This section highlights some canonical books/texts that constitute the foundations of the philosophy/thought on the labor movement and critical theory.
Marx for Beginners by
"A cartoon book about Marx? Are you sure it's Karl, not Groucho? How can you summarize the work of Karl Marx in cartoons? It took Rius to do it. He's put it all in: the origins of Marxist philosophy, history, economics; of capital, labor, the class struggle, socialism. And there's a biography of "Charlie" Marx besides. Like the companion volumes in the series, Marx for Beginners is accurate, understandable, and very, very funny."
The Right to Be Lazy and other Writings by
Now in a new translation, a classic nineteenth-century defense for the cause of idleness by a revolutionary writer and activist (and Karl Marx's son-in law) that reshaped European ideas of labor and production. Exuberant, provocative, and as controversial as when it first appeared in 1880, Paul Lafargue's The Right to Be Lazyis a call for the workers of the world to unite-and stop working so much! Lafargue, Karl Marx's son-in-law (about whom Marx once said, "If he is a Marxist, then I am clearly not") wrote his pamphlet on the virtues of laziness while in prison for giving a socialist speech. At once a timely argument for a three-hour workday and a classical defense of leisure, The Right to Be Lazyshifted the course of European thought, going through seventeen editions in Russia during the Revolution of 1905 and helping shape John Maynard Keynes's ideas about overproduction. Published here with a selection of Lafargue's other writings-including an essay on Victor Hugo and a memoir of Marx-The Right to Be Lazyreminds us that the urge to work is not always beneficial, let alone necessary. It can also be a "strange madness" consuming human lives.
Selections from the Prison Notebooks by
"...[I]n the autumn of 1926, on the pretext of an alleged attempt on his life, Mussolini decided to make an end of even the semblance of bourgeois democracy that still survived. All remaining opposition organisations and their publications were banned, and a new, massive series of arrests was launched throughout the country. Among those arrested was Antonio Gramsci. Gramsci was a member of parliament -- but the régime was no longer interested in niceties about parliamentary immunity. He had also, since August 1924, been the general secretary of the Communist Party -- though of course under such political conditions the identity of party officials was kept secret." -- Pages xvii-xviii of Introduction.
Introducing Critical Theory by
The last few decades have seen an explosion in the production of critical theories, with deconstructioniss, poststructuralists, postmoderniss, second-wave feminists, new historicists, cultural materialists, postcolonialists, black critics and queer theorists, among a host of others, all vying for our attention. The world around us can look very different on the critical theory applied to it. This vast range of interpretations can leave one feeling confused and frustrated. This book provides a route through the tangled jungle of competing theories. It provides a context for these recent developments by situating them within the longer-term tradition of critical analysis going back to the rise of Marxism. The essential methods and objectives of each theoretical school are presented in an incisive and accessible manner. Special attention is paid to recurrent themes and concerns that have preoccupied a century of critical theoretical activity.
Education for Critical Consciousness by
"Paulo Freire (1921-97) was an educationalist based in Brazil who became the most influential writer and thinker on education in the second half of the twentieth century. His seminal work Pedagogy of the Oppressed has sold a million copies." "Education for Critical Consciousness is the main statement of Freire's revolutionary method of education. It takes the life situation of the learner as its starting point and the raising of consciousness and the overcoming of obstacles as its goals. For Freire, man's striving for his own humanity requires the changing of structures which dehumanise both the oppressor and the oppressed." -- Publisher's description.
Contents
Society in transition -- Closed society and democratic inexperience -- Education versus massification -- Education and conscientização -- Preface to "Extension or Communication" by Jacques Chonchol -- Extension or Communication.
Illuminations by 
Routledge International Handbook of Working-Class Studies by
The Routledge International Handbook of Working-Class Studies is a timely volume that provides an overview of this interdisciplinary field that emerged in the 1990s in the context of deindustrialization, the rise of the service economy, and economic and cultural globalization. The Handbook brings together scholars, teachers, activists, and organizers from across three continents to focus on the study of working-class peoples, cultures, and politics in all their complexity and diversity.
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