Those that know me know I work a lot on prolewiki.
Online resources are a dime a dozen, and I notice they tend to focus on the beginner stuff. And in most reading lists / youtubers / communities / other repos, it all revolves around marxism 101.
It got me to ask how can we talk about the more advanced stuff on prolewiki? Learning the basics will only get you so far. There’s only so many different ways and so many different people you can teach the basics to – if they’re serious about their marxist studies, people will have to look into more advanced stuff at some point, beyond the basics.
But then I started thinking, what is actually advanced marxism? Past the beginner level. Isn’t the point of marxism that we make it accessible to everyone, thus making complex concepts feel basic and at anyone’s reach?
Perhaps basic marxism is its three components: the philosophy, economy, and class struggle. And anything past that such as how to apply marxism yourself or theory on decolonisation, feminism, LGBT issues etc.
But making your own analyses and understanding the theory of further developments since Marx are two different things for the student of marxism.
Or perhaps it’s the same three components, but in more details – delving into the history of philosophy, learning about the class struggle in different countries and periods, learning about other economy theory?
What is advanced marxism, and how can we bring it to the people over the internet?
This mechanism described as a problem:
Why is or should be a goal? The underlying hypothesis is that the more Marxism more people understand the more the need for class organization will occur, the better the vehicle for change. What if this is wrong? What if it takes so long for people to understand Marxism that by the time they do it is too late to do much about it other than to try to become experts in teaching others the same analytical/critical skills. So we end up with grouchy old people who think they know it all and blame those that know less for the deficits of Marxism as vehicle for change.
What if class organization doesn’t need Marxism or Marxists as patriarchal figures to guide the blind and was allowed to form its own vanguardism of class consciousness, digesting the problems of the class and coming up with its own goals and plan?
Is it the chicken and egg dilemma, which comes first? Is it the complexity of Marxism in interpreting 21st century reality that is inhibiting true class mass organization and action? Class consciousness alone, for some people in some parts of the world may result in very reactionary tendencies, such as sexism, racism, nationalism, etc.
One thing is for sure, that if one (individual) wants to become or be a better capitalist he must first study “advanced Marxism” because the stuff actually works.