Reddit mentions of Socialism: A Very Short Introduction

The issue of female liberation in relation to socialism has been written about since the first conceptions of the idea of socialism; Frederick Engels, Karl Marx's colleague, wrote about it in The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State. That's the introduction to socialist feminism as a whole, and the main work of Marxist feminism.

There is a bit of a debate about the role feminism plays as an individual struggle. Some socialists believe that by abolishing capitalism the feminist issues will be solved, so it does not have to be attended to as its own individual issue. When the USSR formed, that certainly wasn't the case; while there were many great strides forward there were also setbacks. When females proposed a restructuring of the traditional familial structure, and proposed changes to the role of women in households, there was political backlash. Alongside this, feminist groups outside of the established government group were not allowed. Subsequently the USSR restricted abortion and divorce. The manifestations of feminism in Leninist countries is a huge topic. There have been different experiences in Cuba and the People's Republic of China.

This book is a nice introduction to socialism. It covers socialism's beginnings in the 18th century, how it developed during the 20th century, the role that ecological issues and feminist issues play a role in its theory, and the future of socialism. It covers most of its important figures through two centuries.

The book doesn't do enough justice to the Anarchist movement and its feminist leaders however. This is relevant particularly because of the abolition of hierarchy that Anarchists want, and the continuation of many patriarchal and hierarchical structures in many 20th century socialist countries. In this respect, learning about the female liberation movement of Anarchist Spain during the 30's would interesting. Here is a movie about the role of women during that movement. You should do a bit of reading about the context before you dive right in though.

So with that, I'll leave you with the works of Alexandra Kollantai, the first director of the women's department of the USSR, and Emma Goldman, who is probably the most prominent female Anarchist from the US. By reading the book I recommended above, you'll learn much more about feminist figures within the socialist movement.

You should take a look at the communism, anarchism, and feminism subreddits. The anarchism and communism subreddits have an unbelievable amount of resources on their sidebars, and I'm sure it will be of some use to you.

Put plainly though, most socialists that don't see the use of feminist struggles outside of socialist struggles aren't respected on this subreddit. I know a bit about how you feel being a minority within socialists groups; while I'm a male, I'm black and most socialist gatherings I've been to are white. It's still something I don't know how to feel about to be honest. I've still much to learn.

If you're looking for nonfiction, I would recommend:

• Introduction to Socialism (1973) by Leo Huberman and Paul M. Sweezy
  
  Gives a general overview on the inherent problems capitalism (waste, unequal oppurtunity, greed, monopolies) as well as dispelling false arguments against socialism (distinction between property for means of production and ownership of private product, redistributing material goods, laziness in the population). Also highlights the major difference between socialism and communism--socialism is the distribution of goods according to deeds and communism is the distribution of goods according to needs.
  
  
• The Communist Manifesto (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels
  
  An obvious choice. Thousands of papers written on this originally 23 page pamphlet. He gives reasons for the inevitability to shift from capitalism to socialism as well as his 10 steps in doing so. Can't say much about it since Marx and Engels gets to the point rather quickly.
  
  
• A Very Short Introduction (series) by various writers/experts
  
  If you don't mind dry but succinct summarization of the history, people/leaders, and notion of types of government, look up A Very Short Introduction to Communism, A Very Short Introduction to Fascism, A Very Short Introduction to Socialism.
  
  I'll give you some advice as well. These ideas are obviously complex and contrary to what the media tells you, there is no one concrete idea that is socialism, communism, fascism, or any other types of government. Many thinkers and revolutionaries mix and match ideas due to the particular needs of the society in that time period. But at the same time, while there is not one trait given to each of these ideologies, there are generalities that we can take and learn from. And just because one of these types of government fails, it does not entail the ideology was bad and will forever be obsolete.
  
  edit: If you're looking for an interesting leader for socialism, Helen Keller was a radical socialist. Most Americans just think she was a blind and deaf person who overcame her disabilities and that should fill us up with hope but that was just her first 14 years of life. What about the next 60 years? So she became a socialist to try and obtain equal rights and oppurtunities for disabled people as well as women. If you can find any non-sensationalist books about her, it would be an interesting read.

I got this from the book store a while back and I really like it as it goes through different sorts of nuances, some various traditions of socialism, Social Democracy vs Communism, and case studies of each through Cuba and Sweden, followed by an analysis of the developments of socialism in the 70s with the rise of the New Left and with it identity politics. The final bit is about the future of socialism in modern times.

Have you read One Hundred Years of Socialism or Socialist Thought: A Documentary History? Or even Socialism: A Very Short Introduction? Eduard Bernstein's The Preconditions of Socialism?

Have you read anything that could possibly challenge your view of what is socialism and what is not?

Socialism: A Very Short Introduction is not at all bad. It's a quick flyover of the two major threads of socialism to come to power in the 20th Century (revolutionary socialism and labor/social democracy).

A Very Short Introduction to Socialism (don't worry I'm not profiting from the gains of the global capitalist pig-dog by using a referral link as I don't know how they work :P ) is pretty good.