In contrast to what the liberal doxa would like us to believe, Donald Trump’s victory should not be underestimated on account of the billionaire’s failure to win the popular vote. Trump’s victory should not be thought a surprise, either. It reflects a "structural" tendency of growing political polarization within Western societies over the past four decades. The extremes have been, on the one hand, the multi-cultural or "identity" liberalism/leftism with its origins in the social movements of the 60s, and, on the other hand, right-wing populism’s embrace of irrationality as a response to the excesses of the former.
[. . .]
On January 23, two days after his inauguration, President Trump issued a draft order for visa reform proposing to regulate the H-1B visa, which among other things, allows CEOs in Silicon Valley to hire high-skilled foreign-national engineers who work for less in exchange for visas. This reform could increase wages down the line;
[. . .]
Recommended winter break preliminary readings:
+ Leszek Kolakowski, “The concept of the Left” (1968)
+ Richard Appignanesi and Oscar Zarate / A&Z, Introducing Lenin and the Russian Revolution / Lenin for Beginners (1977)
+ Sebastian Haffner, Failure of a Revolution: Germany 1918–19 (1968)
+ Tariq Ali and Phil Evans, Introducing Trotsky and Marxism / Trotsky for Beginners (1980)
+ James Joll, The Second International 1889–1914 (1966)
+ Edmund Wilson, To the Finland Station: A Study in the Writing and Acting of History (1940), Part II. Ch. (1–4,) 5–10, 12–16; Part III. Ch. 1–6
Film screenings: January 2017
- 37 Days(2014)Â [Episode 1]Â [Episode 2]Â [Episode 3]
- Fall of Eagles (1974) episodes: "Absolute Beginners," "The Secret War," and "End Game"
- Rosa Luxemburg (1986)
- Oliver Stone's Untold History of the United States (2012) Episodes A (1900-20) and B (1920-40)
- Reds (1981)
Week 13. Revolutionary leadership | Jan. 30, 2017
- Rosa Luxemburg, “The Crisis of German Social Democracy” Part 1 (1915)
- J. P. Nettl, “The German Social Democratic Party 1890–1914 as a Political Model” (1965)
- Cliff Slaughter, “What is Revolutionary Leadership?” (1960)
Week 14. Reform or revolution? | Feb. 6, 2017
- Luxemburg, Reform or Revolution? (1900/08)
Week 15. Lenin and the vanguard party | Feb. 13, 2017
- Spartacist League, Lenin and the Vanguard Party (1978)
Week 16. What is to be done? | Feb. 20, 2017
- V. I. Lenin, What is to be Done? (1902)
- + Richard Appignanesi and Oscar Zarate / A&Z, Introducing Lenin and the Russian Revolution /Lenin for Beginners (1977)
Week 17. Mass strike and social democracy | Feb. 27, 2017
- Luxemburg, The Mass Strike, the Political Party and the Trade Unions(1906)
- + Luxemburg, "Blanquism and Social Democracy" (1906)
Week 18. Permanent revolution | Mar. 6, 2017
- Leon Trotsky, Results and Prospects(1906)
- + Tariq Ali and Phil Evans, Introducing Trotsky and Marxism /Trotsky for Beginners (1980)
Week 19. State and revolution | Mar. 13, 2017
- Lenin, The State and Revolution(1917)
Week 20. Imperialism | Mar. 20, 2017
- Lenin, Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism(1916)
- + Lenin, Socialism and War Ch. 1 The principles of socialism and the War of 1914–15 (1915)
Week 21. Mar. 27, 2017 (spring break)
Week 22. Failure of the revolution | Apr. 3, 2017
- Luxemburg, “What does the Spartacus League Want?”(1918)
- Luxemburg, “On the Spartacus Programme” (1918)
- + Luxemburg, "German Bolshevism" (AKA "The Socialisation of Society") (1918)
- + Luxemburg, “The Russian Tragedy” (1918)
- + Luxemburg, “Order Reigns in Berlin” (1919)
