---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 24 May 1995 11:29:11 -0500
From: J. Hughes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED],
[EMAIL PROTECTED],
"James H. Williams" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject:
1995 Chicago Socialist Summer School
A joint project of
the Chicago Committees of Correspondence and
the Chicago Democratic Socialists of America.
Tuesday nights
July 18 - August 29
7-9pm
Roosevelt University
430 South Michigan, Room 313
July 18. The Current Crisis
July 25. What is Socialism? I: Socialist Society
August 1. What is Socialism? II: Socialist Economy
August 8. What was the Communist Movement? Why Did it Fail?
August 15. What is the Socialist Transformation?
August 22. Why have a Socialist Organization?
August 29. The U.S. Political System and the Tasks Ahead
For more information,
and to find out how to get the readings, contact:
(DSA) J. Hughes, 312-702-3742, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
(CoC) Sandy Patrinos, 312-324-2258, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Chicago Socialist Summer School
A joint project of
the Chicago Committees of Correspondence and
the Chicago Democratic Socialists of America.
Time: Tuesdays, 7-9pm July 18 - Aug 29
Place: Roosevelt University, 430 South Michigan, Room 313
Topics to Cover:
July 18. The current crisis
Co-facilitators: Sandy Patrinos and Ron Baiman
Discussion of the different perspectives on the current crisis of
capitalism; the collapse of the social democratic and Communist
alternatives; is socialism possible in one country.
July 25. What is socialism? I: socialist society
Co-facilitators: J. Hughes and Carl Davidson
Discussion of its historical varieties, and its relationship to
liberalism, social democracy and other radical movements such as feminism,
anti-racism and ecology, Marxism/post-Marxism/radical democracy, and the
relationship of socialism to scarcity and abundance.
Readings:
Harrington "Hypotheses" and "Socialisms" Socialism: Past and Future, 1989
August 1. What is socialism? II: socialist economy
Co-facilitators: Ron Baiman and Mel Rothenberg
Discussion of nationalization, workplace democracy and market
socialism; trade unions and cooperatives; welfare and wages? Is it possible
to have a socialist economy in one country, much less one firm? What would
a socialist world economy look like?
Possible readings:
Harrington "Market and Plan" Socialism: Past and Future, 1989
Schweickart Against Capitalism, Chap. 7
Pat Devine, "Market Socialism of participatory planning", RRPE 1992
Weisskopf, "Toward a Socialism of the Future...", RRPE 1992.
August 8. What was the Communist movement, and why did it fail?
Co-facilitators: Sandy Patrinos and J. Hughes
Discussion of theories of the "degeneration of the Russian
revolution," totalitarianism, bureaucratic collectivism, primitive
communism; pre-, post- and industrial socialism; vanguardism and Leninism.
Readings:
Harrington "Authoritarian Collectivisms" Socialism: Past and Future, 1989
August 15. What is the socialist transformation?
Co-facilitators: Ralph Suter and Mel Rothenberg
Discussion of the importance and limits of multi-party, liberal
democracy, as well as the role of armed struggle and revolution, in social
change; the relationship of electoral work, economic reform and cultural
change; whether there is a place called "socialism" or just a direction;
the nature of the "socialist state", and whether it will "wither."
August 22. Why have a socialist organization?
Co-facilitators: Ralph Suter and Carl Davidson
What are the reasons to have a socialist organization, and what
should its relationship to other organizations, such as parties, unions and
so on, be? What are the problems in keeping socialist organizations
democratic, such as their class basis and the "iron law of oligarchy," and
how can internal democracy be maintained?
August 29. The U.S. political system and the tasks ahead
Facilitators: All-skate
How to build a global Left, based in movements and electoral
politics, to establish a humane world, and what should be on its agenda.
Can socialists be patriotic citizens of nation-states? How do we respond
politically to the globalization of capital? Discussion of the balance of
mass work/movement building with electoral work; the distinctiveness of
American politics; of the role of socialists in third parties and in the
Democratic Party; discussion of the Communist Party, New Party and DSA's
inside/outside strategies; discussion of the current state of American
parties.
Possible readings:
Harrington "Visionary Gradualism" Socialism: Past and Future, 1989
-------------------------------------------------------
James J. Hughes PhD, Center for Clinical Medical Ethics, U. of Chicago,
(work) 312-702-3742 (Web) http://ccme-mac4.bsd.uchicago.edu/CCMEHughes.html
