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You are here: The Platypus Affiliated Society/Archive for category 2012

Platypus Frankfurt prĂ€sentiert eine Podiumsdiskussion ĂŒber:
Reform, Revolution, Widerstand - Die problematischen Formen des heutigen Antikapitalismus.

Die Podiumsdiskussion soll die heute prominenten Vorstellungen von sozialem Wandel, Reform, Revolution und Widerstand kritisch hinterfragen und historisch einordnen. Alle stellen problematische Formen des historischen und gegenwĂ€rtigen "Antikapitalismus" dar, ohne dass Klarheit darĂŒber herrscht, was genau damit gemeint ist - im Gegenteil, gerade angesichts vergangener Niederlagen der Linken und einer sich immer weiter verschĂ€rfenden Situation in der Gegenwart fĂ€llt auf, dass diese Konzepte heute diffuser denn je sind. 
Reform, Revolution, Widerstand: welche Bedeutung haben diese Kategorien fĂŒr die heutige Linke? Wie werden sie benutzt, was sollen sie bewirken und wie ist ihre Geschichte? Wir möchten mit der Diskussion zu einer KlĂ€rung dieser Vorstellungen beitragen.

Montag, 25. Juni  2012, 19:00 Uhr
Studierendenhaus Bockenheim (1. Stock)
Mertonstr. 26-28
Frankfurt am Main

Referierende:

Thomas Seibert
Aktivist seit den 70er Jahren und Philosoph. Zahlreiche Publikationen zu Philosophie und Politik, zu Globalisierung und globalisierungskrititischen Bewegungen. Zuletzt erschienen: alle zusammen. jede fĂŒr sich. die demokratie der plĂ€tze. (zus. mit M. JĂ€ger, 2012) und Humanismus nach dem Tod des Menschen. Flucht und RĂŒckkehr des subjektiven Faktors der Geschichte.

Norbert Trenkle
Redakteur der Zeitschrift Krisis. Co-Autor des Buches Die große Entwertung (2012).

Janine Wissler
Fraktionsvorsitzende der LINKEN in Hessen. Mitglied u.a. bei Marx 21 und ver.di.

Daniel Loick
Philosoph an der GoetheuniversitÀt Frankfurt. Autor des Buches Kritik der SouverÀnitÀt (2012).

Moderiert von
Jerzy Sobotta (Mitglied der Platypus Affiliated Society)

Eine Veranstaltung der Platypus Affiliated Society,
in Zusammenarbeit mit dem Asta der Uni-Frankfurt.

1. Seit den 1960er Jahren, und ganz besonders seit den 90ern, werden KĂ€mpfe fĂŒr soziale, wirtschaftliche und politische Emanzipation eher im Sinne von “Widerstand” verstanden anstatt in Form von strukturellen Reformen oder gar in Form einer revolutionĂ€ren Transformation. Was verstehen Sie unter “Widerstand”? Welche Möglichkeit fĂŒr sozialen Wandel bietet er?

2. “Widerstand” wird heutzutage ganz besonders im kulturellen Raum verortet, als politische Äußerung gegen den "Alltagswahn". Welche implizite (wenn nicht gar explizite) Unterscheidung sehen Sie hier zwischen einer politischen Praxis, die sich gegen die Gesellschaft als Ganzes richtet, und den scheinbar einfacheren Anliegen alltĂ€glichen Daseins?

3. Wo sehen Sie die Ursachen und Folgen dieser historischen Wendung weg von Bewegungen fĂŒr reformistische oder revolutionĂ€re Politik, hin zu Taktiken, Strategien, und dem SelbstverstĂ€ndnis von “Widerstand” als Praxis?

4. Wohin deuten diese Akte des “Widerstandes”, Ihrer EinschĂ€tzung nach, fĂŒr mögliche soziale Emanzipation, heute und in der Zukunft?

5. Welche VerĂ€nderungen sozialer Probleme stehen uns heute bevor? Auf welche Art und Weise werden sich diese potentiellen VerĂ€nderungen Ă€ußern?

6. Welche Taktiken und Strategien kann und soll eine Linke, die sich sozialer Emanzipation verpflichtet fĂŒhlt, wĂ€hlen, um diesen Wandel zu ermöglichen?
***
Seit 2007 hat Platypus Veranstaltungen unter dem gleichen Titel in verschiedenen Orten abgehalten. FĂŒr Audioaufnahmen bitte auf den Stadtnamen klicken.

