TO URPE MEMBERS AND FRIENDS
The Brecht Forum has sponsored many wonderful events over the years, and has been a terrific host to numerous URPE panels and individual speakers, allowing us to get our ideas out to NYC audiences in a way that we never would have been able to on our own.
This year the Brecht Forum moved to a new space. Because of the high moving and construction expenses, they were not able to put out a printed schedule this spring. They have been relying on email to let people know about their events.
Because the URPE Listserve can not publicize these events on a regular basis, we encourage you to join the Brecht Forum emailing list so that you can receive regular notices from them, and to bookmark their website, where you can find up-to-date announcements of their events.
They can also use both financial donations and physical help with construction.
Meanwhile, here are some currently scheduled events.
Ruthie Indeck
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PLEASE FORWARD
The Brecht Forum 451 West St., Betw Bank and Bethune NYC (1,9,2,3 to 14th st. walk west on 12th st, south on 8th ave, then west on Bethune) 212.242.4201 www.brechtforum.org ____________________________________________________ Thursday, April 7 7:30 pm ROUGH CUT VIDEO SCREENING & DISCUSSION
Zizek!
Discussion with Filmmaker Astra Taylor
ZIZEK! is a feature documentary work-in-progress exploring the eccentric personality and esoteric work of the Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Zizek, directed by Astra Taylor and produced by Lawrence Konner and the Documentary Campaign. One of the most prominent theorists working today, Zizek has been called "an academic rock star" and the "wild man of theory." From New York City to London, Buenos Aires to his home in Ljubljana, the film follows the thinker as he reveals the invisible workings of ideology through his unique blend of Lacanian psychoanalysis, Marxism, and critique of pop culture. As he travels the world, Zizek never stops philosophizing. Over the course of the film, little goes untheorized, particularly Zizek's recurring themes -- ideology, psychoanalysis, politics, revolution, Marxism, religion, love, and the history of philosophy. But he is also unafraid to turn his critical gaze on himself, astutely analyzing his private life for the camera, offering cutting commentary on his personality and dissecting his conflicted relationship to his growing celebrity. Footage of impromptu observations on street corners and sit-down interviews centering on his central counterintuitive critiques are combined with animated passages from Zizek's main texts, giving the viewer a thorough -- and thoroughly entertaining -- overview of his ideas.
Suggested donation: $6/$10/$15 ____________________________________________________ Wednesday, April 13 7:30 pm
Empire & Resistance A Converstaion with David Harvey & Rahul Mahajan
What forms of empire are taking shape as George W. Bush moves aggressively into his second term? Does the ongoing US occupation of Iraq represent a new kind of messianic cowboy imperialism, and if so, what is its relationship to US culture at home? Where is this occupation heading? Is Iran next? And what is the likely future of Bush-style unilateralism? What are the emerging challenges and opportunities for the worldwide anti-war movement? Join two leading scholar/activists for a stimulating discussion of these and many other related questions.
David Harvey is Distinguished Professor of Anthropology at the CUNY Graduate Center. He has written extensively on the political economy of globalization, urbanization and cultural change and has taught Marx's Capital almost every year since 1971. Among his publications are The New Imperialism, The Limits to Capital, The Condition of Postmodernity, Spaces of Hope, and Spaces of Capital. Rahul Mahajan teaches at New York University and is the publisher of the blog Empire Notes (www.empirenotes.org). He has been to occupied Iraq twice and was in Fallujah during the April 2004 assault. His most recent book is Full Spectrum Dominance: U.S. Power in Iraq and Beyond (Seven Stories Press), He is working on a book about the occupation of Iraq and American imperial culture.
Suggested donation: $6/$10/$15 ____________________________________________________ Tuesday, April 19 7:30 pm BOOK PARTY/FORUM
Separating Church & State The Struggle Against U.S. Fundamentalism
Lenni Brenner, Susan Jacoby & Esther Kaplan
George Bush's election victory, based on rallying fundamentalists of all religions, and the defeated Democratic leadership's avowed intention to pander to those fanatic voters, has opened a critical stage in U.S. politics. Yet the struggle to keep the U.S. a secular state has been recurrent throughout our history. From the framing of a Constitution based on human rights rather than divine authority to the feminist and civil liberties movements of the 20th century, secularism has been central to our most important democratic advances. So, how can religious fundamentalism continue to occupy such a prominent place in our national life? Can the religious left, the 16% of Americans without any religion, the gay rights campaign, the medical-end-of-life movement, and an aroused scientific community defeat these fanatic elements? Our panelists will discuss the importance of a renewed look at our country’s history and the struggle for secularism today.
