Helen Razer

Total Propaganda: Basic Marxist Brainwashing for the Angry and the Young by Helen Razer is one of the better humorously educational books I have read. My introduction to Marx was a long time ago and went through several periods of wrestling with making connections, until I had finally worked my way through the primary texts and many secondary texts. A book like this would have made my journey so much easier and ordered.

The main reason I deducted a star in my rating is because, as someone not new to the topic and someone who is, shall we say, a couple of generations older than the target readership, I found the colloquialisms sometimes disrupted the flow of the ideas. I am also more than willing to acknowledge that it is less disrupting for those who actually communicate with those terms, so it is more a deduction based on who I am than the book itself.

Marxism, like most schools of thought, is not a monolithic block, so even the most diehard Marxists will find some things to nitpick here. If they are honest with themselves, however, they will also admit that those differences aren't ones of right/wrong but rather of interpretation and understanding. Razer mentions more than once where her views differ from other forms of Marxist/socialist thought. She also highlights why she chose one understanding over another.

I recommend this to anyone interested in Marxism regardless of one's previous level of knowledge about it. For those new to trying to actually understand it, this is a wonderful overview that makes connections between primary works while pointing those readers in the right direction to learn more. For those with some understanding but maybe only through The Communist Manifesto, this serves a similar function of connecting dots and providing real world examples. For those who have read Marx extensively and have a lot of strong opinions and views, this will help us to both keep our views open to modification and give us ideas for how best to explain the concepts without either boring or alienating those we talk to about our beliefs. Don't let something as minor as humor and contemporary language keep you from gaining the benefits of this work. We all have to do a lot of work to make this world better and every tool we have to do so is helpful.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.… (mer)