On Social Media a friend asked this question: "What books developed your critical consciousness the most?" I am a Classical Christian, and do not identify with modern political categories, whether Left or Right, Progressive or Liberal. But I have read and listened a great deal to progressive critique of culture, economics, and politics. And I think there is a lot of misinformation out there about what people in various cultural and political camps actually believe. So I thought it would be good to put together a reading list which helps us see politics from a wider lens, which includes and transcends modern American categories:
Coming from an Evangelical background, I was taught that the the Bible was a necessary pre-condition to understanding social justice. It was not sufficient, because being raised in Conservative Anglo culture, I was not sensitized to the message of liberation in Scripture. But once my eyes were opened to Empire Criticism and Liberation Theology, it became clear that these themes are all over Scripture. However, if it was not all throughout Scripture, I would not have taken Liberation Theology seriously in the first place. So there’s a kind of reciprocal “chicken and egg” relationship here.
Thus, Scripture provided the right raw material to which a catalyst had to be added. My Theological catalysts included “We Drink from our Own Wells” by Gustavo Gutierrez, “Holy Trinity, Perfect Community” by Leonardo Boff, “A Black Theology of Liberation” by James Cone, “She Who Is” by Elizabeth Johnson, the writings of Shane Claiborne, and a neat little commentary called “Colossians Remixed” by Walsh and Keesmaat. I also think some of the Emergent folks helped set the stage too back in the day: Brian McLaren, Rob Bell, and Diana Butler Bass. The writings of Martin Luther King Jr, James Baldwin, and Catholic Worker movement also influenced me. Some particularly Anglican voices in this have been Kenneth Leech’s “Subversive Orthodoxy”, Jay Emerson Johnson’s Queer Theology, Desmond Tutu, and William Strongfellow’s “An Ethic for Christians and Other Aliens in a Strange Land”.
On the Socio-Economic critique side of things, a seminal work for me was Douglas Rushkoff’s “Life Incorporated: How the World Became a Corporation and How to Take It Back”. This book, more than any book, really opened my eyes to how Corporate Consumerism and the ravenous drive to commodify everything for profit is the principal driver for many other social ills. I have become convinced that every other form of oppression and division is primarily a function of Consumerist interests seeking to divide and conquer society, to keep us at each other’s throats, in order to drive us to be dependent on our Corporate Masters. Racial, Cultural, Sexual, and Gender prejudice is often a tool to make us enemies of each other while Corporations profit off of our conflict. For instance, see how dividing races has always been helpful for industrialists seeking to break labor unions. Or, more recently, note how the news media foments hatred between religions, races, and genders, so their advertisers can make money hand over fist as we keep clicking to read more stories to fuel our outrage.
Along the lines of this socio-economic critique I would include Marx’ Communist Manifesto. The first few chapters are a prescient diagnosis of the contradictions and crises inherent within Corporate Consumer Capitalism. Yet while his diagnosis of the sickness is spot on, his prescription for the cure leaves much to be desired. Marx's critique is part of a broadly Leftist interpretation of history as class and economic struggle of various oppressed groups against those with power to oppress them. An essential introduction to this Historical critique is found in Howard Zinn's seminal work "A People's History of the United States" (along with a helpful companion "A People's History of the World"). While I think a well-rounded view of History needs to take into account far more than economic and class analysis, these are necessary as a corrective to the concept that history is merely a lineage of great leaders, or great nations, or great ideas. For a more robust view of the major socio-economic proposals in Western culture, I would recommend “The Worldly Philosophers” by Robert Heilbroner. For a broad view of the history of non-Marxist anarchist and socialist movements, I would recommend "Demanding the Impossible: A History of Anarchism" by Peter Marshall.
For a Theo-political analysis of the idolatries of the Consumerist system, check out Harvey Cox’s “The Market as God”. And then there’s a whole swath of Leftist analysis of our current situation by folks like Cornell West (The Cornell West Reader), Barbara Ehrenreich (Nickled and Dimed), Angela Nagle (Kill all Normies), Mark Fisher (Capitalist Realism), and perhaps my favorite commentator Chris Hedges (American Fascists, The Death of the Liberal Class, Wages of Rebellion, Empire of Illusion, and America: The Farewell Tour). I probably should not leave out Neo-Marxist social critics Slavoj Zizek and Terry Eagleton. They are fun to read, and cutting in their critiques, but extremely dense with little real-world application.
I would also be remiss if I did not mention all of the YouTube video essayists I regularly watch or listen to on "Breadtube" or "Lefttube", who generally comment on social, cultural, economic, and political issues from a broadly "left leaning" perspective which includes anarchist and socialist ideas. These media creators include: Zero Books, Philosophy Tube, Contrapoints, NonCompete, Renegade Cut, Rare Earth, Wisecrack, Democracy at Work, Richard D. Wolff, On Contact with Chris Hedges, Empire Files, and the always hilarious Jonathan Pie.
So that would be my essential Bibliography for Revolution. If I were to offer a general critique of most of this literature, it is that it is heavy on critique and light on construction. That is to say: Like Marx, they tend to offer cogent analyses of the inherent injustices found in modern Western Society, but they usually fail at offering constructive solutions, methods, and models that will fix the problems that will work in the real world. So, despite all I have written above, I do not consider myself a Marxist. Certainly no card carrying Marxist would accept me as one either. I am in the Classical Christian tradition of being anti-Imperial violence and greed, and for creating peaceful social and economic systems where every child of God has access to their daily bread. I am not exactly sure where this maps me onto 21st century American politics, or if a category for this Christian commitment exists in our socio-political landscape.
In general, I think the greatest weakness on the Left is the propensity to weaponize victimhood and outrage, making “who is the most oppressed group?” into a kind of competition. When instead we should be working together for the economic and spiritual liberation of all people. Because ultimately true liberation begins with elevating the material condition of people so they can understand their spiritual worth. And this means striving for all of God’s children to have the daily bread they need to survive and thrive, including physical nourishment, quality education, universal healthcare, and meaningful work, for all. Hopefully the Left and Right can move beyond debates over ideological purity and who is the most oppressed, and begin working together toward actual, embodied, material forms of Liberation.
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