Historian and journalist Lenni Brenner, is the editor of Jefferson and Madison on the Separation of Church and State. Susan Jacoby, director of the Center for Inquiry-Metro New York, is author of Freethinkers: A History of American Secularism. Esther Kaplan, communications director at CWA 1180, is author of With God on Their Side: How Christian Fundamentalists Trampled Science, Policy, and Democracy in George W. Bush's White House
Suggested donation: $6/$10/$15 ____________________________________________________ Friday, April 22 6:00 - 9:00 pm A 3-DAY WORKSHOP BEGINS Friday Evening Saturday & Sunday - 10:00 am - 6:00 pm
Education for Liberation A Workshop On the Paulo Freire Methodology
Facilitators include: Kenny Garcia, Esperanza Martell, Marie-Claire Picher & Fernando Reals
This is a hands-on workshop in the use of popular education techniques based on Brazilian philosopher-activist Paulo Freire's approach to education for social change, developed in The Pedagogy of the Oppressed and other seminal works. It is designed for educators as well as labor, community, political and solidarity activists in view of helping them actively plan and implement effective strategies for social action in their groups and communities. Participants will learn through practice the three basic steps of the Freire methodology: 1) to express and see reality as it is experienced by the participants; 2) to understand this reality by analyzing it and exploring the root causes of problems; and 3) to act in order to change this reality. The workshop will begin promptly at the scheduled time. Please note that in order to insure workshop continuity, participants are required to stay for the entire sessions on both Saturday and Sunday. Registration begins at 5:15 on Friday, but pre-registration is advised.
Sliding scale admission: $150-200 ____________________________________________________ Saturday, April 30 8:30 pm Neues Kabarett
Burton Greene / Roy Campbell Quartet & Tom Abbs Group
8:30 pm - Tom Abbs & Frequency Response 9:30 pm - Burton Greene / Roy Campbell Quartet record release celebration for “Isms Out” In addition to celebrating The Brecht Forum's new space and the re-opening of this wonderful music series, Neues Kabarett is delighted to host the release of the Burton Greene / Roy Campbell Quartet’s new CD, “Isms Out” on CIMP Records. In addition to Greene and Campbell on piano and trumpet, the group features Lou Grassi on drums and Adam Lane on bass. Tom Abbs & Frequency Response features Abbs on bass, tuba dijeridoo and violin, joined by Brian Settles (tenor sax), Jean Cook (violin), Okkyung Lee (cello) and Chad Taylor (drums and vibes). Neues Kabarett’s 2005 season is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts, through the Fund for Creative Communities of the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council.
Admission: $10 ____________________________________________________ Monday, May 2 6:00 - 8:00 pm 5-SESSION CLASS BEGINS
Indigenous Resistance & the State in Latin America >From Late Colonialism to Capitalist Crisis (1770s - 1930s)
Gerardo Renique
During the last decade indigenous peoples in Latin American have occupied the center of the political stage in Latin America. Combining together different organizational forms, grassroots experiences and political strategies indigenous mobilization is at the forefront of Latin American resistance to neo-liberalism. More importantly, indigenous political and cultural interventions constitute simultaneously a serious indictment and a hopeful alternative to the patterns of economic development, expropriation of nature, cultural-ethnic, racial and gender marginalization that have sustained the formation of the modern nation-states in Latin America. This 5-week course will examine the formative stage of this contemporary indigenous movement --from the 1770s to the 1930s—through an exploration and discussion of the following topics: (1) the nature of the colonial state and society and subaltern resistance; (2) the political trajectory of indigenous peoples in the movements of Independence and the formation of the post-colonial nation-states; (3) Indigenous peoples under neo-colonial capitalism; (4) the “Indian question” and the emergence of counter-hegemonic nationalists and socialists projects.
Gerardo Renique, author with Deborah Poole of Peru: Time of Fear, teaches history at the City Collegy of New York.
Sliding Scale: $45-$65 _______________________________________________ Brechtevents1 mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://people-link5.inch.com/mailman/listinfo/brechtevents1
