Essential Readings on Capitalism and the Economy
The ultimate anti-capitalist reading listing to seize the means of production
Equally the Britain government tries to ban materials that are critical of capitalism in schools, we've compiled a listing of anti-backer books and essays to aid overthrow the system
Natalie Olah
STEAL Every bit MUCH Every bit YOU Tin
In her striking debut, Natalie Olah examines the threatening power of legacy media and satellite industries in shaping and maintaining ability structures. The corrosive effects of neoliberal and postmodern culture, Olah argues, has created a generation characterised with financial insecurity and crunch. By rejecting the established methods of achieving success, and encouraging us to steal what nosotros can from the establishment forth the way, 'Steal As Much As Yous Tin' offers promise to a bright generation whose potential has been stunted for reasons out of their control.
Erik Olin Wright
HOW TO BE ANTI-CAPITALIST IN THE TWENTY-Offset CENTURY
In this detailed manifesto, Erik Olin Wright asks the question: What is wrong with capitalism, and how can we modify it? An urgent and powerful instance for socialism, Wright analyses dissimilar sorts of anticapitalism, assessing different strategic approaches, and laying the groundwork for a society dedicated to human flourishing.
David Graeber
BULLSHIT JOBS
Dorsum in 2013, David Graeber's essay 'On the Phenomenon of Bullshit Jobs' in Strike! Magazine went viral for its nuanced argument against the existence of meaningless jobs (AKA anything that doesn't make the world a ameliorate place). In an age that places capitalist efficiency above all, the proliferation of pointless jobs is a puzzle and a means to control the masses. Graeber's calls on the power of trade unions and universal basic income for a brighter, more than hopeful time to come.
Aaron Bastani
FULLY Automatic LUXURY COMMUNISM
In 'Fully Automated Luxury Communism', Aaron Bastani presents united states with a framework beyond piece of work, scarcity, and capitalism. Technology, Bastani argues, should liberate us from long working hours, neoliberal feet, and pitiful-looking repast deals. Instead, he suggests a motility to energy abundance: improvements in renewable energies volition make fossil fuels a thing of the past, asteroids will exist mined for essential minerals, and genetic editing and synthetic biology will prolong life, almost eliminate illness and provide meat without animals. Welcome to fully automated luxury communism, babe.
Naomi Klein
THE Shock DOCTRINE
Naomi Klein'southward critique of neo-liberalism, 'The Shock Doctrine', explores commercialism'southward quasi-religious belief in free markets in shaping the policies of governments. Klein believes that "the closed, fundamentalist doctrines that cannot co-exist with other belief-systems... The world as it is must be erased to make fashion for their purist invention. Rooted in biblical fantasies of slap-up floods and great fires, it is a logic that leads ineluctably towards violence".
Klein explores galling examples of the Stupor Doctrine at play beyond the earth, often capitalising on moments of political and social strife: the instability in Poland and Russia after the plummet of communism; how hyperinflation in 80s Bolivia allowed the government to foist unpopular 'daze therapy' on the population; and the effects of 9/11 in allowing George Bush to launch a war aimed at producing a costless-market Iraq. The result is a hit reminder of the political manipulation happening behind closed doors.
Karl Marx
THESES OF FEUERBACH
We couldn't have an anti-capitalist reading listing without the OG himself. The 'Theses on Feuerbach' features eleven short notes written by Karl Marx as a basis for the first chapter of 1845'southward 'The German Ideology'. He argues that information technology'south not merely religion, but the underlying social and economic construction which gave rising to it, that should be considered when moving towards the emptying of organized religion. Every bit per his concluding line: "Philosophers take hitherto simply interpreted the earth in various ways; the signal is to change it."
Gilles Deleuze
POSTSCRIPT ON THE SOCIETIES OF CONTROL
In his 'Postscript on the Societies of Control', philosopher Gilles Deleuze builds on Michel Foucault's idea that the globe is moving from a Disciplinary Club model to a Society of Control. Anyone who's ever read Deleuze can confirm that this isn't exactly like shooting fish in a barrel reading, but patience comes with much reward.
Angela Davis
Freedom IS A CONSTANT STRUGGLE
In this collection of essays, interviews, and speeches, activist and scholar Angela Davis examines the connections between struggles confronting land violence and oppression throughout history and around the world. Reflecting on the importance of Black feminism, intersectionality, and prison house abolitionism, Davis discusses the legacies of previous liberation struggles, from the Blackness Freedom movement to South African anti-Apartheid. Drawing parallels to the Michael Brown shooting and Palestine, Davis' words remain pertinent in an era of Black Lives Thing, and more.
Marking Fisher
CAPITALIST REALISM
A cult favourite, 'Capitalist Realism' is a brusque but powerful volume about "the widespread acceptance that in that location is no alternative to capitalism". Fisher explores the feelings of sadness and despondency through a lens of culture (from 'Children of Men' to 'Wall-E'), politics, and instruction, ultimately highlighting the inconsistencies and glitches inherent in the capitalist system.
Paul Mason
POSTCAPITALISM
Paul Mason's groundbreaking bestseller 'Postcapitalism' argues that capitalism is already over. The charge per unit of information engineering science has changed our notions of power, which provides the potential to reshape outdated notions of work, production, and value; and to destroy an economic system based on markets and private ownership.
Source: https://www.dazeddigital.com/life-culture/article/50617/1/the-ultimate-anti-capitalist-reading-list-to-seize-the-means-of-production