First published as a series in Socialist Worker, November 1970–February 1971.
Published as a pamphlet in March 1971 by Pluto Press on behalf of the International Socialists.
Revised edition published in June 1975 by the International Socialists.
The IS also published a Study Guide for The Meaning of Marxism in 1972; the individual chapters are linked to the relevant parts of this Study Guide.
Downloaded from REDS – Die Roten.
Marked up by Einde O’Callaghan for the Marxists’ Internet Archive.
The chapters of this pamphlet first appeared as weekly articles in Socialist Worker. They are intended as an introduction to some of the leading ideas of Marxism. Of course the theory is mixed up with history. This has to be so because Marxism doesn’t exist outside time and space but is, as Engels said, not a dogma but a guide to action.
As far as possible I have let Marx speak for himself but I have not encumbered this little text with footnotes and references to quotations. Instead I have added a short list of pamphlets and books for further reading. For the 1975 edition some of the figures, for wage levels for instance, have been brought up to date.
1. Why we need a theory
2. The battle for markets
3. The workers’ vital role
4. Who produces the wealth
5. The system’s driving force
6. What causes the crisis
7. The march of the giants
8. The white man’s burden
9. Modern capitalism
10. Arms: key to postwar recovery
11. The end of postwar stability
12. Ideas: how the ruling class keeps its grip
13. “Greedy workers”
14. Public interest: dust in workers’ eyes
15. European revolution defeated
16. The rise of Stalin’s dictatorship
17. Stalin’s zig-zags
18. The only way forward: an international strategy
Reading list
Last updated on 4 February 2017