November 24, 2010
Dear Friend,
Marxist-Humanist Initiative (MHI) is pleased to announce the creation of new pages in our website publication, With Sober Senses, that are dedicated to following-up on the conference “Economic Crisis and Left Responses,” held Nov. 6 in New York City.
We convened the conference in order to further discussion, if not resolve, some of the conflicting theories coming from the Left concerning the underlying reasons for and consequences of the recent crisis and Great Recession. Although the 150 people at the conference didn’t agree on either the theoretical underpinnings or what practice should flow from them, we believe the conference took a giant step forward in the direction of working out theory and practice. That is because many of the speakers and audience members actively engaged with each others’ issues; they did not merely put forth their positions and leave them un-debated, nor did most people rush to prescribe “practice” without indicating the theory underlying their practice.
We wish to continue to facilitate wide-ranging dialogue on the conference topics, not only so that all views can be heard but, above all, so that we can test different ideas in debate and work out answers to the questions we are up against at this moment. We believe this is the only way for the Left to become relevant in the face of increasing assaults, in the name of “austerity,” against workers, women, African Americans, Latinos, youth, and GLBTs in the U.S., and similar struggles abroad.
You will find a report of the conference at http://tinyurl.com/2vyw8z7. It contains a link to
Videos of the entire conference,
· Many of the conference papers in written form,
· The program, abstracts and draft papers posted before the conference,
· The proposal we made at the conference to form a Network for the Circulation of Theoretical Struggles, and
· A place to add your comments on the conference and its aftermath.
We hope you will contribute to the discussion by submitting a comment and by taking part in the formation of the Network for the Circulation of Theoretical Struggles—sign up at “Contact Us.”
We also invite you to take a look at the rest of our website, and to tell us through the “Contact Us” page that you want to stay in touch with MHI (no more than two e-mails a month).
In solidarity,
Anne Jaclard for MHI