Recommendations based on Selections from the Prison Notebooksby Antonio Gramsci

* statistically, based on millions of data-points provided by fellow humans

  1. Capital: A Critique of Political Economy, Volume 1

    by Karl Marx
    Analysis of capitalism, exploring its economic and social systems.

    Capital , one of Marx's major and most influential works, was the product of thirty years close study of the capitalist mode of production in England, the most advanced industrial society of his day. ... (Goodreads)

  2. The History of Sexuality, Volume 1: An Introduction

    by Michel Foucault
    Examination of the power dynamics and social constructions of sexual behavior.

    Michel Foucault offers an iconoclastic exploration of why we feel compelled to continually analyze and discuss sex, and of the social and mental mechanisms of power that cause us to direct the ... (Goodreads)

  3. Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison

    by Michel Foucault
    Examines the emergence of the modern prison system and its effects on society.

    Librarian note: an alternate cover for this edition can be found, here,. Barely two hundred and fifty years ago a man condemned of attempting to assassinate the King of France was drawn and quartered ... (Goodreads)

  4. The Wretched of the Earth

    by Frantz Fanon
    A political analysis of colonialism and its effects on the global underclass.

    A distinguished psychiatrist from Martinique who took part in the Algerian Nationalist Movement, Frantz Fanon was one of the most important theorists of revolutionary struggle, colonialism, and ... (Goodreads)

  5. The Communist Manifesto

    by Karl Marx
    A treatise on the fundamental principles of communism, and its role in society.

    A rousing call to arms whose influence is still felt today Originally published on the eve of the 1848 European revolutions, The Communist Manifesto is a condensed and incisive account of the ... (Goodreads)

  6. The Origins of Totalitarianism

    by Hannah Arendt
    Analysis of the rise of totalitarian regimes in Europe, and their consequences for the modern world.

    Hannah Arendt's definitive work on totalitarianism and an essential component of any study of twentieth-century political history The Origins of Totalitarianism begins with the rise of anti-Semitism ... (Goodreads)

  7. The State and Revolution

    by Vladimir Lenin
    Exploring the idea of a socialist state, and the role of the working class in revolution.

    1917-ci ilin avqust-sentyabr aylarında yazılan yaradıcı marksizmin bu görkəmli əsəri – “Dövlət və inqilab” dövlət nəzəriyyəsinin öz dərinliyi və əhatəliliyi cəhətdən misilsiz elmi şərhidir, ... (Goodreads)

  8. Orientalism

    by Edward W. Said
    Exploration of the Middle East through the West's prejudiced lens.

    More than three decades after its first publication, Edward Said's groundbreaking critique of the West's historical, cultural, and political perceptions of the East has become a modern classic. In ... (Goodreads)

  9. Illuminations: Essays and Reflections

    by Walter Benjamin
    Collection of philosophical and literary essays on a range of topics.

    Essays and reflections from one of the twentieth century’s most original cultural critics, with an introduction by Hannah Arendt . Walter Benjamin was an icon of criticism, renowned for his insight ... (Barnes & Noble)

  10. The Society of the Spectacle

    by Guy Debord
    A critical analysis of the commodification of society and the power of the media.

    Few works of political and cultural theory have been as enduringly provocative as Guy Debord's The Society of the Spectacle. From its publication amid the social upheavals of the 1960s up to the ... (Goodreads)

  11. Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism

    by Benedict Anderson
    Exploration into the development of nations and nationalism, and its impact on society.

    What makes people love and die for nations, as well as hate and kill in their name? While many studies have been written on nationalist political movements, the sense of nationality–the personal and ... (Goodreads)

  12. The Autobiography of Malcolm X

    by Malcolm X
    A gripping account of one man's transformation from criminal to civil rights leader.

    Alternate cover for ISBN 9780345350688 Through a life of passion and struggle, Malcolm X became one of the most influential figures of the 20th Century. In this riveting account, he tells of his ... (Goodreads)

  13. Pedagogy of the Oppressed

    by Paulo Freire
    Analysis of the educational system, advocating a pedagogy of liberation.

    First published in Portuguese in 1968, Pedagogy of the Oppressed was translated and published in English in 1970. The methodology of the late Paulo Freire has helped to empower countless impoverished ... (Goodreads)

  14. Civilization and Its Discontents

    by Sigmund Freud
    Exploration of the psychological underpinnings of human civilization and its discontents.

    It stands as a brilliant summary of the views on culture from a psychoanalytic perspective that he had been developing since the turn of the century. It is both witness and tribute to the late theory ... (Goodreads)

  15. Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza

    by Gloria E. Anzaldúa
    Exploration of the hybrid identity of Chicana women, navigating between two cultures.

