• EDUCATION AT MARX MEMORIAL LIBRARY - please read these points first for all courses; available courses are listed below

    Marx Memorial Library was established in 1933 as a Library and Workers School to promote education in the 'science of Marxism'. 1933 was the fiftieth anniversary of Marx's death. It was also the year in which the Nazis sought to burn and destroy all Marxist books in Germany.   The Library became famous for its classes in Marxism, catering particularly for the trade union movement.  As well as providing classes and written syllabuses in Marx House itself, the Library also pioneered correspondence courses for those living outside the south-east.  

     Today, the Library's Trustees include leading figures from the trade union and labour movement, who are committed to redeveloping this tradition of political education, using new technologies to deliver classes across the country. The Trustees believe that trade unionists need to understand how capitalism operates as a system, in order effectively to challenge employers and their representatives in government.

     Marxism provides an understanding of capitalism as a social system - demonstrating that it can operate only as a result of the relationship between capital and labour - that had to be created politically and has to be sustained politically.  Marx's economic and social analysis explains how capitalism, though technologically dynamic, is inherently crisis prone and always seeks to resolve crises at the expense of labour. Marx also points the way forward, to an alternative society not based on exploitation.

     It was through such analysis, and the collective organisation it inspired, that the modern working class movement was created over the past century and a half.  Marxism gave working people, in much worse material circumstances than today, the strength and conviction needed to win the political and economic gains which we still possess, despite the losses due to Thatcherism and New Labour and which are now under such fierce attack.  The Trustees believe it is vital to make Marxist education once more available to the trade union movement.

    TODAY’S DISTANCE LEARNING COURSES

     MML distance learning courses use this Moodle system and Zoom. They are based on the interaction of tutors and students, seeking to draw on the existing knowledge and experience of both. They all run for eight weeks and follow similar lines i.e. four classes of two weeks, each with two to five discussion points and a Zoom tutorial.

    The sources for each class include introductions, texts, videos, podcasts and the contributions of other students and tutors on particular questions for each class.  You can tune into this whenever it suits you although the Zoom tutorials are timetabled.

    Please respond, as concisely and briefly as possible, to the relevant discussion points and, if you wish, comment on the responses of other students. A tutor will respond at each stage. After the Zoom tutorial, the discussion moves on to the next class.

    Please note you can access the course materials on your mobile phone by entering in the google search https://www.education-mml.org.uk/


  • Available classes


    TRADE UNIONS, CLASS AND POWER

    Miners strike

    Lesley Boulton at Orgreave, June 1984


    This eight-week course seeks to understand trade unions as operating today and does so within a historical perspective of the past century. It examines why people join trade unions, why they become active trade unionists and what determines the effectiveness of trade unions in representing the interests of their members.

    The course seeks to answer these questions within the wider context of Britain as a class society and with an understanding of the process by which the exploitation of wage labour takes place. Using historical examples, it examines those occasions where the trade union movement has been able to achieve major victories for working people – as well as the tactics of employers and governments in seeking to reverse these victories.

    It also examines exploitation, how all workers are exploited and what constitutes the working class; stresses the importance of trade union activity but also argues that wider political mobilisation of working people as a class has always been essential to secure structural advances. 

    By the end of the course you should be able to demonstrate:

     ·        greater knowledge of the origins of the trade union movement;

    ·         the relationship between trade union organisation and class organisation;

    ·         how trade unions have transformed the balance of power in capitalist societies;

    ·         how capitalist societies have sought to control and neutralise trade unions;

    ·         the new challenges facing trade unionists today.


    The four classes are:

    1. Trade unions today and yesterday

    2. Exploitation

    3. Turning points for the Trade Union movement

    4. How the ruling class has fought back - and the limits to its power


    The course provides participants with online materials and asks for contributions to an online written discussion of a different set of questions each week. This is supplemented on every other Tuesday at 7pm by a Zoom discussion led by the tutors. Otherwise your participation, through your use of the Moodle materials and response to questions and discussion points, can be at the time of your choosing.

    The course is based on the principle of mutual learning from participants, who are drawn from a range of occupations, age groups and levels of understanding and practical engagement. Don’t undervalue your own knowledge and experience. It matters. Others can learn from it. And don’t feel compelled to write long responses unless you want to (and sometimes you may).

    First read the introduction to the class and the sources marked as essential. Be selective with the supplementary material, according to how much time you have for reading and viewing. You will be guided to the discussion forums, where you are encouraged to use your own experience as well as the sources to answer the question. Please also comment (needless to say, in a comradely fashion) on others’ thoughts. A tutor will take part and respond to the debate. You can type directly into the forum or copy and paste from a word processor.

    Zoom calls are sent both to your Moodle message box and by email. Attendance at the zoom tutorials is not essential but participants usually find them useful and enjoyable. The tutorials, of about an hour and a quarter, are usually in three parts: a first session for all students together in which you can share something you have learned, raise questions about the content of the class, including the key words and multiple choice questions, and let the tutors know what you thought of the sources. After a break-out session in smaller groups, a final full session hears reports back from the groups and includes any further questions and discussion and a brief introduction to the next class



Available courses

INTRODUCTION TO MARXISM

With a focus on the fundamentals of Marxism and its relevance to understanding and action, this course will provide a broad introduction to Marxist theory, applying it to a discussion of relevant issues today, such as: the changing nature of work and exploitation, austerity and the gig economy, racism, women’s oppression, class society, climate change, and revolutionary practice.  

