Need help making sense of the class struggle we're in? Need to brush up on you're theory? DSA members are spending our time in quarantine getting back to basics by reading and discussing Karl Marx and Freidrich Engel's Communist Manifesto. Theory novices and buffs alike are welcome!
We will be discussing the 1848 political document in two sessions in order to 1. get a grip on the historical underpinnings of the book, 2. dive deep into the anti-capitalist struggle and program laid out by Marx and Engels, and 3. Apply this framework to our world.
During our first session, we will be reading the preface, preamble, chapter 1 (bourgeois and proletarian), and chapter 2 (proletarians and communists). No shame if you don't end up getting around to reading any or all of it -- you are still welcome to participate in the discussion.
Here is the link to the manifesto: https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1848/communist-manifesto/
Here are some additional readings and talks:
Marshall Berman:
https://www.thenation.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/7199834.pdf
Phil Gasper:
https://isreview.org/issues/05/manifesto.shtml
Laura Snedeker: