----- Original Message ----- From: Anne J <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Saturday, October 21, 2000 5:34 PM Subject: Can Humanity Free Itself from Global Capitalism? You are invited to a series of four discussions on ***************************************************** CAN HUMANITY FREE ITSELF FROM GLOBAL CAPITALISM? A new look at _Marxism and Freedom, from 1776 until Today_ Alternate Sunday evenings in November and December in New York City Parlor of Parish House Washington Square United Methodist Church 133 W. 4th Street, Manhattan Sponsored by News and Letters Committees. Free Admission. For copies of _Marxism and Freedom_, or for more information, call (212) 663-3631. e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ***************************************************** These four open discussions will explore some of the central questions facing today's freedom movements. They include: What is capitalism, and how can it be uprooted? Why has Marx's thought taken on new importance in light of the struggles against globalized capital? What is the legacy of the revolutions and revolutionary movements of the past century? How can we ensure that a new bureaucracy does not emerge after a revolution? Why was Hegel's philosophy important to Marx, and what significance does it have for the social movements of our day? These questions are central to Raya Dunayevskaya's _Marxism and Freedom, from 1776 until Today_. Hailed as one of the most important works in Marxist theory of the past half century, it has been translated into Spanish, French, Japanese, Italian, and Chinese. A new English-language edition has recently been published by Humanity Books. Join us in exploring this work with new eyes, as part of breaking down the separation between philosophy and action. =========================== Sunday, November 5, 6:30 pm =========================== Hegel's Dialectic and Marx's Humanism: Their Objectivity and Meaning Opening the discussion: Anne Jaclard Hegel's revolution in philosophy emerged from the impact of the French Revolution, and Marx's philosophy of revolution emerged from the impact of a new era of proletarian revolts. This class explores the contemporary significance of Hegel's dialectic and the new humanism born from Marx's _Economic-Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844_ in light of the struggles of workers, women, youth, Blacks and other minorities for non-alienating human relations. Suggested readings from _Marxism and Freedom_: Chapter 1: The Age of Revolutions Chapter 3: A New Humanism: Marx's Early Economic-Philosophic Writings Chapter 16: Automation and the New Humanism ============================ Sunday, November 19, 6:30 pm ============================ Marx's _Capital Reconsidered_: American Roots of Marxism and the Black Dimension Opening the discussion: Paul Geist and Russell Rockwell Marx's greatest theoretical work, _Capital_, has taken on new importance in light of global capital's incessant drive to commodify every sphere of human and natural existence. In exploring _Capital_ with eyes of today's economic-political realities, this class will also focus on how the development of Marx's work was influenced by the freedom struggles of his own period, especially the struggles against slavery and the fights for a shorter working day. Suggested readings from _Marxism and Freedom_: Chapter 5: The Impact of the Civil War on _Capital_ Chapter 6: The Paris Commune Illuminates and Deepens the Content of _Capital_ Chapter 7: The New Humanism and Dialectic of _Capital_, Vol. I Chapter 8: Sections 1 & 3: The Logic and Scope of _Capital_, Vols. II and III =========================== Sunday, December 3, 6:30 pm =========================== Revolution and Counter-Revolution in the Era of Globalized State-Capitalism Opening the discussion: A. Anielewicz What happens after the revolution? What was achieved with the Russian Revolution of 1917, and why did it become transformed into a totalitarian state-capitalist society under Stalin? How did state-capitalism emerge as a new global stage of production, and what is disclosed by the emergence of new revolts against it, especially in Eastern Europe, Africa, Latin America, and China? This class will explore the legacy of 20th-century revolutions and the central problem disclosed by them -- that of counter-revolution emerging from within revolution itself. Suggested readings from _Marxism and Freedom_: Chapter 12: What Happens After? Chapter 13, Section C: The Third Five Year Plan Chapter 15: The Beginning of the End of Russian Totalitarianism Chapter 17: Sections C: The Economic Compulsion of State-Capitalism ============================ Sunday, December 17, 6:30 pm ============================ Beyond Post-Marx Marxism: Towards a New Unity of Theory and Practice in the Abolitionist and Marxist-Humanist Tradition Opening the discussion: Eli Messinger and Ted Rosmer This class explores the need for a new unity of theory and practice, and of philosophy and organization, that transcends the legacy of "post-Marx Marxism." We will look at the state socialism of Ferdinand Lassalle and the anarchism of Pierre Proudhon; the reformism of the Second International and Lenin's great divide in turning to Hegel in 1914. We will also look at Stalin, in terms of what enables someone who was once a revolutionary to succumb to the impulses from an alien class. Our focus is on how the development of Marxist-Humanism poses an alternative to post-Marx Marxism, in a way that speaks to today's "new passions and forces." Suggested readings from _Marxism and Freedom_: Chapter 4: Worker, Intellectual, and the State Chapter 9, Sections 2 & 3: The Second International Chapter 10: The Break in Lenin's Thought Chapter 14: Stalin Introduction (1985): "Dialectics of Revolution: American Roots and Marx's World Humanist Concepts" _Constitution_ of News and Letters Committees _The Philosophic Moment of Marxist-Humanism_ (Chicago: News and Letters, 1989) "An oasis in the desert of Marxist thought .. Raya Dunayevskaya's book shows not only that Marxian economics and politics are throughout philosophy, but that the latter is from the beginning economics and politics." -- Herbert Marcuse, from the original preface (1957)
