Many self-described Marxists and anti-Marxists alike view Marxism as a static dogma that requires careful indoctrination or an intellectual perspective best left to academics. But an examination of the development of Marx's own thought presents a different picture of what it means to become and be a Marxist. That picture shows Marxism as a method of forging ideas, events, and experiences in the world into a force for the revolutionary self-emancipation of the working class, or in Harry Braverman's words, "a theory of revolution and thus a tool of combat.”

Suggested Readings:
The Meaning of Marxism by Paul D'Amato
The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, edited and annotated by Phil Gasper (Haymarket Books, 2005).