What Is Marxism?

We are repeatedly told that Marxism is either irrelevant, or outdated, or even dead. Yet, if that were true, why are so many books and articles churned out year on year attacking Marxism? Clearly the powers that be are rattled or indeed frightened by these “dead” ideas.

So what is this set of ideas that frightens them so much? Marxism, or Scientific Socialism, is the name given to the body of ideas first worked out by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels more than 150 years ago. In their totality, these ideas provide a fully worked-out theoretical basis for the struggle of the working class to attain a higher form of human society – socialism. The component parts of Marxism fall under three main headings, corresponding broadly to philosophy, social history and economics – Dialectical Materialism, Historical Materialism and Marxist Economics. These are the famous “Three sources and three component parts of Marxism” of which Lenin wrote.

The present book comprises the Education for Socialists series and other material which was launched to promote the study of Marxism. They were intended to assist the student of Marxism by providing a basic introduction to the subject matter, with suitable Marxist texts. It was hoped that this would whet the appetite for further reading and study. This material, aimed at the first-time reader, is suitable for individual study or as the basis of a Marxist discussion group.