- + Sebastian Haffner, Failure of a Revolution: Germany 1918–19 (1968)
Week 23. Apr. 10, 2017 [Platypus international convention]
Week 24. Retreat after revolution | Apr. 17, 2017
- Lenin, “Left-Wing” Communism: An Infantile Disorder (1920)
- + Lenin, "Notes of a Publicist" (1922)
Week 25. Dialectic of reification | Apr. 24, 2017
- Lukács, “The Standpoint of the Proletariat” (Part III of “Reification and the Consciousness of the Proletariat,” 1923). Available in three sections from marxists.org: section 1 section 2 section 3
Week 26. Lessons of October | Apr. 29, 2017
- Trotsky, The Lessons of October(1924) [PDF] + Trotsky, "Stalinism and Bolshevism" (1937)
Week 27. Trotskyism | May 1, 2017
- + Trotsky, "To build communist parties and an international anew" (1933)
- • Trotsky, The Death Agony of Capitalism and the Tasks of the Fourth International (1938)
- + Trotsky, "Trade unions in the epoch of imperialist decay" (1940)
- + Trotsky, Letter to James Cannon (September 12, 1939)
Week 28. The authoritarian state | May 8, 2017
- Friedrich Pollock, "State Capitalism: Its Possibilities and Limitations" (1941) (note 32 on USSR)
- Max Horkheimer, "The Authoritarian State" (1942)
Week 29. On the concept of history | May 15, 2017
- epigraphs by Louis Menand(on Edmund Wilson) and Peter Preuss(on Nietzsche) on the modern concept of history
+ Charles Baudelaire, from Fusées [Rockets] (1867)
+ Bertolt Brecht, "To posterity" (1939)
+ Walter Benjamin, "To the planetarium" (from One-Way Street, 1928)
+ Benjamin, "Experience and poverty" (1933)
+ Benjamin, Theologico-political fragment (1921/39?) - Benjamin, "On the Concept of History" (AKA "Theses on the Philosophy of History") (1940) [PDF]
- Benjamin, Paralipomena to "On the Concept of History" (1940)
Week 30. Reflections on Marxism | May 22, 2017
- Theodor Adorno, “Reflections on Class Theory”(1942)
- Adorno, “Imaginative Excesses”(1944–47)
+ Adorno, Dedication, "Bequest", "Warning: Not to be Misused" and "Finale", Minima Moralia (1944–47)
+ Horkheimer and Adorno, "Discussion about Theory and Praxis" (AKA "Towards a New Manifesto?") [Deutsch] (1956)
Week 31. Theory and practice | Jun. 29, 2017
- + Adorno, “On Subject and Object” (1969)
- Adorno, “Marginalia to Theory and Praxis” (1969)
- Adorno, “Resignation” (1969)
- Adorno, “Late Capitalism or Industrial Society?” (AKA “Is Marx Obsolete?”) (1968)
- Esther Leslie, Introduction to the 1969 Adorno-Marcuse correspondence (1999)
- Adorno and Herbert Marcuse, correspondence on the German New Left (1969)
[. . .]
In der vorlesungsfreien Zeit zwischen Winter- und Sommersemester 2017 möchten wir uns mit dem Verhältnis von Kunst und Politik auseinandersetzen.
[. . .]
On November 7, 2016, the eve of the U.S. presidential election, the Platypus Affiliated Society hosted a panel discussion entitled “Immigration and the Left” at the University of Illinois at Chicago [UIC]. Moderated by Joseph Estes of Platypus, the event posed three questions to the panelists: How has the Left approached the question of immigration historically? What opportunities exist in the immigrants’ rights movement today for a renewed emancipatory politics? What role can left-wing civil and political organizations play in immigration politics? Three speakers addressed these questions: Jorge Mujica, seasoned activist and the Strategic Campaigns Organizer for Arise Chicago; Ralph Cintron, professor of English and Latino and Latin American Studies at UIC; and Jacqueline Stevens, professor of Political Science at Northwestern University. What follows is an edited transcript of their discussion.
[. . .]
