We see a lot of account requests from people who are just yet dipping their toes in marxism and communism. We can’t abandon new comrades to the flow of the current they are floating in, pulling them in all directions without a reason or goal in sight. They need a comprehensive, actual study plan.
I purposely limited myself to 6 books (honorable mentions would have been State and Revolution and the Manifesto) as this is like a crash course to get you to an adequate level. If you read say a chapter every night (and for principles of communism just do it in one go it’s super short), you should finish everything in around a month.
This thread should also double as an ask your questions thread. But I feel there’s also a whole thing around asking questions; people want to know about the war in Ukraine, about US imperialism, about what’s happening in China or the DPRK… but while this is important, it’s parallel to your marxist studies. You must, alongside current events, learn about the fundamentals as well. Sometimes it seems less important because there’s major stuff happening and “theory” is seen as some dead wood, something you can pick up but was written a century ago and so has little relevance to our world today, but it’s the opposite. If you truly want to understand what’s happening today, you have to understand not only what happened in the past that led to today, but also the theory that was written down in the past and is still applicable.
So anyway, feel free to ask for clarification on stuff you don’t understand, not focusing solely on current events as I often see around the grad 🙆♀️
This is the list from the page:
How marxism works - Chris Harman - Harman was in a Trotskyist party, but his short pamphlet (44 pages) remains one of the best introductions to marxism. You could give this to an absolute beginner who’s never even heard of the word philosophy before and they’d come out with working knowledge of marxism. It’s wrong in a couple places if I remember correctly, but it’s nothing you won’t fix with further reading.
Principles of communism - Engels - Engels wrote this pamphlet in an FAQ format, which explains in very simple terms what communism is, where it’s coming from, etc. Very short read and absolutely vital to understand not only (marxist) communism but also the class struggle and the history of how we got where we are now (capitalism).
Elementary principles of philosophy - Georges Politzer - Philosophy is not difficult or only for academics when Politzer teaches it. Under this seemingly innocent title lies a complete course on dialectical materialism, one of the fundamental parts of marxism.
Wage labour and capital - Marx - Marxism is also about the economic theory and Value, price and profit provides the basis of that field in a smaller and easier package than Capital. Wage labour and capital was compiled from three lectures Marx gave; as simple as you can get it. If you want to follow up on that, read Value, price and profit right after, but it’s optional.
The three sources and three component parts of Marxism - Lenin - To tie it all together, I added this short essay by Lenin which explains the three components of marxism: the philosophy of dialectical materialism, the labour theory of value on the economic side, and the class struggle as the third component. In my opinion this pamphlet is too difficult for a first-time reader despite its shortness, it works best as a reminder of what marxism actually is. Never forget these components and you will never stray wrong.
Imperialism, the highest stage of capitalism - Lenin - Finally, to breach into the 21st century (despite being written a century earlier!), you must understand imperialism. We live in the age of imperialism still, as it is after all the highest stage of capitalism. NATO, the IMF, the World Bank, all these modern-day projects are purveyors of imperialism in the world.