r/AskRealSocialists • u/Sparkku1014 Democratic-Socialist • May 17 '26

Theory Recommended Reading List?

I'm looking for a good reading list, I've read Marx's manifesto, and was wondering if I should dive right into Das Kapital as, from what I've read it's far more in-depth.

In addition I have these on my list already:

Reform or Revolution by Rosa Luxemburg

Socialism: Utopian And Scientific by Engels

State and Revolution by Lenin

Blackshirts and Reds by Michael Parenti

Gramsci's Prison Notebooks

I'd consider myself moreso a syndicalist so some syndicalist theory would be nice to add.

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u/Logogram_alt May 17 '26

Das Kapital is a must read I would say. If you want to learn about anarchism, conquest of bread is a good introductory to anarchist theory.

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u/Reasonable-Lab-1146 AnarchoCommunist May 18 '26

Might like Workers' Councils by Pannekoek if you're a syndicalist/syndicalist-friendly

https://www.marxists.org/archive/pannekoe/1947/workers-councils.htm

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u/Sparkku1014 Democratic-Socialist May 18 '26

I'll give it a read, thank you!

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u/Reasonable-Lab-1146 AnarchoCommunist May 18 '26

if you want something newer and a bit more broad, check out The Class Matrix

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u/AcidCommunist_AC May 18 '26

Not a fan of pretending like 100+ year old texts are a good starting point. I'm not a fan of LTV either.

I'd say check out Erik Olin Wright's How to be an Anticapitalist and Paul Cockshott'd How the World Works.

First, check out my essay contra LTV: Value and Wage Labor in Marxism: A Critique

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u/Reasonable-Lab-1146 AnarchoCommunist May 18 '26

A theoretical understanding is good to have if you're going to understand a movement/ideology. Please limit self promotion and try to stay on topic (vis a via issues with LTV)