Marxist reading group
Feb. 2008 - May 2008 | Primary
[Jan. 2007 - Jan. 2007 | "Imperialism"]
[Nov. 2007 - Jan. 2008 | Classics]
[Sept. 2007 - Nov. 2007 | Fall 2007 Readings]
[July 2007 - Sept. 2007 | History of the Left]
[Feb. 2007 - July 2007 | Marx Afer Marxism]
[March 2006 - Dec. 2006 | The New Left]
next meeting:
The absence of the Left
[discussion]
"However difficult the task of grasping and confronting global capital might be, it is crucially important that a global internationalism be recovered and reformulated. . . . None of the massive demonstrations against the war featured oppositional progressive Iraqis who could provide a more nuanced and critical perspective on the Middle East, a telling political failure on the part of the Left." (Postone 2006)
"We have to note, with regret, that the Iraqi democratic forces have not received, in their difficult struggle, effective solidarity and support from international forces of the Left." (Iraqi CP 2006)
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Moishe Postone - History and Helplessness: Mass Mobilization and Contemporary Forms of Anticapitalism
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Fred Halliday, Danny Postel - Who is Responsible? [interview with Danny Postel in Chicago]
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Iraqi Communist Party - Letter to Fraternal and Friendly Parties About the Situation in Iraq and the Position of the Iraqi Communist Party
Marxism as theory and practice
[discussion]
"In socialism, freedom is to become a reality. But because the present system is called 'free' and considered liberal, it is not terribly clear what this might mean. . . . Not only [the Little Man's] lack of freedom but that of [his betters] as well spells his doom. His interest lies in the Marxist clarification of the concept of freedom. . . .
The socialist order of society is not prevented by world history; it is historically possible. But it will not be realized by a logic that is immanent to history but by men trained in theory and determined to make things better. Otherwise, it will not be realized at all." (Horkheimer 1926-31)
Adorno contra marcuse
[discussion]
Adorno-Marcuse debate on the 1960s New Left Readings from their 1969 correspondence
Leszek Kolakowski's "The Concept of the Left"
[discussion]
"The concept of the Left remains unclear to this day." (Kolakowski 1968)
Women and revolution
[discussion]
"The situation of women is different from that of any other social group. This is because they are not one of a number of isolable units, but half a totality: the human species. . . . They are fundamental to the human condition, yet in their economic, social and political roles, they are marginal. It is precisely this combination — fundamental and marginal at one and the same time — that has been fatal to them." (Mitchell 1966)