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The Platypus Affiliated Society, established in December 2006, organizes reading groups, public fora, research and journalism focused on the problems and tasks inherited from the "Old" (1920s–30s), "New" (1960s–70s) and post-political (1980s–90s) Left for the possibilities of emancipatory politics today.

The Latest from The Platypus Review:

  • The crisis of the Islamic Revolution: 1979–2009–2026
    On April 9, 2026, the Platypus Affiliated Society hosted a panel at Northwestern University on the Islamic Revolution in Iran as a satellite plenary to its 18th annual International Convention. The speakers were Chris Cutrone (founding member of the Platypus Affiliated Society), Mateo Farzaneh (professor of History at Northeastern Illinois University and author of The Iranian Constitutional Revolution and the Clerical Leadership of Khurasani), Tirdad Kiamanesh (co-founder of Chicago4Iran, lecturer at Northwestern University), and Grayson Walker (American Communist Party).
  • Beyond conspiracy? The “artificial” communist party and Cold War historiography: A review of Walter Kendall’s The Revolutionary Movement in Britain
    In The Revolutionary Movement in Britain, Walter Kendall sets out to prove an a priori assumption that the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) was an artificial creation that wrenched the whole course of the movement’s Left wing out of one direction and set it off on another.
  • Gaza and Left compulsiveness / obsessiveness
    Prior to October 7, 2023, Gaza wasn’t seriously on the Western Left’s radar at all. It was a non-topic for discussion, as Gaza was quiescent. Hamas, which governed Gaza by force and threat of terror against its civilian population, seethed with anger against Israel, and desired Israel’s elimination and replacement by an Islamic caliphate; but not so much, generally, the Gazan civilian population, which was resigned to the uneasy status quo that kept everything as it was.
  • Imperialism and the Popular Front
    But why has the proletariat never come directly to power? There is no simple answer, but a key is in the strategy of the Popular Front pursued by communist, socialist, and social-democratic parties all over the world, particularly since 1935–36.

Das Neueste aus Die Platypus Review:

  • Sexuelle Befreiung und die Linke
    Am 12. November 2025 veranstaltete die Platypus Affiliated Society in Wien eine Podiumsdiskussion mit Eva Novotny (Psychoanalytikerin und Psychotherapeutin, Neue Linke), Utta Isop (Freie Wissenschaftlerin und Philosophin, Genderforschung), Nathalie Burkowski (Bezirksrätin der KPÖ, studiert Gender Studies) und Nadja Dostal (Spartakistische Arbeiterpartei Deutschlands / IKL) zum Thema Sexuelle Befreiung und die Linke.
  • Wertkritik ohne Adressaten?
    Im Sommer 2025 erschien Roswitha Scholz’ Sammelband Back to the Roots?, eine programmatische Zusammenstellung älterer und neuerer Aufsätze, die das wertkritische Projekt gegen die Regressionen der Gegenwart in Stellung bringen soll. Scholz konstatiert das Scheitern der Linken in den 2010er Jahren – von Syriza über Podemos bis Sanders – als generelles Muster, auch wenn die Linkspartei in Deutschland Zulauf erhält. Scholz, eine der zentralen Stimmen der deutschsprachigen Wertkritik, zieht mit diesem Sammelband nach über 30 Jahren theoretischer Arbeit Bilanz und diagnostiziert dabei eine Regression in der marxistisch-feministischen Theoriebildung, womit sich eine Reihe von Fragen stellen, die auch die Wertkritik selbst nicht unberührt lassen.
  • Wider der Spaltung des feministischen Lagers
    Ein Gespräch mit Dr. Friederike Beier über das Verhältnis zwischen Materialistischem und Queer-Feminismus und das emanzipatorische Potenzial einer Intervention