Richard D. Wolff masterfully explains why Karl Marx’s analysis of class struggle is fundamental to a proper understanding of capitalism and explores how to build a more sustainable democratic society.
Class struggle is everywhere, and it influences everything and everyone in our society. Marx is the person who first explained this struggle systematically. For Marx, capitalism signified not the end of history, but rather the latest phase of human development that leads ordinary people to rid themselves of “all the muck of ages and become fitted to found society anew."
Marx’s theories are deeply prescient and relevant in our efforts to understand and cope with the crises of our time. Every day, we see more evidence that the capitalist system is both undermining itself and those whose labor it depends on, as Marx predicted.
Understanding Marxism is an essential resource for looking at the power and usefulness of Marx’s criticism of the capitalist economic system—and how we can move beyond it to a truly sustainable and democratic society based on workers’ self-management.
Richard D. Wolff is professor of economics emeritus at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and a visiting professor at the New School University in New York. His groundbreaking book Democracy at Work: A Cure for Capitalism inspired the creation of the nonprofit organization Democracy at Work (www.democracyatwork.info).
Publication date: December 9, 2025
Introduction to the 2021 Hardcover Edition ... 3
Preface ... 23
I.... 29
II.... 35
III..... 47
IV..... 59
V..... 65
VI..... 73
VII.... 81
Quotes by Karl Marx:.... 91
Further Reading:.... 95
About Richard D. Wolff .... 97
About Democracy at Work..... 99
"This is an excellent little book and will be a good read for anyone wanting to introduce themselves to Marx’s key ideas, particularly around the issues of democracy, or to anyone wanting to refresh their understanding."
—Graham Kirkwood, Counterfire
"For someone new to Marxism, Understanding Marxism could be, at first, a flashlight illuminating a pathway through a dark hallway. For someone gaining familiarity with Marxism (possibly the same reader just described, some time later), this book could be a floor plan of the overall layout of the theory’s structure."
—Zoe Sherman, Dollars & Sense