//Chicago, November 2007:

Panelists:

Michael Albert (Z Magazine, author of Parecon: Life After Capitalism), Chris Cutrone (Platypus) [Chris Cutrone's opening remarks prepared text], Stephen Duncombe (Gallatin School of New York University, editor of Cultural Resistance Reader), Brian Holmes (Continental Driftand Université Tangente), and Marisa Holmes (new Students for a Democratic Society).

//Boston, April 2012

Panelists:
Jeff Booth (Socialist Alternative)
Gayge (Common Struggle Libertarian Communist Federation)
Joe Ramsey (Kasama Project)
Laura Lee Schmidt (Platypus)
J. Phil Thompson (MIT)

//New York, April 2012

Panelists:

Todd Gitlin (Columbia University)
Tom Trottier (Workers’ International Committee)
Ross Wolfe (Platypus Affiliated Society)

//Toronto (Canada), March 2012

Panelists:
Clare O’Connor,
Baolinh Dang (Proletarian Revolutionary Action Committee- Revolutionary Students Movement),
Cam Hardy (Platypus),
Megan Kinch (#Occupy, Toronto Media Co-Op), and
Jim Stanford (Canadian Auto Workers).

//Halifax (Canada), January 2012

Panelists:

Eric Anatolik (Occupy NS), Jacques Beaudoin (Parti communiste revolutionnaire – Revolutionary Communist Party, Canada) Howard Epstein (New Democratic Party MLA Halifax Chebucto), Max Haiven (Edu-Factory, Historical and Critical Studies NSCAD) and Andony Melathopoulos (Platypus). The panel was moderated by Pam Nogales.

germany.platypus1917.org

Die Platypus Affiliated Society organisiert Lesekreise, öffentliche Veranstaltungen, VortrĂ€ge, Forschung und Journalismus im Hinblick auf ĂŒberkommene, ungelöste Probleme und Aufgaben der “Alten” (1920er-30er), “Neuen” (1960er-70er) und post-politischen (1980er-90er) Linken und der Möglichkeiten fĂŒr emanzipatorische Politik heute.

 

On February 28, 2012, the radio program Radical Minds on WHPK-FM Chicago broadcast an interview with Mary Gabriel, the author of Love and Capital: Karl and Jenny Marx and the Birth of a Revolution (New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2011). The interview was conducted by Spencer A. Leonard of the Platypus Affiliated Society. What follows is an edited transcript of their conversation.

A panel discussion with audience Q&A on the problematic forms of anti-capitalism today, held on May 30th at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH).

Transcribed in Platypus Review #53

theprweb1-91

“After the failure of the 1960s New Left, the underlying despair with regard to the real efficacy of political will, of political agency, in a historical situation of heightened helplessness, became a self-constitution as outsider, as other, rather than an instrument of transformation. Focused on the bureaucratic stasis of the Fordist, late 20th Century world, the Left echoed the destruction of that world by the dynamics of capital: neoliberalism and globalization.

The idea of a fundamental transformation became bracketed and, instead, was replaced by the more ambiguous notion of ‘resistance.’ The notion of resistance, however, says little about the nature of that which is being resisted, or of the politics of the resistance involved.

‘Resistance’ is rarely based on a reflexive analysis of possibilities for fundamental change that are both generated and suppressed by the dynamic heteronomous order of capital. ‘Resistance’ is an undialectical category that does not grasp its own conditions of possibility; it fails to grasp the dynamic historical context of capital and its reconstitution of possibilities for both domination and emancipation, of which the ‘resisters’ do not recognize that that they are a part.”

— Moishe Postone, “History and Helplessness: Mass Mobilization and Contemporary Forms of Anticapitalism” (Public Culture¾ 18.1: 2006)

Reform, revolution, resistance: what kind of weight do these categories hold for the Left today? How are they used, to where do they point, and what is their history? Join the Platypus Affiliated Society for a discussion concerning a question that has renewed immediacy in light of the #Occupy movement.

Speakers:
1) Nikolas Sevastakis, associate professor at the School of Political Science of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
2) Thodoris Karyotis, member of direct democracy and cooperative movements
3) Aris Tsioumas, member of KEHA (Kinisi Ergatikis Hirafetisis kai Autoorganosis, i.e. Movement for Labour Emancipation and Selforganisation)
4) Costas Gousis, member of NAR, component of the anticapitalist coalition ANTARSYA

3Rs
Wednesday 13th June, 7pm
University of London Union (ULU), Malet Street, London, WC1E 7HX
Room 3B

SPEAKERS:
Clare Solomon
James Heartfield
James Turley
Matt Cole

Moderated by:
Laurie Rojas

“[After the 1960s, the] underlying despair with regard to the real efficacy of political will, of political agency [. . .] in a historical situation of heightened helplessness [. . .] became a self-constitution as outsider, as other [. . .] focused on the bureaucratic stasis of the [Fordist/late 20th Century] world: it echoed the destruction of that world by the dynamics of capital [with the neo-liberal turn after 1973, and especially after 1989].

