NEW YORK UNIVERSITY
DEPARTMENT OF POLITICS

Prof. Bertell Ollman - G53.2140
POLITICAL THEORY: COMMUNISM
Select Bibliography and Reading List

There are a great many books containing selections from the writings of Marx and Engels.  The most important of these for this course are as follows:

I. McLellan, D. ed., The Thought of Karl Marx

II. Easton, L., and Guddat, K., eds., Writings of the Young Marx on Philosophy and Society

III. Selsam, H. and Martel, H., eds., Reader in Marxist Philosophy

IV. Marx/Engels: Selected Works (International, 1 vol.)

These works will be referred to as I, II, III, IV in what follows.

I have also put one star in front of the works I consider particularly important and two stars in front of those I consider essential, that is in the context of this course.


I. "SETTING THE PROBLEM: MARX'S AND OUR OWN"

A. Introductory Works

* Engels, F., Socialism: Utopian and Scientific

** Marx, K, and Engels, F. Communist Manifesto

Ollman, B., "What Is Marxism? A Bird's-Eye View" (pamphlet)

** Ollman, B., How to Take an Exam and Remake the World

Parenti, M., Democracy for a Few

Rius, Marx for Beginners

Tressell, R., The Ragged Troussered Philanthropist

B. Biographies

Berlin, I., Karl Marx (the most literate)

McLellan, D., Karl Marx (the most scholarly)

Mehring, F., Karl Marx (the most passionate)

C. General

* I, Part 1

* III, Part 1

Arnold, S., Marx's Radical Critique of Capitalist Society

* Avineri, S., The Social and Political Thought of Karl Marx

Berman, M., Adventures in Marxism

Cameron, K., Marxism: The Science of Society

Carver, T., Marx and Engels: The Intellectual Relationship

Eagleton, T., Marx

Elster, J., An Introduction to Karl Marx

** Fischer, E., How to Read Karl Marx

Gurley, F.G., Challengers to Capitalism

Harrington, M., The Twilight of Capitalism

Heilbroner, R., Marxism: For and Against

Hodges, D., "Engels' Contribution to Marxism", Socialist Register, 1985

Hook, S., Toward an Understanding of Karl Marx

Lichtheim, G., Marxism

** Mandel, E., The Place of Marxism in History

Ollman, B., and Vernoff, E., eds., The Left Academy: Marxist Scholarship on American Campuses, vol. I

* Suchting, W., Marx

* Williams, W.A., The Great Evasion

Wilson, E., To the Finland Station


2. "The Philosophical Underpinnings of Marx's Solution:
Materialism and Dialectics"

* Engels, F., Anti-Duhring

* Marx, K., "Critical Battle Against French Materialism", Holy Family (II)

* Marx, K., "Theses on Feuerbach", (II, IV)

* Marx, K., "Critique of the Hegelian Philosophy", Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844 (II)

* III, Parts 2-5

Althusser, L., For Marx

Ash, W., Marxism and Moral Concepts

Bhaskar, R., Dialectic: The Pulse of Freedom

Dunayevskaya, R., Marxism and Freedom

Dupre, L., The Philosophical Foundations of Marxism

Gollobin, I., Dialectic Materialism

Gould, C., Marx's Social Ontology

Gramsci, A., The Prison Notebooks, Part 3

Hook, S., From Hegel to Marx

Hyppolite, J., Studies on Marx and Hegel

Ilyenkov, E.V., Dialectic Logic

Israel, J., The Language of Dialectics

Jordan, Z.A., The Evolution of Dialectical Materialism

Kleinbach, R.L., Marx via Process

Kolowski, L., Main Currents of Marxism, vol I

* Korsch, K., Marxism and Philosophy

* Kosik, K., Dialectics of the Concrete

** Lukacs, G., History and Class Consciousness, Chap 1

Mao Tse Tung, Four Essays on Philosophy

** Marcuse, H.,Reason and Revolution

Meikle, S., Essentialism in the Thought of Karl Marx

Mepham, J., and Reuben, D.-H., Issues in Marxist Philosophy, vols. I-III

** Ollman, B., Alienation: Marx's Conception of Man in Capitalist Society, Part I and Appendixes I and II

** Ollman, B., Dialectical Investigations, Chaps. 1 and 2

Rees, J., The Algebra of Revolution: The Dialectic and the Classical Marxist Tradition

