolutionary consciousness" is bound to end in boredom. Threads like these usually just boil down to people endorsing whatever pieces endorse their specific tendencies with little attention paid to the historical relevancy of the text.

    Besides, look what a generation of Chinese reading Mao's little red book did for their glorious communist state . There's a lot more to reading than just words on the page.
    Perhaps, but I sometimes find useful books I've never noticed on these sorts of lists. The list shouldn't be seen as a "Read ALL of this," but a skimmed down bibliography for people to pick and choose what interests them. I definitely benefit from Amazon "Listmania!"
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  19. #34
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    Perhaps it's a good idea to add a short (3 sentence) description of the book if the list gets long.

    Most books describe working conditions 80+ years ago, today the conditions and workers have changed due to: socialist reforms, mass media that turns everybody into docile sheep, less monotonous work (due to robots in factories), a shift from agriculture and industry to the services sector, shorter times people work for an employer etc.
    These conditions have a profound effect on society, but were hardly known in the era the books are written.

    I was wondering if there are any good books about how communism changed with society, or about what new communist views there are.

    One good, but not very leftist, book about modern working conditions and how it has affected us is 'the craftsman' by prof. Richard Sennett. It describes how capitalism is braking down whatever skills we would be able to have, why Soviet Union workers were very unmotivated for the same reason and gives hints on how to change.
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  21. #35
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    'Reclaiming Marx's Capital' by Kliman (Economics). Basically a short summary of Marx's economic theory (or some of it, at least), followed by debunking the transformation problem, simultaneist interpretations and 'corrections' of Marx, and so on.
    Also, why is the Critique of the Gotha Program in 'history' when the Manifesto is not?
    I suppose Korsch's book 'Karl Marx' could be fit into there too, somewhere.
  22. #36
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    I would highly recommend Das Kapital it is very easy with David Harvey's course: http://davidharvey.org/
    "Inquilab Zindabad!" [Long Live the Revolution!] - Shaheed Bhagat Singh.
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  24. #37
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    francis wheen's biography of das kapital isn't too daunting for the younger reader
  25. #38
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    Comrades: If people are having trouble in understanding beginners books i would suggest joining this group :


    Revolutionary leftism book group for beginners: http://www.revleft.com/vb/group.php?groupid=217

    were going to get started by tomorrow i'd say but feel free to join any time at all .

    "Marxist psychology is not a school amidst schools, but the only genuine psychology as a science. A psychology other than this cannot exist. And the other way around: everything that was and is genuinely scientific belongs to Marxist psychology" -Lev Vygotsky
    "The Bolsheviks have shown that they are capable of everything that a genuine revolutionary party can contribute within the limits of historical possibilities. They are not supposed to perform miracles. For a model and faultless proletarian revolution in an isolated land, exhausted by world war, strangled by imperialism, betrayed by the international proletariat, would be a miracle."
    -Rosa Luxemburg
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    Karl Marx: A Brief Biographical Sketch With an Exposition of Marxism by Lenin.
  27. #40
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    Comrades: If people are having trouble in understanding beginners books i would suggest joining this group :


    Revolutionary leftism book group for beginners: http://www.revleft.com/vb/group.php?groupid=217

    were going to get started by tomorrow i'd say but feel free to join any time at all .
    Thanks for that by the way. I for one often have alot of trouble understanding these books.
    Economic Left/Right: -9.00
    Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -2.15
    "There are decades when nothing happens; and there are weeks when decades happen." - Lenin

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