“Come and see the violence inherent in the system!” A look at the class division Marx sees between capitalists and workers, and how we got there.
capitalism
COMMUNISM FOR KIDS – Bini Adamczak
Possibly the simplest, most effective and endearing attempt to explain how capitalism works and how people have imagined communism as an alternative.
WHY MARX WAS RIGHT – Terry Eagleton
Professor Terry Eagleton skillfully refutes ten of the most common criticisms of Marxism. In the process, he exposes Karl Marx’s freedom-loving, creative and occasionally hard-partying qualities.
MARX’S CAPITAL ILLUSTRATED – David Smith & Phil Evans
A condensed version of Karl Marx’s big scary “Capital”, written in contemporary language, and with many helpful and frequently amusing comic illustrations. This is incredibly useful.
WAGE LABOUR AND CAPITAL & WAGES, PRICE AND PROFIT – Karl Marx
Two works by Karl Marx give us a crash course in the Labor Theory of Value and Marxist ideas on the nature of capitalism, what determines prices, and how your boss is screwing you over.
SOCIALISM: UTOPIAN AND SCIENTIFIC – Friedrich Engels
A tour through the Enlightenment-era philosophies and utopian experiments that influenced Marxist ideology and thinking. You know, historical materialism & other dinner party conversation topics.
CRITIQUE OF THE GOTHA PROGRAM – Karl Marx
Karl Marx explains why he believes social democrats won’t be able to build socialism. Plus glorious amounts of 19th century nerdy shit-talking.
AN INTRODUCTION TO MARXIST ECONOMIC THEORY – Ernest Mandel
A short and sweet introduction to Marxism from a late Belgian Trotskyist intellectual. Useful and well-written, but it can still meander and show its age despite its small size.
A PEOPLE’S GUIDE TO CAPITALISM – Hadas Thier
This is a great companion if your plan is to bone up on a bunch of Marxist economic texts, and an accessible summary of Marx’s views on capitalism if you’d rather not read ten more books on the subject.
UNDERSTANDING MARXISM – Richard Wolff
A simple, short, and accessible introduction to what Marx thought of how capitalism worked – its virtues & perils, and what should come next.