Popper, K., The Open Society and Its Enemies, vol. II

Reuben, D.-H., Marxism and Materialism

Sayers, D., The Violence of Abstraction

Sohn-Rethel, A., Intellectual and Manual Labor: A Critique of Epistemology

Timpanaro, S., On Materialism

Wood, A., Karl Marx

Zeleny, J., The Logic of Marx


3. "Human Nature and Alienation: Where Science, Criticism,
and Vision Meet"

* Marx, K., Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844

* Marx, K., Capital, Part I, Section 4

* I, Part 2

* III, Part 7

Aptdeker, H., ed. Marxism and Alienation

Foster, J.B., Marx's Ecology: Materialism and Nature

Fromm, E., Marx's Conception of Man, Introduction

** Geras, N., Marx and Human Nature

Heller, A., The Theory of Need in Marx

* Israel, J., Alienation from Marx to Modern Sociology

Kamenka, E., The Ethical Foundations of Marxism

* Lefebvre, H., Critique of Everyday Life

* Marcuse, H., One-Dimensional Man

** Meszaros, I., Marx's Theory of Alienation

** Ollman, B. Alienation, Chaps. 7-23, and 29

Ollman, B., Class Struggle Is The Name of the Game: True Confessions of a Marxist Businessman

O'Malley, J., "History and Man's Nature in Marx", in Marx's Socialism, ed. By S. Avineri

Peffer, R., Marxism and Ethics

* Petrovich, G. Marx in the Mid-20th Century, Part 2

* Plamenatz, J., Karl Marx's Philosophy of Man

Rubel, M., Rubel on Marx

Sayers, S., Is There a Marxist Theory of Human Nature?

Schacht, R., Alienation

Walliman, I., Estrangement

Walton, P., and Gamble, A., From Alienation to Surplus Value


4. "Poltical Economy of Capitalism: From Value and Accumulation
of Capital to Fetishism and Crisis"

** Marx, K., "Wage Labor and Capitol", IV

** Marx, K., "Wages, Price and Profit", IV

* Marx, K., Grundrisse, ed. by D. McLellan

* Marx, K., Capital I, Parts 1-7

Althusser, L., Reading Capital

Arthur, C., The Dialectics of Labor

Bohm-Bawerk, L. von, Karl Marx and the Close of His System

Cleaver, H. Reading Capital Politically

Dobb, M., Theories of Value and Distribution Since Adam Smith

Dunayevskaya, R., Marxism and Freedom

Fine, B., Marx's Capitalism

Gottheil, F., Marx's Economic Predictions

Harrington, M., Socialism, Chapter 5

* Harvey, D., The Limits of Capital

Howard, M.C., and King, J.E., The Political Economy of Marx

* Mandel, E., The Formation of Marx's Economic Thought

** Mandel, E., Introduction to Marx's Economics

Mandel, E., Late Capitalism

Mattick, P., Marx and Keynes

Meek, R.L., Studies in the Labor Theory of Value

Mepham, J. "The Theory of Ideology in Capital", Radical Philosophy (Summer 1972)

** Ollman, B., Alienation, Chapters 24-28

Robinson, J., An Essay on Marxian Economics

Roosevelt, F., "Cambridge Economics as Commodity Fetishism",

The Review of Radical Political Economics (Winter 1975)

Rosdolsky, R., The Making of Marx's Capital

* Rubel, M., Rubel on Marx, Chapters 3 and 4

* Rubin, I.I., Essays on Marx's Theory of Value

Sekine, T., An Outline of the Dialectics of Capital

* Smith, T., The Logic of Marx's Capital

* Suchting, W., Marx, Part 3

** Sweezy, P., The Theory of Capitalist Development

Waton, P., and Gamble, A., From Alienation to Surplus Value


5. "Is Democracy Compatible with Class Dictatorship? State
and Politics in Modern Capitalism,
Capitalism and Class Societies"

