Chicago, Nov. 15th <http://crisis.platypus1917.org/?p=10>
Tuesday, Nov. 15th, 7:30 – 9:30pm, U of C Harper Memorial Library, Room 130, 1116 E. 59th St., Chicago, IL. Speakers: Mike Ely (kasama), Roberta Garner (depaul, science & society), Alexander Hanna (uw-madison). Moderated by Greg Gabrellas.
New York City, Nov. 16 <http://crisis.platypus1917.org/?p=12>
Wednesday, Nov. 16th, 7:00 – 9:30pm, NYU Silver Center, Room 207, 31 Washington Place, New York, NY. Speakers: Paul Berman (nyu), Carl Dix (rcp-usa), Doug Henwood (lbo), Bertell Ollman (nyu), Marco Roth and Nikil Saval (n+1). Moderated by Jeremy Cohan.
Philadelphia, Nov. 17 <http://crisis.platypus1917.org/?p=14>
Thursday, Nov. 17th, 6:30 – 9:00pm, TU Tuttleman Learning Center, Room 301A, 1210 W. Berks St., Philadelphia, PA. Speakers: Stephen Eric Bronner (rutgers), Gabriel Rockhill (villanova), Richard Rubin (platypus). Moderated by Ben Landau Beispiel.
Thessaloniki, Nov. 23 <http://crisis.platypus1917.org/?p=16>
Wednesday, Nov. 23rd, 6:00 – 9:00pm, Aristotle University’s new building of School of Philosophy, Room 112, Thessaloniki, Greece. Speakers: Stavros Mavroudeas, Xristos Laskos, Grigoris Tsilimantos, Babis Kouroundis. Moderated by Teo Velissaris.
Boston, TBD <http://crisis.platypus1917.org/?p=18>
Boston, MA — TBD — The Crisis of the Left and the Occupy Movement
WHAT IS THE CRISIS OF THE LEFT?
*Crisis*: *Pathol*. The point in the progress of a disease when an important development or change takes place which is decisive of recovery or death.
Many on the Left feel a sense of crisis.
Existing strategies and theories seem inadequate in a bewildering contemporary political scene. Disparate groups have begun to show an interest in rethinking the fundamentals of Left politics. The *Platypus* Affiliated Society <http://platypus1917.org/about/> seeks to make the conversation explicit, and to host a series of discussions about the crisis of the contemporary Left: its quality, causes, and significance for future reconstitution and transformation.
Across five cities worldwide (Chicago <http://crisis.platypus1917.org/?p=10> , New York City <http://crisis.platypus1917.org/?p=12>, Philadelphia<http://crisis.platypus1917.org/?p=14> , Thessaloniki <http://crisis.platypus1917.org/?p=16>, Boston<http://crisis.platypus1917.org/?p=18>), we’ve invited figures from across the Left–academics, political organizers, theorists– to answer and debate six fundamental questions. We also pose these questions to the Left as a whole and invite responses from all quarters. The questions below stem from confusion; taking nothing for granted, we hope that confronting this confusion might open up future possibilities for renewed consciousness and practice on the Left.
- How would you define the Left?
- Do you think the Left is in crisis? If so, then what constitutes the
crisis?
- In trying to understand the contemporary Left, what history matters
most? What tasks and problems have we inherited from the Old Left and the
New Left?
- Could the Left have done something to avoid its current impasses? If
so, what?
- What is the relationship between the Left and anti-capitalism? Between
the Left and Marxism? What should it be?
- How does the Left need to change? Who is responsible for making the
change happen?