note: the section labeled other things I want to read is just things I find interesting and want to learn about, not necessarily an endorsement of the ideologies or authors on there (and also not necessarily not an endorsement)
I think “Class Struggle” by Domenico Losurdo is an essential read at this point.
You should add:
- “Left-Wing” Communism: an Infantile Disorder- The Proletarian Revolution and the Renegade Kautsky
- Materialism and Empirio-Criticism
These are also important writing by Lenin I recommended.
Edit: Didn’t see Infantile Disorder was already there
That is a good New Year’s Resolution to have, as it’s always better to know more theory. Personally I always recommend to anyone that is planing to do a deep dive in Marxist theory to start with the philosophy on which the theory itself is based, that means reading books on Dialectical Materialism as the first step.
You already have a couple of them in your list, so my recommendation is to prioritize them over their application in the more advanced books. On that note the only book I would add to your list is M. Cornforth’s “Materialism and the Dialectical Method” which is arguably the book to describe Diamat in the most understandable way for modern readers.
Other than that, I would say after finishing that list it’d be time to tackle the two most important works of Marx and Engels in Engels’ “Anti-Dühring” and Marx’s “Capital”.
Good reading, Comrade.
gonna keep it real with you comrade, I can’t do capital
too long for my ADHD zoomer brainI have ADHD as well, so I know your struggle. You should check out The Worldview and Philosophical Methodology of Marxism-Leninism: Curriculum of the Basic Principles of Marxism-Leninism Part 1. It is a free book. You can buy the E-Book for $0 on their site
From the Preface:
The text of this book constitutes part one of a four-part curriculum on Marxism-Leninism developed and published by the Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam. This curriculum is intended for students who are not specializing in the study of Marxism-Leninism, and is intended to give every Vietnamese student a firm grounding in the political philosophy of scientific socialism.
The entire curriculum consists of:
Part 1: Dialectical Materialism (this text)
Part 2: Historical Materialism
Part 3: Political Economy
Part 4: Scientific Socialism
In Vietnam, each part of the curriculum encompasses one full semester of mandatory study for all college students. Each part builds upon the previous, meaning that this text is the foundation for all political theory education for most college students in Vietnam.
However, it is important to note that this is not the first encounter with dialectical materialism which Vietnamese students wil have had with these ideas, because Vietnamese students also study dialectical materialism, historical materialism, political economy, and scientific socialism from primary school all the way through high school.
As such, the text of this book - in and of itself - would probably seem overwhelmingly condensed to most foreign readers who are new to studying dialectical materialism. Therefore, we have decided to extensively annotate and illustrate this text with the information which would have been previously obtained in a basic Vietnamese high school education and/or provided by college lecturers in the classroom.
This book covers the following:
- Introduction to the Basic Principles of Marxism-Leninism
- I. Brief History of Marxism-Leninism
- II. Objects, Purposes and Requirements for Studying the Basic Principles of Marxism-Leninism
- Part I: The Worldview and Philosophical Methodology of Marxism-Leninism
- Chapter I: Dialectical Materialism
- I. Materialism and Dialectical Materialism
- II. Dialectical Materialist Opinions About Matter, Consciousness, and the Relationship Between Matter and Consciousness
- Chapter 2: Materialist Dialectics
- I. Dialectics and Materialist Dialectics
- II. Basic Principles of Materialist Dialectics
- III. Basic Pairs of Categories of Materialist Dialectics
- IV. Baisc Laws of Materialist Dialectics
- Chapter 3: Cognitive Theory of Dialectical Materialism
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- Praxis, Consciousness and the Role of Praxis in Consciousness
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- Dialectical Path of Consciousness to Truth
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- Chapter I: Dialectical Materialism
I found this book to be incredibly useful for laying the foundation of my understanding of Marxism-Leninism. It synthesizes all the theoretical work spread across many of the writings of Marx, Engels and Lenin into a single volume. It contains a glossary of terms as well, which is very useful as a study tool. I think it should be required reading for all comrades. I should probably give it another read.
Oh yeah, this is the one that Luna Oi and Noncompete translated. I heard about this but I never actually read it (or even watched either of their youtube channels lol) but it does make sense that a text made for literal teenagers would be easily digestible, especially because yknow… I’m a literal teenager :)
on the list!
- Introduction to the Basic Principles of Marxism-Leninism
I definitely get that. I was somehow able to get through it because it was what I was focused on at the time, and it still took me a while.
It really is worth reading. To make it easier, I suggest a reading group, or a reading companion podcast, or the audio version.
That’s an ambitious list for a year, depending of course on your reading speed and free time. Otherwise that is a nice selection. My only critiques would be that you are missing Capital, unless you’ve already read it, and that some of the others should be in the essentials(namely Lenin’s what is to be done and left wing). That being said they are on your list so it is just a very minor thing
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yes I know it’s a lot, but the second half is just stuff that I want to read eventually/things I have a vague interest in reading and that’s why it’s separate from the “essentials”
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I have a physical copy of Capital and I tried to read it years ago, it’s just long, dense, and frankly boring
Edit: I didn’t see that you said what is to be done, I meant to add that so thank you for reminding me
How far did you get into Capital? The first few chapters are a real meat grinder, but it does pick up after that. “First few chapters” does minimize the effort though, ha, since that’s like its own book in and of itself.
my brain has completely blocked out any memory of my experience reading it (boredom or trauma, call it)
Length aside it is a good list, I more meant it as a don’t get discouraged if you don’t finish it all in a year
I definitely understand where you are coming from with Capital. It really isn’t one of the more enjoyable reads out there, but it is essential. For that one it might be worth joining a reading group to make it more digestible
Oh definitely, though I am making good progress. All of the checkmarks are things that I read entirely within the space of my spare time in school yesterday, and I’m nearly done with Utopian and Scientific which I also started yesterday. also, what is to be done was already on the list lol
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Could be quite good in theory!
