Reading List

Foundational reads we recommend to prepare for courses and discussions.

1.    On the Correct Handling of Contradictions Among People by Mao Zedong - Essential for distinguishing antagonistic vs. non-antagonistic contradictions and applying the mass line. Teaches how to resolve contradictions under socialism without alienating the masses.

2.    Oppose book worship by Mao Zedong - Critique of dogmatism and empiricism. Stresses concrete investigation and the integration of theory with revolutionary practice which is vital against sterile “Marxist” scholasticism.

3.    Wretched of the Earth by Frantz Fanon - Analyzes the psychology and class dynamics of colonialism and national liberation. Complements Lenin on imperialism by showing the role of the lumpenproletariat, peasantry, and national bourgeoisie in decolonization struggles.

4.    On practice by Mao Zedong - Knowledge arises from practice. Directly counters idealism and mechanical materialism; foundational for dialectical materialism in action.

5.    On Contradiction by Mao Zedong - Development of dialectical materialism. Explains the universality and particularity of contradictions, the principal contradiction, and transformation of quantity into quality which is indispensable for analyzing any concrete situation.

6.    I Speak of Freedom by Kwame Nkrumah - Documents the anti-colonial struggle and the transition to neocolonialism. Nkrumah’s concept of neocolonialism is a crucial extension of Lenin’s Imperialism.

7.    It’s All about the Land by Taiaiake Alfred - Indigenous critique of settler colonialism and capitalism’s relationship to land. Helps Marxists understand primitive accumulation and ongoing dispossession beyond classical European models.

8.    The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels - Foundational text. Masterful summary of historical materialism, class struggle as the motor of history, and the bourgeoisie’s role (and eventual obsolescence).

9.    Kayanerenko:wa The Great Law of Peace by Kayanesenh Paul Williams - Provides insight into pre-colonial Indigenous governance and confederation. Useful for contrasting communal modes of production and non-state political organization with European class societies.

10.  Socialism Utopian and Scientific by Friedrich Engels - Clarifies scientific socialism vs. utopian variants. Excellent primer on historical materialism and the development of capitalism’s contradictions.

11.  Basic Call to Consciousness by Chief Oren Lyons, John Mohawk, and José Barreiro - Indigenous perspectives on ecology, sovereignty, and critique of Western civilization. Strengthens Marxist environmental analysis and anti-imperialist solidarity.

12.  Anarchism or Socialism by Joseph Stalin - Useful for clarifying Marxist positions on the state and organization.

13.  Value, Price, & Profit by Karl Marx - Accessible explanation of the labor theory of value, surplus value, and wage struggles. Excellent for trade unionists and understanding exploitation at the point of production.

14.  Blood in My Eye by George L. Jackson - Revolutionary analysis from within the U.S. prison system. Develops ideas on fascism, the lumpenproletariat, and the need for armed struggle in advanced capitalist states.

15.  Native Sun by Richard Wright - Literary depiction of the Black proletarian and lumpen experience under American capitalism and racism. Reveals the national/racial dimensions of class oppression in the U.S.

16.  Prisoner of Grass by Howard Adams - Métis Marxist analysis of Canadian settler colonialism. Links Indigenous dispossession to capitalist development.

17.  Dialectical and Historical Materialism by Joseph Stalin - For education on materialism vs. idealism and the laws of social development.

18.  The Foundations of Leninism by Joseph Stalin - Clear exposition of Lenin’s contributions: the party of a new type, imperialism, the alliance of proletariat and peasantry, and the national question.

19.  State and Revolution by V. I. Lenin - Essential recovery of Marx and Engels on the state as an instrument of class rule and the necessity of smashing the bourgeois state. Timeless against opportunism.

20.  What is to be done? by V. I. Lenin - On the role of theory and the vanguard party. Combats economism and spontaneism. Still relevant for building conscious revolutionary organization.

21.  Red Skin White Mask by Glen Coulthard - Indigenous Marxist critique of recognition politics and settler colonialism. Engages Fanon and Marx to argue that land and dispossession are central.