The idea of a fundamental transformation became bracketed and, instead, was replaced by the more ambiguous notion of ‘resistance.’ The notion of resistance, however, says little about the nature of that which is being resisted or of the politics of the resistance involved — that is, the character of determinate forms of critique, opposition, rebellion, and ‘revolution.’ The notion of ‘resistance’ frequently expresses a deeply dualistic worldview that tends to reify both the system of domination and the idea of agency.

‘Resistance’ is rarely based on a reflexive analysis of possibilities for fundamental change that are both generated and suppressed by [the] dynamic heteronomous order
[of capital]. ['Resistance'] is an undialectical category that does not grasp its own conditions of possibility; that is, it fails to grasp the dynamic historical context of which it is a part.”

— Moishe Postone, “History and Helplessness: Mass Mobilization and Contemporary Forms of Anticapitalism”
(Public Culture 18:1, 2006)

1. Since the 1960s, and especially since the 1990s, struggles for social, economic and political emancipation have been conceived less in terms of structural reforms or revolutionary transformation and more in terms of “resistance.” How do you define “resistance” and how do you understand its role in possibilities for social change?

2. One powerful way “resistance” has been conceived has been in terms of “culture” and practices of “everyday life.” How do you understand the implicit (if not explicit) distinction thus made of politics directed at society as a
whole, from the more apparently mundane concerns and stakes of quotidian existence?

3. What, in your understanding, are the reasons for and the consequences of this historical shift away from movements for reform or revolutionary politics, to tactics, strategies, and self-understandings in terms of “resistance?”

4. Where do the new forms of politics of “resistance” point, in your estimation, for social-emancipatory possibilities, today and in the future?

5. What kinds of change do you envision on the horizon of present social concerns? How do you imagine the potential manifestations of such change?

6. What can and should those on the Left — those interested in working towards social emancipation — do, tactically and strategically, in view of such possibilities for change?

Also find us at our Facebook event.

 

Since 2007 Platypus has been organizing a series of events on The 3Rs. Click on the date/location to go to the audio:

//Chicago, November 2007:

Panelists:

Michael Albert (Z Magazine, author of Parecon: Life After Capitalism), Chris Cutrone (Platypus) [Chris Cutrone's opening remarks prepared text], Stephen Duncombe (Gallatin School of New York University, editor of Cultural Resistance Reader), Brian Holmes (Continental Driftand Université Tangente), and Marisa Holmes (new Students for a Democratic Society).

//Boston, April 2012

Panelists:
Jeff Booth (Socialist Alternative)
Gayge (Common Struggle Libertarian Communist Federation)
Joe Ramsey (Kasama Project)
Laura Lee Schmidt (Platypus)
J. Phil Thompson (MIT)

//New York, April 2012

Panelists:

Todd Gitlin (Columbia University)
Tom Trottier (Workers’ International Committee)
Ross Wolfe (Platypus Affiliated Society)

//Toronto (Canada), March 2012

Panelists:
Clare O’Connor,
Baolinh Dang (Proletarian Revolutionary Action Committee- Revolutionary Students Movement),
Cam Hardy (Platypus),
Megan Kinch (#Occupy, Toronto Media Co-Op), and
Jim Stanford (Canadian Auto Workers).

//Halifax (Canada), January 2012

Panelists:

Eric Anatolik (Occupy NS), Jacques Beaudoin (Parti communiste revolutionnaire – Revolutionary Communist Party, Canada) Howard Epstein (New Democratic Party MLA Halifax Chebucto), Max Haiven (Edu-Factory, Historical and Critical Studies NSCAD) and Andony Melathopoulos (Platypus). The panel was moderated by Pam Nogales.

Sunday, May 20th, Platypus is meeting up at 11 am at Cafe Baci (20 N. Michigan) 1 hour before the beginning of the march to get organized, distribute signs and fliers. We are going to leave Baci at 11:30 to walk over to the rally at Petrillo Band Shell in Grant Park