What We Are Reading (Patreon)

More than ever it is an important time to revisit the ideas and the method of analysis laid out by Marx in the Communist Manifesto, which in my opinion is under-read on the American left. This is to our detriment, as it outlines the foundation of the criticism of capitalism, the class system, and the possibility of its end.  We are having fierce debates about what constitutes the working-class, anti-imperialist politics, and what kind of party structure is necessary to enact our goals, Marx is indispensable here. Not as the final word on the subject but as a launching point. 

Which is why I have selected the great Samir Amin's analysis of the Manifesto; published in Monthly Review a few months after Amin's death. His appreciation of Marx's ideas, and further development of these ideas,170 years later is needed. This is especially true after a century of uneven development and multiple capitalist crises in the imperial core. I would especially focused on section 5 & 6, which deal with class-conflict and political tendencies in the communist movement.  

- David Griscom 

What We Are Reading: 

The Communist Manifesto, 170 Years Later - Samir Amin, 2018 

Manifesto Of The Communist Party - Karl Marx & Friedrich Engels, 1848