The Meaning of Marxism

Description

It is fashionable for pundits to declare every so often that Marxism is dead. As the late socialist author Daniel Singer aptly put it, their aim “is to doom as impossible a radical, fundamental transformation of existing society.”

But you can’t keep a good theory down. The poverty, class inequality, war, and environmental degradation that today’s globalized capitalist system creates on an ever-expanding scale raises questions for which Marxism still offers fresh and relevant answers.

This book is a lively and accessible introduction to the ideas of Karl Marx, as well as other key Marxists, with historical and contemporary examples. The Meaning of Marxism shows that a “radical, fundamental transformation of existing society” is indeed not only possible, but urgently necessary.

Marx’s ideas remain crucial for comprehending the modern world, and no one does a better job of explaining them and showing how to apply them to contemporary issues than Paul D’Amato. This book is a treasury of powerful arguments illustrating the continuing relevance of class politics. A superb introduction to the Marxist method. -Phil Gasper, editor ofThe Communist Manifesto: A Road Map to History’s Most Important Political Document

Marx and Engels understood that to change the world, it is necessary to understand how that world works, and to learn the effective levers for its transformation. This book is for those who are just beginning to embark on that same road today.- FromThe Meaning of Marxism