    Anzaldua, a Chicana native of Texas, explores in prose and poetry the murky, precarious existence of those living on the frontier between cultures and languages. Writing in a lyrical mixture of ... (Goodreads)

  16. The Work of Art in the Age of Its Technological Reproducibility, and Other Writings on Media

    by Walter Benjamin
    Reflection on the impact of technology on art, culture and society.

    Benjamin’s famous 'Work of Art' essay sets out his boldest thoughts–on media and on culture in general--in their most realized form, while retaining an edge that gets under the skin of everyone who ... (Goodreads)

  17. The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism

    by Max Weber
    Examines the relationship between Protestantism and the rise of capitalism, arguing that religious beliefs influenced economic behavior.

    The Protestant ethic — a moral code stressing hard work, rigorous self-discipline, and the organization of one's life in the service of God — was made famous by sociologist and political economist ... (Goodreads)

  18. Madness and Civilization: A History of Insanity in the Age of Reason

    by Michel Foucault
    Examination of the changing attitudes towards mental illness over time and the implications of social control.

    Librarian note: an alternate cover for this edition can be found, here,. Michel Foucault examines the archeology of madness in the West from 1500 to 1800 – from the late Middle Ages, when insanity ... (Goodreads)

  19. Mythologies

    by Roland Barthes
    A collection of essays that deconstructs the myths of modern society, revealing their hidden meanings and cultural significance.

    "No denunciation without its proper instrument of close analysis," Roland Barthes wrote in his preface to Mythologies . There is no more proper instrument of analysis of our contemporary myths than ... (Goodreads)

  20. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions

    by Thomas S. Kuhn
    An analysis of how scientific progress is made, and the role of paradigms and paradigmatic shifts.

    A good book may have the power to change the way we see the world, but a great book actually becomes part of our daily consciousness, pervading our thinking to the point that we take it for granted, ... (Goodreads)

  21. Being and Time

    by Martin Heidegger
    Exploration of the basic questions of existence, re-examining the fundamentals of philosophy.

    One of the most important philosophical works of our time, a work that has had tremendous influence on philosophy, literature, and psychology, and has literally changed the intellectual map of the ... (Goodreads)

  22. A People's History of the United States

    by Howard Zinn
    An examination of American history from a perspective of marginalized people.

    In the book, Zinn presented a different side of history from the more traditional "fundamental nationalist glorification of country". Zinn portrays a side of American history that can largely be seen ... (Goodreads)

  23. On the Genealogy of Morals / Ecce Homo

    by Friedrich Nietzsche
    Philosophical examination of power, morality, and the history of human values.

    The Genealogy of Morals consists of three essays exploring morality and its origins where Nietzsche makes ample use of his training as a philologist. These works contain Nietzsche's most thorough and ... (Goodreads)

  24. Politics

    by Aristotle
    Analysis of the structure and nature of governments and the pursuit of justice.

    What is the relationship of the individual to the state? What is the ideal state, and how can it bring about the most desirable life for its citizens? What sort of education should it provide? What ... (Goodreads)

  25. Second Treatise of Government

    by John Locke
    A philosophical inquiry into the nature of government and the rights of citizens.

    The central principles of what today is broadly known as political liberalism were made current in large part by Locke's Second Treatise of Government (1690). The principles of individual liberty, ... (Goodreads)

  26. Black Skin, White Masks

    by Frantz Fanon
    Examining the psychological and social effects of colonialism on people of color.

    A major influence on civil rights, anti-colonial, and black consciousness movements around the world, Black Skin, White Masks is the unsurpassed study of the black psyche in a white world. Hailed for ... (Goodreads)

  27. Simulacra and Simulation

    by Jean Baudrillard
    Analysis of the effects of technology on our lives, exploring the concept of hyperreality.

    The publication of Simulacra et Simulation in 1981 marked Jean Baudrillard's first important step toward theorizing the postmodern. Moving away from the Marxist/Freudian approaches that had concerned ... (Goodreads)

  28. Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches

    by Audre Lorde
    Collection of essays and speeches exploring issues of race, gender, sexuality, and liberation.

    A collection of fifteen essays written between 1976 and 1984 gives clear voice to Audre Lorde's literary and philosophical personae. These essays explore and illuminate the roots of Lorde's ... (Goodreads)

  29. Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media

    by Edward S. Herman
    Critique of mass media and its role in shaping public opinion.

    In this pathbreaking work, Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky show that, contrary to the usual image of the news media as cantankerous, obstinate, and ubiquitous in their search for truth and defense ... (Goodreads)

  30. The Fire Next Time

    by James Baldwin
    Reflection on the plight of African Americans in a candid and deeply moving essay.

    A national bestseller when it first appeared in 1963, The Fire Next Time galvanized the nation and gave passionate voice to the emerging civil rights movement. At once a powerful evocation of James ... (Goodreads)