this post was submitted on 30 Nov 2023
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Related to Kissinger (US imperialism) or just theory in general?
If the former, Michael Hudson’s Super-Imperialism should be essential reading for every leftist at this point given the recent global events.
If latter, Lenin’s State and Revolution and Imperialism: the Highest Stage of Capitalism are a good start.
If you’re into this kind of thing, I’d also suggest Mao’s Selected Works (whom I’ve come to appreciate recently) when it comes to anti-imperialist and anti-colonial struggle in the developing world, which fills a gap less developed by the Russian theorists.
For a more recent work, I highly recommend Clara Mattei’s The Capital Order (2021), which is probably one of my favorite books in recent years. This is only her first book, and a sequel is in the work, but I have a feeling that she’ll end up being one of the best theorists of our generation. I am that impressed.
I meant in general. The "bet" was once he died I had to stop running on vibes and learning from discourse (tbf to me, learning from discourse is how my brain operates) and actually form my own foundation of theory lol.
In that case, my recommendations (all 5 books) still remain unchanged. I think it’s a good mix of political and economic theory, and selected for their relevance to present day events i.e. you will be able to easily apply those knowledge to understand what is happening around the world today.
If you wanna read stuff and comment on it together, I'd join your reading group.
Agree about Clara Mattei. That book is an excellent and original bit of scholarship on a subject that really doesn’t get discussed enough on the left, given the enormous impact of monetary policy on working people.