UNDERSTANDING SOCIALISM
Richard D. Wolff
Haymarket Books (26 October 2025)
Trade paper • ISBN-13: 9798888904596 • US $19.99 • 6 in x 9 in • 184 pgs.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
Socialism is a yearning for justice, community, and the greater realization of human potential. Cornel West calls it, “the best accessible and reliable treatment we have of what socialism is, was, and should be.”
Understanding Socialism is a plainspoken text that disarms false narratives, confronts past failures, and offers a path to a fresh and modern understanding of socialism, by outlining what democracy in the workplace could look like.
Wolff not only explains what socialism is and has meant to its various proponents, he also looks at the transition from feudalism to capitalism as a model to help us visualize an evolution from our current socioeconomic state.
Understanding Socialism explores how socialist theory was used and applied to help shape the histories of countries such as Russia and China, and beyond. Wolff also analyzes the successes and defeats of those countries, the world’s reactions to them, and how they offer important lessons for the building of a democratic, worker-controlled 21st-century socialism.
PRAISE:
“Richard Wolff’s book is the best accessible and reliable treatment we have of what socialism is, was, and should be. It is clear, concise, and compelling. In a time in which socialism is more popular than capitalism among the young, we now have a strong and powerful case for why socialism is what radical democracy looks like.”
Cornel West
“Rick Wolff puts the social back in socialism by centering the people, the places and the passions that other economists strip out. In the same accessible style that has made his programs and lectures such a hit, he explains his subject in a way that’s not only smart, but makes the rest of us feel smart. It’s actionable intelligence for the every person.”
Laura Flanders
“There are few economists who are the equal of Richard Wolff, which he once again proves with his latest book. Lucid, brilliant and uncompromising in his dissection of the capitalist system he also provides a sane and just socialist alternative to capitalist exploitation, one we must all fight to achieve.”
Chris Hedges
“Wolff’s 138-page book is an accessible and insightful primer that undertakes a critical examination of the history of state-led socialism while offering a refreshing vision of a new model based upon workplace democracy.”
Gregory N. Heires, Labor journalist and Portside Labor moderator
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Richard D. Wolff is Professor of Economics Emeritus, University of Massachusetts, Amherst and a Visiting Professor at the New School University in New York. Wolff’s recent work has concentrated on analyzing the causes and alternative solutions to the global economic crisis. His groundbreaking book Democracy at Work: A Cure for Capitalism inspired the creation of Democracy at Work, a nonprofit organization dedicated to showing how and why to make democratic workplaces real. Wolff is also the author of Occupy the Economy: Challenging Capitalism and Capitalism Hits the Fan: The Global Economic Meltdown and What to Do About It. He hosts the weekly hour-long radio program “Economic Update,” which is syndicated on public radio stations nationwide, and he writes regularly for The Guardian and Truthout.org. Wolff appears frequently on television and radio to discuss his work, with recent guest spots including “Real Time with Bill Maher,” “Moyers & Company,” “Charlie Rose,” “Up with Chris Hayes,” and “Democracy Now!.”
OTHER TITLES BY THIS AUTHOR:
Capitalism’s Crisis Deepens: Essays on the Global Economic Meltdown
Democracy at Work: A Cure for Capitalism
The Sickness is the System: When Capitalism Fails to Save Us from Pandemics or Itself
RIGHTS INFORMATION:
Audio book:
| Production Company | |
|---|---|
| Tantor Media | https://tantor.com/ |
Please contact subagents for the following languages and territories:
| Language/Territory | Subagent |
|---|---|
| China, Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Vietnam | Big Apple Agency |
| Dutch | Sebes & Bisseling Literary Agency |
| English outside North America | David Grossman Literary Agency |
| French | Deborah Druba Agency |
| German | Paul & Peter Fritz AG Literatur Agentur |
| Greek | Read n' Right Agency |
| Hebrew | The Deborah Harris Agency |
| Italian | Berla & Griffini Rights Agency |
| Japanese | The English Agency (Japan) Ltd |
| Korean | BC Agency, or Korea Copyright Center |
| Portuguese | RIFF Agency |
| Russia/Baltics/Eastern Europe | Prava I Prevodi |
| Scandinavia | Sebes & Bisseling Literary Agency |
| Spanish in Latin America | MB Agencia Literaria |
| Spanish in Spain | MB Agencia Literaria |
| Turkish | Anatolialit Agency |
For all other languages/territories, please contact Roam Agency.