What would you consider necessary theory to read?
What would you consider necessary theory to read?
Hey all,
We all know the importance of reading theory, but with so many leaders with so many works what should we consider absolutely necessary reading for an committed communist, and what is, for lack of a better term, supplemental?
While reading everything would be nice, there is so much to read, not mentioning works by other authors and theorists, that I'm not sure if reading literally everything Marx or Lenin wrote is the most helpful. Some works will be more universal and others, while still containing important information, may be more niche and specific.
I'll admit I'm probably a terrible Marxist for not having read anything from Marx, or Engels, besides the manifesto. But again, Marx and Engels have a lot of works and knowing what is more important than others I think would be helpful for everyone, especially baby Marxists. How important is reading Kapital, The Civil War in France, Critique of the Gotha Program, On the Origins of the Family, etc? Which should be prioritized over others?
I've read more Lenin but not much, only State and Revolution and Left-wing Communism. I'm trying to get through the beginning of Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism but it's so hard, so many facts and I'm not sure what he's even saying with them.
I also want to read Mao and have absolutely no idea where to even start there.
What would you say are the most important and necessary works of foundational leaders and theorists (Marx, Engels, Lenin, Mao)? Here's my list so far:
Marx Engels Lenin: State and Revolution, Left-wing Communism: An Infantile Disorder Mao
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I agree with another poster that more recent writers can be easier entry points into theory because the authors translate it in ways that highlight ML theory's relevance to today and recent history. As the other poster mentioned, Parenti's Blackshirts and Reds is good on breaking through cold war nonsense about the USSR, there's a couple chapters online here. Losurdo's Liberalism: A Counter history dissects the dominant ideology of our time. There's a short summary of that book by the author here.
No one here has yet tackled the question on how important it is to read Capital: I think it's crucial. There are so many concepts it lays out and arguments it refutes that it makes reading other theory much easier. I think of Lenin's Imperialism as a sequel to Capital, so it makes sense to me you find it challenging to read. That said, Capital is also challenging to read and it might help to familiarize yourself with some of the concepts it covers before you tackle it. Here are some (mostly short) essays for that purpose.
- Labour & Labour Power
- Commodity Fetishism
- Communist Self-confidence (history of capitalism from feudal era to now and why the working class is revolutionary)
- Social Classes: Necessary and Superfluous by Engels, why were classes historically necessary and why are capitalists obsolete.
- A Fair Day's Wages for a Fair Day's Work by Engels, on how political economy has traditionally treated wages and why communists must focus beyond wage increases.
I've posted a lot of links from RedSails because it was started for this purpose: to make theory accessible and demystified and relevant for today. If there's a topic or author you want to read more on, it has curated articles for those ends.
I'll end with my favourite Lenin, which I think highlights why we can't "go back" to some better time before capitalism but must go through capitalism to socialism.