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What is "Marxism"? After years of obscurity, Marxism has returned to recent political and academic debates, often without any clear indication of what the term might actually mean, or how it might differ from other "radical" political traditions. In this class, we will study and discuss the most important works of Karl Marx and Marxian thinkers, from their philosophical foundations to their analysis of global capitalism, class struggle, and the roles of states and culture. In the second part of the semester, we will trace this tradition through some of the great upheavals in the 20th century: from the Russian Revolution to particular variants of the struggles against colonialism in the developing world and against racism in the United States. In the process, we will focus on the central ideas distinguishing Marxism from other philosophies as well as from adjacent, allied, and rival political movements.