DSA is a big-tent, multi-tendency organization, and that’s as true in our local chapter as it is on the national level. It’s impossible, then, for every selection on a reading list to reflect the thinking of every member of our chapter, What we’re trying to achieve with this (still growing) resource list is a basic foundation in democratic socialist theory and thought.
Topics (after “What Is Democratic Socialism?”) listed in alphabetical order:
What is Democratic Socialism?
“What Is Democratic Socialism” by Neal Meyer
“What Should Socialists Do?” by Joseph Schwartz and Bhaskar Sunkara
“Why Socialism?” by Albert Einstein
The ABCs of Capitalism by Vivek Chibber
The ABCs of Socialism by Jacobin and Verso
Socialism: Utopian and Scientific by Friedrich Engels
The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels
Letter from Marx to Ruge, 1843 (on method and philosophy)
Abolition, Anti-Racism, and Socialism
Black Reconstruction in America: 1860-1880 (40-page excerpt) by W. E. B. Du Bois
“The Abolitionist Road to Socialism” by Sean Larson
The Combahee River Collective Statement
“Toward a Socialist Theory of Racism” by Cornel West
“What About Racism?” by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor
“Race Is About More Than Discrimination” by Bill Fletcher, Jr.
Malcolm X – Audio of His Speech and Dialogue at the Militant Labor Forum, 1964
Environmental Justice and Sustainability
“Five Principles for a Socialist Climate Politics” by Matthew Huber
“Ecosocialism and Democratic Planning” by Michael Löwy
“Ecosocialism: Dystopian and Scientific” by Matt Huber
“Why Ecosocialism Needs Marx” by Kohei Saito
Gender, Sexuality, and Socialism
"Capitalism and Gay Identity" by John D’Emilio (contact us)
“How LGBTQ Activists Transformed the Labor Movement” by Kim Kelly
“Why Trans Liberation Means Abolishing Capitalism” with Jules Joanne Gleeson and Elle O’Rourke
“Democracy and Care Unbound: On Feminism’s Abiding Political Value” by Michele Rossi
“The Socialist Feminist Project” by Nancy Holmstrom
“Common Ground: The Queerness of Welfare Policy” by Joseph DeFilippis
Housing
“Re-Asking the Housing Question” by Mary Robinson
“Housing and the Crisis of Social Reproduction” by David Madden
“The Housing Question” by Friedrich Engels
“Housing Organizing for the Long Haul: Building on Experience” by Larry Lamar Yates
“A Rural Tenant Organizing Model: The Case of TUFF-Vermont” by Steven Soifer
“No Job, No Rent: 10 Months of Organizing the Tenant Struggle” by Stomp Out Slumlords
Deep Reads
Recommended books available for checkout at the Appalachian Liberation Library:
Race for Profit : How Banks and the Real Estate Industry Undermined Black Homeownership by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor
In Defense of Housing: the Politics of Crisis by David Madden & Peter Marcuse
How to Kill a City: Gentrification, Inequality, and the Fight for the Neighborhood by Peter Moskowitz
Internationalism versus Empire
Imperialism: A Study Series edited by DSA-LA
“The Specter of Liberal Internationalism” by Daniel Bessner
Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism by V. I. Lenin
“Marx on Immigration: Workers, Wages, and Legal Status” by David Wilson
“The Empire’s Amnesia,” an interview with Greg Grandin
Deep Reads
Recommended books available for checkout at the Appalachian Liberation Library:
How Europe Underdeveloped Africa by Walter Rodney
Empire's Workshop : Latin America, the United States, and the Rise of the New Imperialism by Greg Grandin
Palestine: A Socialist Introduction edited by Sumaya Awad and Brian Bean
Introduction to Socialist Economics
“A Freedom Budget for All Americans: A Summary, January, 1967” by the A. Philip Randolph Institute
Wage Labour and Capital by Karl Marx
Value, Price, and Profit by Karl Marx
“The Secret of Primitive Accumulation” from Capital, Vol. I by Karl Marx
“Political Aspects of Full Employment” by Michal Kalecki
“The Red and the Black” by Seth Ackerman
Deep Reads
Recommended books available for checkout at the Appalachian Liberation Library:
A People's Guide to Capitalism: An Introduction to Marxist Economics by Haddas Thier
Introduction to Marxist Economic Theory by Ernest Mandel
Religion & Socialism
“Eugene Debs on the Real Religion of Jesus” by Eugene Debs
“Revolutionary Christianity” by Tony Benn
“Why We Need Yiddish Socialism Back Again” by Daniel Katz
Mission and Platform of DSA’s Jewish Solidarity Caucus
Socialism & the Labor Movement
“A Radical Defense of the Right to Strike” by Alex Gourevich
The Crisis of Labour and the Left in the United States by Mark Dudzic and Adolph Reed
“Trades’ Unions. Their Past, Present, and Future” by Karl Marx to the First International
“Civil Rights Unionism” by Robert Korstad
“Beyond Social Movement Unionism” by Sam Gindin
“The Failure of Labor Unionism in the US South” by Cody Melcher & Michael Goldfield
“Cheatsheet for Comparing Organizing Models” by Marianne Garneau
Marxism and the Trade Unions by Hal Draper
Socialism and the State
“The Ruling Class Does Not Rule: Notes on the Marxist Theory of the State” by Fred Block
The State and Revolution by V. I. Lenin
“Lenin’s The State and Revolution” by Ralph Miliband
Towards a Democratic Socialism by Nicos Poulantzas
Deep Reads
Recommended books available for checkout at the Appalachian Liberation Library:
State, Power, Socialism by Nicos Poulantzas
Socialist Strategy
“A Blueprint for a New Party” by Seth Ackerman
“Blueprint for a Political Revolution” by Jared Abbott and Dustin Guastella
Reform or Revolution? by Rosa Luxemburg
“‘Structural Reform’ and the Problem of Socialist Strategy Today” by Ed Rooksby
“Left-Wing” Communism: An Infantile Disorder by V. I. Lenin
“Liberalism, Ultraleftism, or Mass Action?” by Peter Camejo
Socialists and the Mass Organizations by the Socialist Network
“Democratic Socialism, Explained by a Democratic Socialist,” by Meagan Day
For longer reads, the Appalachian Liberation Library, located at 419 W Market St, Johnson City, TN, has over 1200 books covering these topics and more. Find their current hours and search their catalog at librarycat.org/lib/allibrary.
