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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:

  • Wenn es nur eine Wahrheit gibt, brauchen wir keine Kunst
    Ein Interview mit Ronja Brainstorm über das Verhältnis von Kunst und Politik und die Grenzen künstlerischer Freiheit  Ronja Brainstorm ist Künstlerin. Mit ihrem selbst erfundenen Alter Ego „The Art Whore“ untersucht sie die Rolle von Scham und Angst im künstlerischen Schaffen. Im vergangenen Jahr initiierte sie an der Kunsthochschule in Leipzig gemeinsam mit dem niederländischen Kollektiv The Unsafe House ein Ausstellungsprojekt, das einen öffentlichen Skandal auslöste.
  • Wohin treibt der Sozialismus? Mamdani und die Linke
    Am 26. September 2025 veranstaltete die Platypus Affiliated Society an der New York University eine Podiumsdiskussion zum Sozialismus, zum New Yorker Bürgermeisterkandidaten Zohran Mamdani und zur Linken. Es sprachen Mitchel Cohen (Schriftsteller, Aktivist, Dichter, ehemaliger Vorsitzender des WBAI-FM Local Station Board, Brooklyn Greens, Red Balloon Collective), Daniel Lazare (Autor von „The Frozen Republic: How the Constitution is Paralyzing Democracy“ (1996); seine Texte erscheinen im Permanent Revolution Blog, der Weekly Worker und der Platypus Review), Sebastian LM (Mitglied der Young Democratic Socialists of America an der NYU, Mitarbeiter der Mamdani-Kampagne) sowie Melvyn Dubofsky (Professor Emeritus für Geschichte und Soziologie an der Binghamton University, Autor von „American Labor Since the New Deal“ (1971) und „Industrialism and the American Worker, 1865–1920“ (1975)), der per Zoom zugeschaltet war. Das Platypus-Mitglied Erin Hagood moderierte die Diskussion. Es folgt eine Übersetzung des redigierten Transkripts.