22.  Left Wing Communism an Infantile disorder by V. I. Lenin - Tactical masterclass against ultra-leftism and sectarianism. Teaches participation in parliaments, unions, and compromises when necessary.

23.  On the history of Early Christianity by Friedrich Engels - Applies historical materialism to religion. Shows how early Christianity reflected class contradictions, useful for analyzing ideology.

24.  The Strange Career of Jim Crow by C Vann Woodward - Historical materialist-friendly account of how racial segregation was constructed and maintained for class rule in the U.S. South.

25.  Decolonization is Not a Metaphor by Tuck and Yang - Sharp warning against metaphorical “decolonization” that avoids land repatriation. Forces Marxists to take settler colonialism and Indigenous land questions seriously rather than subsuming them under class reductionism.

26.  Marxism and the National Question by Joseph Stalin - Classic Marxist definition of a nation and policy on national self-determination. Crucial for multi-national states and anti-imperialist united fronts.

27.  Before the Mayflower by Lerone Bennett Jr. - Black historical perspective on the U.S. from slavery onward. Illuminates the intertwined development of racial and class oppression.

28.  Black Reconstruction in America W.E.B. Dubois - This work explains the revolutionary potential of the Black proletariat and poor whites during Reconstruction, and how white supremacy was used to crush it. Essential correction to Eurocentric histories.

29.  Studies on Dying Colonialism by Frantz Fanon - Concrete analysis of the Algerian revolution, the transformation of social relations in struggle, and the role of culture and spontaneity.

30.  The  Other America by Michael Harrington - Exposed poverty in the affluent U.S. Useful for understanding the persistence of relative surplus population and underclass dynamics under capitalism.

31.  The Colonizer and the Colonized by Albert Memmi - Psychological and structural portrait of colonialism. 

32.  We Charge Genocide by William L. Patterson - Documents systematic violence against Black people in the U.S. as genocide. Links racial terror to capitalist class rule.

 

33.  Settlers: The Mythology of the White Proletariat by J. Sakai - Analysis of the U.S. as a settler-colonial society and the material basis of white worker complicity. 

 

34. Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism by V. I. Lenin - This book is the strategic foundation for understanding why national liberation, anti-colonial, and anti-imperialist struggles are not distractions from class struggle but its highest and most decisive form in the epoch of imperialism.

 

35. Caliban and the Witch by Silvia Federici - It gives a strong theoretical tool for understanding why women’s liberation must be central to any genuine socialist revolution. Examines how the witch hunts and control of women’s bodies were central to the rise of capitalism and primitive accumulation. Deepens understanding of social reproduction.

 

36. Woman, Race & Class by Angela Davis - Analysis of the intersections of gender, race, and class in the U.S. Covers slavery, suffrage, reproductive rights, and the Black women’s movement.

 

37. The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State by Friedrich Engels - Foundational text on how women’s oppression is tied to the rise of private property and class society.

 

38. Women and the Family by Alexandra Kollontai - Revolutionary Bolshevik writings on women’s liberation, free love, collective childcare, and the need to socialize domestic labor under socialism. Practical and visionary on building socialist feminism.

 

39. Marxism and the Oppression of Women: Toward a Unitary Theory by Lise Vogel - One of the most rigorous theoretical defenses of a Marxist approach to women’s oppression. Addresses social reproduction theory and critiques dual-systems theories.

 

40. Feminism for the 99%: A Manifesto by Cinzia Arruzza, Tithi Bhattacharya & Nancy Fraser - Contemporary Marxist feminist critique of liberal “lean-in” feminism. Argues for a feminism rooted in anti-capitalist struggle that centers working-class and oppressed women globally.

 

41. Afropessimism by Frank B. Wilderson III - Valuable as a diagnostic of anti-Black terror and a symptom of despair in the absence of strong revolutionary movements

 

42. Black Skin White Mask by Frantz Fanon - His work is deeply influenced by dialectics, existentialism, and anti-imperialist politics. This book remains one of the strongest analyses of the subjective, lived experience of racial oppression under colonialism.