Karl Marx never intended to spell out what the communist future would look like or how we would get there. His writing that comes closest to doing this is a short letter he wrote in 1875, given the title Critique of the Gotha Programme. Published 130 years ago—in...
Beyond the sprouts of capitalism: China’s early capitalist development and contemporary socialist project
This article was originally published at Monthly Review Online on March 03, 2021, and has been lightly revised with approval from the author. Introduction The contemporary political economy of the People’s Republic of China, the nature of the Chinese system, has been...
Relative surplus value: The class struggle intensifies
Introduction Toward the end of our earlier introduction to surplus value, the heart and motor of the class struggle, we wrote that: “The rate of surplus value for the capitalist is the rate of exploitation for the worker. By merely prolonging the working day, the...
Degrowth: An environmental ideology with good intentions, bad politics
Introduction The planet is experiencing multiple environmental crises: biodiversity loss, deforestation, increased rates of pandemics, chemical pollution, soil depletion, water contamination and shortages, runaway non-renewable energy consumption, and climate change....
Reading Capital with Comrades: A Liberation School podcast series
Liberation School is proud to release our new podcast series, "Reading Capital with Comrades." The series--which is now available on Spotify, Soundcloud, Apple Podcasts, and other platforms--not only makes the first volume of Karl Marx's Capital accessible to a new...
Revolutionary Friedrich Engels at 200
Today the world is celebrating the 200th anniversary of the birth of Friedrich Engels, renowned across the globe as one of the greatest revolutionaries and theorists to ever live. Engels, who along with Karl Marx founded the modern communist movement, was born on...
Engels on the housing question: Wishful thinking vs. real solutions
Editor's Note: This article accompanies our study guide for Engels' "The Housing Question." Introduction Frederick Engels is best known for his theoretical and political work he undertook alongside his lifelong comrade, Karl Marx. Yet Engels made other important...
PSL Course: Marx’s “Capital” (vol. 1)
Course description: The first volume of Karl Marx's Capital: A Critique of Political Economy, which was originally published in 1867, remains a key resource for understanding the logic of capitalism to this day. Marx wrote the book--which was the only volume of...
The Marxist Doctrine: An overview by Lenin
Editor's note: To commemorate the 202nd anniversary of Karl Marx's birth, we republish Lenin's overview of Marxist theory, "The Marxist Doctrine." It is part of an entry on Marx that Lenin wrote in 1914 for the Granat Encyclopedic Dictionary, and serves as a clear and...