This course seeks to familiarize students with the complex and multifaceted tradition of Marxist theory and practice while also tracing Marxism’s role in some of today’s most vibrant political movements. Our comparative approach will consider classical texts like The Communist Manifesto and State and Revolution alongside lesser-known but no less important works by Latin American and Caribbean writers and intellectuals. Instead of working toward a single definition of Marxism, we will explore the history of heterodox experimentation with the tradition’s most basic categories, always mindful of the continuities and discontinuities between different “Marxisms.” This necessarily interdisciplinary course will incorporate readings and discussions that span philosophy, literature, history, and politics. Special focus will be directed at Marxist analyses that attend to (and also sometimes fail to attend to) the interpenetration of class, race, and gender. Key figures for the course include: Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, V. I. Lenin, Clara Zetkin, Mao Tse-Tung, Louis Althusser, Aimé Césaire, Frantz Fanon, José Carlos Mariátegui, José María Arguedas, Álvaro García Linera, Raquel Guttiérez, Subcomandante Marcos, and Silvia Federici.

This course will be conducted in English. Some reading knowledge of French and/or Spanish is encouraged but not obligatory as all texts will be available in translation. This course counts toward the Spanish major and as an elective toward the Spanish minor. This course counts toward the French major or minor requirements as a course taught in English above the 300-level.