The course lasts eight weeks, and consists of four interrelated and overlapping 'classes', each lasting a fortnight and each dealing with a different theme or topic:  history;  philosophy; economics; revolution.  
A fifth topic - ecology and the environment - runs as a thread through all four classes.  

Each class has a number of different elements, including a short introduction, recorded presentations by your tutor, links to on-line reading and other learning materials, and a series of discussion questions.  At the end of each topic there will be an optional live (Zoom) seminar building on the content of that class and setting the scene for the next one.  

There will be references to (and extracts from) the works of Marx, Engels and later Marxists throughout but the emphasis will be on the relevance of Marxism today in helping us to understand the world and trying to change it.

This is an interactive course and as well as introducing key concepts it also raises more discursive issues (many of which are dealt with in greater depth in other courses provided by the Library) inviting your own thoughts, comments, and questions.

TUTORS:  NINA HILTON, JAY COOK AND RICHARD CLARKE


MARXISM, STATE AND REVOLUTION

For Marxists, the issue of which political party is in government is less important than which class holds state power. Marxists argue that working people cannot truly build a socialist society without exploitation unless they seize control of the state as a whole and break up its power. Why do Marxists argue this? What is the state? Where did it come from and what does it mean to break it up? How has the state changed and what happens when the working class actually takes state power? All these questions and more will be discussed in this new online course which will introduce you to the Marxist theory of the state and its role in revolution. The course starts on 31st October, runs for 8 weeks and consists of four online modules, each culminating with a Zoom-based discussion of the issues raised.

TRADE UNIONS, CLASS AND POWER

MARXISM AND HISTORY: INTRODUCING HISTORICAL MATERIALISM

This course aims to introduce you to Marx and Engels's distinctive view of history. Many people are familiar with Marx's analysis of capitalism and also with his political concepts, such as the importance of independent working-class organisation and the seizure of state power. Fewer people are familiar with what is often called 'historical materialism' or the 'materialist conception of history'. This was in fact an integral part of Marx and Engels' world view and studying their science of history helps provide a fuller understanding of the real power of Marxist thought. Marx and Engels not only developed a science that helped penetrate beneath the surfaces of capitalism, they also developed ideas that help us understand the whole span of human history and how history moves. In this course we will look at how this vision of history helps us now to understand our past, present and future.  

There is a book that accompanies this course published by Praxis Press in association with the Marx Memorial Library, titled 'Making Our Own History: A User's Guide to Marx and Engels' Historical Materialism'. Chapters from this short book will be set throughout the course. It would help participants to have this text and it can be ordered directly from Praxis Press here or bought directly from the Library at a discount price of £10 here. 

Praxis Press have also published Eric Rahim's A Promethean Vision, which is an excellent study of the formation of Marx's historical materialist world view. Again, it can be ordered directly from Praxis here. 

How the course works 

  • MML distance learning is based on the interaction of tutors and students. It is active.  It depends on your participation and seeks to draw on the existing knowledge and experience of participants as well as the tutor.  

  • As students, you will be provided with short texts and some readings and, for each class, a couple of ‘thinking points’ or questions to which you should respond.   

  • Each of the four classes ‘lasts’ two weeks.  During this period you will be expected to post your responses to the thinking points or questions as concisely and briefly as possible – and also, if you wish, comment on the responses of other students. 

  • Allow a week before going forwards from Question 1 to Question 2.  The tutor will respond at each stage.  At the end of the two week period there will be a Zoom tutorial and the discussion will then move on to the next class. 

  • Making Our Own History has four classes, which will be held on 11 January, 8 February, 22 February. 

  • Please note that there is now a facility for participating in the class via your mobile phone.  See the link at the bottom of each class and upload the app.  

  • If you have any questions, please post them here (or you can do so privately by email to the tutor at any point in the course). 


MARXIST ECONOMICS for BEGINNERS

The course starts with a series of lectures given by Marx in 1865, later produced as the pamphlet Wages, Price and Profit.  This sets Marx in Britain in the working class politics of the time - the great struggle for political rights in  the 1830s and 40s and its reformist aftermath in the 1860s.  Marx exposed the capitalist market as inherently exploitative - but also demonstrated that class organisation could reduce the rate of exploitation.

The second class examines how the institutional structures necessary for capitalist exploitation were created, how they are maintained and what makes the assumptions of Marxist economics so different from those of today's neo-liberal economics.

Class three looks at capitalism as a dynamic system. It is inherently prone to crises but these crises drive the system forward and make it technologically innovative - precisely because labour is the only source of new value.

The final class examines a longer term tendency identified by Marx, the tendency for the rate of profit to decline.  This is not an absolute tendency.  There are offsetting factors which constrain the policy options of a capitalist ruling class and help to explain how it acts at particular times.

CAPITALISM, CRISIS AND IMPERIALISM

This introductory course examines capitalist development from the 1900s to the present.  Its basic text is Lenin’s Imperialism: the highest stage of capitalism.  This pamphlet of 1916/17 provided the initial key to understanding capitalism’s new, more aggressive and expansionist dynamic once monopoly power had dislocated the previous functioning of competitive capitalism.  The course covers in turn the new type of structural crisis witnessed in the 1930s, how the post-war international monetary system subjected third word producers to a new informal type of imperialism and then at the profound structural crises of the present century.  It concludes by assessing the implications of intensified monopoly concentration for our democracy and for the trade union and labour movement