Cadre School reading 2026
The reading list for our first Cadre School course! Each week will have one or two pieces that we ask everyone to read, and some optional further reading for if you want to delve deeper into the topic.
Where the reading isn't available directly online, we'll try to share a PDF as well as an EPub version for e-readers. Please let us know if you have any trouble accessing the reading!
Each will also have suggested listening, if you want some thematic lefty music while you read.
Jul 7th - Class
Required reading
Introductory definition: PDF / Google Doc / .epub
- A one-page summary of what we mean by class
The Principles of Communism - Friedrich Engels: PDF / Google Doc / .epub
- Focusing on a Marxist understanding of the working class, and how it relates to other classes.
Optional further reading
Varieties of Marxist Conceptions of Class Structure - Erik Olin Wright: PDF
- This looks at how we can understand the "middle class", managers, and other roles that don't fit neatly into the big two classes. The first nine pages are where the author lays out his own ideas, and the later sections discuss & criticise alternatives.
Music
Building Up and Tearing England Down
Jul 21st - Materialism
Required reading
Karl Marx - Friedrich Engels: PDF
Towards a Science of History - Andrew Collier: PDF
Optional further reading
Philosophy for Non-Philosophers (Chapter 7, and 17-18) - Louis Althusser: Introductory note (containing PDF link)
Music