* Engels, F., Origins of the Family, Private Property and the State

Marx, K., Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of the State, ed. by J. O'Malley (also introduced by O'Malley)

* I, Part 2

Althusser, L., "Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses", Lenin and Philosophy

Beirne, P., and Sharlet, R., Pashukanis: Selected Writings on Marxism and Law

Blackburn, R., ed., Ideologies in the Social Sciences

Carnoy, M., The State and Political Theory

Corrigan, P., Capitalism, State Formation and Political Theory

* Draper, H., Karl Marx Theory of Revolution, vols. I-IV

* Gilbert, A., Marx's Politics

* Gramsci, A., Prison Notebooks, Part 2

Habermas, J., Legitimation Problems in Late Capitalism

Hook, S., Toward an Understanding Of Karl Marx, Chapters 17-19

Hunt, R., The Political Ideas of Marx and Engels, vols. I, II

Larrain, J., Marxism and Ideology

* Lefebvre, H., The Sociology of Marx

Lichtman, R., Marx's Theory of Ideology and Other Essays

* Lenin, V.L., State and Revolution

Mezsaros, I., The Power of Ideology

Miliband, R., The State in Capitalist Theory

** Miliband, R., Marxism and Politics

Miliband, R., Divided Societies: Class Struggle in Contemporary Capitalism

** Milliband, R., and Poulantzas, N., "The Problem of the Capitalist State", Ideology and Social Science, ed. by R. Blackburn

Moore, S., The Critique of Capitalist Democracy

** Nimtz, A.N., Marx and Engels, Their Contribution to the Democratic Breakthrough

O'Connor, J., The Fiscal Crisis of The State

** Ollman, B., Alienation, Chapters 29-32

** Ollman, B., Dialectic Investigations Chaps. 3-5

Ollman, B., and Birnbaum, J., eds. The US Constitution: 200 Years of Criticism

* Ollman, B., "What is Political Science? What Should It Be?" New Political Science (December 2000)

* Ollman, B. "Why Does the Emperor Need the Yakuza? Prolegomenon to a Marxist Theory of a Japanese State," New Left Review (Mar/Apr 2001)

* Parenti, M., Democracy for a Few

* Poulantzas, N., Political Power and Social Class

Renner, K., The Institution of Private Laws and Their Social Function

Thomas, P., Karl Marx and the Anarchists

Thomas, P., Alien Politics

Wright, E.O., Class, Crisis, and the State


6. "The History of Modern Capitalism, Capitalism
and Class Societies: The Dialectical Relationship
Between 'Base' and 'Superstructure'"

* Marx, K., "The 18th of Brumaire", IV

* Marx, K., "Civil War in France", IV

* Marx, K., "Class Struggle in France", IV

** Marx, K., Capital, Part 8

** Marx, K., and Engels, F., German Ideology, Parts 1 and 3

** II, Parts 6 and 7

Anderson, P., In the Tracks of Historical Materialism

Aronowitz, S., The Crisis in Historical Materialism

Bober, M.M., Karl Marx's Interpretation of History

Bukharin, N., Historical Materialism

** Cohen, G.A., Marx's Theory of History: A Defense

Cole, G.D.H., The Meaning of Marxism

* Dobb, M., ed., The Transformation from Feudalism to Capitalism

Eagleton, T., Ideology

* Farraro, J., Freedom and Determinism in History According to Marx and Engels

Fleischer. H., Marxism and History

Gandy, D.R., Marx and History

Giddens, A., A Contemporary Critique of Historical Materialism

* Jakubowski, R., Ideological Superstructures in the Materialist Conception of History

