So this chapter is gigantic and covers a lot of stuff. I really feel like this should've been split up into separate chapters and released as a book in its own right. The main point of the chapter is to look into works from Marx and Engels on a range of different topics, alongside a wealth of historical examples too, to hopefully present ideas and solutions to some of the problems the left is grappling with today.

Davis first gives an overview of how Marx and Engels’ ideas of the working class and why they would be the revolutionary group in society developed over their lifetimes, and also gives a brief overview of several periods of working class struggle up to the 1920s. Davis then gets into the meat of the chapter in which he proposes several theses on a range of topics developed from the writings of Marx and Engels and a look at some historical struggles relevant to the topics at hand. So far these have been:

• 1. “Radical chains” – Why the working class has “radical chains” i.e. why the emancipation of the working class will necessarily require the abolition of private property and therefore classes.
• 2. “Factories and unions” – how both industrial workplaces and unions can be means through which solidarity and collective action between working class people can be developed, and the necessarily political nature of this action. He offers criticisms here too, such as these sites not always being able to address racism or sexism.
• 3. “Mass strikes and workers control” – looks at the ideas of different leftists on the roll of the mass/general strike as well as how different kinds of workers have approached self-management. There's also a particular focus here on the shop stewards movement.
• 4. “The industrial city” – Davis looks at how the organisation of cities had allowed for solidarity between workers to permeate throughout neighbourhoods and how they have played a big part in some previous working class movements, particularly for women.

This is as far as I have read for now, I believe there are another four topics Davis covers in this chapter.

There is a lot of information in this chapter. The book is really packed to the brim with sources and references that I have no idea how Davis managed to find the time to read, although I read a recent interview with him where he said he reads around 500 pages a day, which is just insane. There are so many inspiring stories through the chapter too: from women organising a rent strike in Glasgow, backed up by thousands of striking workers, and forcing the government into imposing a national rent freeze; to workers at a railway company in Pittsburgh going on strike and - with the help of the IWW and a group of immigrant veteran organisers who’d moved to the US from Hungary, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, and Russia – managed to overcome the violence from armed strikebreakers, state police, and militias to win their demands. On the other hand, there’s also a lot of messed up if still interesting stuff in here, Henry Ford’s personal secret police force is an example that stands out.

All in all this has been a very insightful read so far, although I do still think the chapter would have been much better off as its own book. It would've allowed Davis to explore each of the theses in greater depth too, as at times it does feel a little like he's trying to cram as much information as he can into a short space.

I believe the next few chapters are more stand-alone essays rather than expansions on what has been said here, so if anybody hasn't been able to read this chapter, you should be alright to jump into the next ones which seem to be of a much more reasonable and manageable length.

A quote I liked:

"even the most elementary forms of solidarity must be consciously constructed"

Immediately getting called out on giving up half a chapter into Capital... Oh boy this author knows the audience.

@panopticon @LibsEatPoop @Nagarjuna @MasterCombine @notthenameiwant @glimmer_twin @Snackuleata @Invidiarum @Sandinband @Lerios @nanoplague @Maldandlonely @pooh @Kestrel @Bunhead @Helmic @Nagarjuna @Blinkoblanko @Phillipkdink @aaro @Azarova @Bioho @D61 @JohnBrownsBussy @inspirationlessjesus @_metamythical @HumanBehaviorByBjork @Commander_Data @TraschcanOfIdeology @CIYe @thornsj @Orannis62 @JoeByeThen @HumanBehaviorByBjork @HoChiMaxh @Wheaties @Hewaoijsdb @redhex @Bioho @LibsEatPoop @underling @DefiantAnything562 @FRIENDLY_BUTTMUNCHER

I've still got a good deal of the first chapter to read. But this book is already very informative in dissecting what Marx did and did not talk about and how it informed future theorists. I found the omission by Marx about the city interesting because, as far as I'm aware, that's the crux of Davis' other works. The added context of when and how Capital was written is also appreciated.

It's pretty interesting how Davis weaves his interpretations of Marx with personal anecdotes. It's clear that he has a great breadth of knowledge about Marx and Marxism(s)