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reading project in dialectical/historical materialism


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Hey folks,

In preparing for my dissertation I will be reading a series of dialectical studies from several prominent Marxist scholars. This will function as an independent study for me in the fall semester, and the reading list will be based on suggestions from close colleagues and professors.

I wanted to see if any of you would like to take part in this reading group, as a sort of online Marxist working group. If you're interested please say so here and we can start talking more about this.

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Well, I am open to suggestions. At this point, however, I have been thinking about a small bit of Marx to start the reading project off right. The project would then move on to contemporary works. I am planning to read only a small bit of Marx because I've already read quite a bit of him.

 

So, here is the list as it stands, but it will definitely change before the Fall semester starts. And please feel free to suggest changes, etc:

 

Marx -- Introduction to the Critique of Political Economy (You can find this online or in The German Ideology from Prometheus Books).

 

Marx -- The 18th Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte (I will be reading the New World Paperbacks edition)

 

Lukacs -- History and Class Consciousness (the entire book)

 

Adorno -- Minima Moralia (the entire book)

 

Benjamin -- Paris, Capital of the 19th Century (Essay can be found here: http://nowherelab.dreamhosters.com/paris%20capital.pdf)

 

Benjamin -- Critique of Violence (Essay can be found here: http://english.columbia.edu/files/english/content/Critique_of_Violence.pdf)

 

Lefebvre -- Dialectical Materialism

 

Ollman -- Dance of the Dialectic

 

Ollman -- Alienation: Marx' Conception of Man in Capitalist Society

 

This may seem like a lot of reading, but many of these selections are only essays which can be closely read in a matter of hours. Again, I should say that I'm reading these texts so as to focus on the method. There is a theme running through these texts of course--particularly the critique of capitalist society and a discussion of the position of the concrete individual within this society.

 

I haven't properly organized these readings yet, again, its just the preliminary list. So, let me know what you think.

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Well, I am open to suggestions. At this point, however, I have been thinking about a small bit of Marx to start the reading project off right. The project would then move on to contemporary works. I am planning to read only a small bit of Marx because I've already read quite a bit of him.

 

So, here is the list as it stands, but it will definitely change before the Fall semester starts. And please feel free to suggest changes, etc:

 

Marx -- Introduction to the Critique of Political Economy (You can find this online or in The German Ideology from Prometheus Books).

 

Marx -- The 18th Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte (I will be reading the New World Paperbacks edition)

 

Lukacs -- History and Class Consciousness (the entire book)

 

Adorno -- Minima Moralia (the entire book)

 

Benjamin -- Paris, Capital of the 19th Century (Essay can be found here: http://nowherelab.dreamhosters.com/paris%20capital.pdf)

 

Benjamin -- Critique of Violence (Essay can be found here: http://english.columbia.edu/files/english/content/Critique_of_Violence.pdf)

 

Lefebvre -- Dialectical Materialism

 

Ollman -- Dance of the Dialectic

 

Ollman -- Alienation: Marx' Conception of Man in Capitalist Society

 

This may seem like a lot of reading, but many of these selections are only essays which can be closely read in a matter of hours. Again, I should say that I'm reading these texts so as to focus on the method. There is a theme running through these texts of course--particularly the critique of capitalist society and a discussion of the position of the concrete individual within this society.

 

I haven't properly organized these readings yet, again, its just the preliminary list. So, let me know what you think.

 

 

I was actually thinking of substituting the Benjamin for Buck-Morss' Dialectics of Seeing. That might be more accessible.

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