Reading James Connolly

[Hugo Urbahns]

As a german marxist interested in irish republicanism and socialism you don't hear much about the actual ideas and views of James Connolly, altough his name is quite known among marxists and revolutionary socialists here.

I want to improve my knowledge about connollys views of marxism by reading some original writings of him and so I hoped that you could give me some tips about which are the most important texts.

[Papa C.]

One thing I will say of Connolly is that it is quite amazing how relevant his writings still are today even though some were written over 100 years ago and the world has changed immensely in the last 50 years never mind the last 100, yet they are still relevant.


Here are some that struck a chord with me:

Ruling by Fooling (1914) - www.marxists.org/archive/connolly/1914/09/rulbyful.htm

Socialism and Nationalism (1897) www.marxists.org/archive/connolly/1897/01/socnat.htm (this is the writing that has the famous quote 'If you remove the English army to-morrow and hoist the green flag over Dublin Castle, unless you set about the organisation of the Socialist Republic your efforts would be in vain.' in it)

The difficulties of socialism (1900) - www.marxists.org/archive/connolly/1900/06/diffsoc.htm

Class Government and class war - www.marxists.org/archive/connolly/1901/05/classgov-war.htm (excellent article on those of property and those of no property - the only two classes that are relevant in my opinion although I would call them those of power and those of no power)

There are so many great articles he has written that can be found below. I used to sit in my room for hours reading them - and I hate reading ;D I lose interest easily but found it easy to read through some of Connolly's articles over and over. Everyone knows James Connolly as one of those who fought and died for Ireland. I must say though, I think his legacy is not the Easter rising it is the countless works he has created in an effort to educate us. His work continues even today.

www.marxists.org/archive/connolly/index.htm

[Hugo Urbahns]

Thanks for the reading tips. I will read them during the next days. I think the interesting thing is, that connolly's ideas seem close to the permanent revolution of leon trotsky. But I need to read connolly more intensively to see if I get this right.

[Papa C.]

Maybe when you read some of Connolly's works we can have a discussion about them.

[Hugo Urbahns]

I'm looking forward to it.

[Papa C.]