Korsch, K., Karl Marx

Labriola, A., Essays on the Materialist Conception of History

** Lefebvre, H., Historical Materialism

MacPherson, C.B., The Political Theory of Possessive Individualism

McLellan, D., Ideology

McMurty, J., The Structure of Marx's World View

Mehring, F., On Historical Materialism

Meszaros, I., The Power of Ideology

** Ollman, B., "Marx's Use of 'Class'", Social and Sexual Revolution: Essays on Marx and Reich

** Ollman, B., Alienation, Chapters 29-32

** Ollman, B., Dialectical Investigations, Chapters 6-8

Plekhanov, H., The Role of The Individual in History

** Rader, M., Marx's Materialist Interpretation of History

Schmidt, A., History and Structure

Torrance, J., Ideology

* Wood, E., Democracy Against Capitalism: Renewing Historical Materialism

7. "Projecting the Socialist and Communist Future:
But Is True? And Is It Good?"

** Marx, K., "Critique of the Gotha Program", IV

* I, Part 2, Chapter 8

* Marx, K., Engels, F., and Lenin, V.L., On Communist Society

* Bottomore, T.B., and Rubel, M., eds., Karl Marx: Selected Writings in Sociology and Social Philosophy, Part 5

Afanasyev, V., Socialism and Communism

Bebel, A., Society of the Future

Block, E., The Principle of Hope

* Draper, H., Karl Marx's Theory of Revolution: The Dictatorship of the Proletariat, vol. III

Duncan, G., Marx and Mill, Chapter 5

* Ehrenberg, J., The Dictatorship of the Proletariat: Marx's Theory of Socialist Democracy

* Lenin, V.V., State and Revolution

* Mandel, E., Marxist Economic Theory, Chapters 15-18

* Meszaros, I., Beyond Capital: Towards a Theory of Transition

Moore, S., Marx on the Choice Between Socialism and Communism

Nove, A., The Economics of Feasible Socialism

** Ollman, B., Alienation, Chapters 7-17 and 33

** Ollman, B., "Marx's Vision of Communism", Social and Sexual Revolution

** Ollman, B., ed. and co-author, Market Socialism: The Debate Among Socialists

** Ollman, B., "Why Dialectics? Why Now? Or How to Study the Communist Future Inside the Capitalist Present", Science & Society (Fall 1998)

Stephen, J.D., The Transition from Capitalism to Socialism

Tucker, R., The Marxian Revolutionary Idea

* Van den Berg, A., The Immanent Utopia: From Marxism on the State to the State of Marxism

8. "Revolution: Who? How? When? And With What?"

* I, Part 2, Chapters 5 and 7

* Padover, S., ed., Karl Marx on Revolution, Part I

Avineri, S., The Social and Political Thought of Karl Marx, Chapter 5  

              Blackburn, R., "The Theory of Proletarian Revolution", New Left Review (?, 1997)

Colletti, L., "Marx and Engels and the Concept of Party," The Socialist Register, 1967

Eyerman, R., False Consciousness and Ideology in Marx's Theory

Fromm, E., Escape from Freedom

Johnstone, M., "Marx and Engels and the Concept of Party", The Socialist Register, 1967

* Lenin, V.L., What Is To Be Done?

* Lukacs, G., History and Class Consciousness, Chapter 3

** Luxembourg, R., Reform or Revolution

* Marcuse,H., "Marx's Concept of Revolution", New Left Review (July 1969)

Molyneux, J. Marx and the Party

** Ollman, B., Alienation, Chapters 17,29, and 33

** Ollman, B., Social and Sexual Revolution, Chapters 1,6 and 7

** Ollman, B., Dialectical Investigations, Chapter 9

Reich, W., "What is 'Class Consciousness'?" Sex-Pol, ed. by L. Baxendall

Reich, W., Mass Psychology of Fascism

Rosen, M., On Voluntary Servitude

* Sherover, Marcuse, E., Emancipation and Consciousness

Wolpe, H., "The Problem of the Development of Revolutionary Consciousness", Telos (Fall, 1969)


For a wide range of materials on many of the topics touched on above, see:
www.dialecticalmarxism.com <http://www.dialecticalmarxism.com/>   - The Web Site of Bertell Ollman.

Photocopies of a variety of articles will also be provided during the course