Book : Old Gods, New Enigmas by Mike Davis

Synopsis : In this collection of essays, Mike Davis explores Marx’s thoughts on two key questions of our time: Who can lead a revolutionary transformation of society? And what is the cause—and solution—of the environmental crisis? Davis searches Karl Marx’s works for a revolutionary paradigm capable of addressing these questions and argues that the history of worker-led uprisings in the late-modern period remains relevant to understanding how today’s “informal proletariat” might gain class consciousness and political agency.

Reading Schedule :

  • Sunday 11th September – Preface, Chapter 1
  • Sunday 18th September – Chapter 2 & 3
  • Sunday 25th September – Chapter 4

How to Access :

The book is available on LibGen

Or, the cool way:

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  • build_a_bear_group [he/him, comrade/them]
    ·
    2 years ago

    Would you want to break up chapter 1? I only say this because in my copy, chapter 1 is 154 pages and chapters 2, 3, and 4 are a little over 20 pages each. Like in terms of text to cover, half of chapter 1 would still be more than all of the other chapters.

    • EvenRedderCloud [he/him]
      ·
      2 years ago

      Oh damn, didn't realise one chapter was half the book. I've changed it, 2 weeks for chapter 1.

        • EvenRedderCloud [he/him]
          ·
          2 years ago

          I found the problem, for some reason Perusall cuts it into two sections. The first section goes until a table with a list of general strikes since 1890, then the rest gets cut. Below the table there's a button that says "next section" and then you can see the rest of the chapter. The chapter is actually like twice as long as it first appears on Perusall, which is what fooled me initially.