A discussion of the relation of Keynesianism, social-democratic politics and Marxism to the purported decline of the U.S. as global hegemonic state, beginning in the 1970s and continuing in "Left" discourse to the present held on June 14th, 2014 at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.  Teach-in led by Chris Cutrone.
Readings for discussion:
Platypus Historians Group, Friedrich Hayek and the legacy of Milton Friedman: Neo-liberalism and the question of freedom (In part, a response to Naomi Klein) (2008)
Robert Lekachman, Capitalism for Beginners (1981)
Michael Harrington, "Marxism and democracy" Praxis International 1.1 (1981)
A panel held on April 5th, 2014 at the Sixth Annual Platypus International Convention at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Panelists:
Chris Cutrone (Platypus)
Samir Gandesha (Simon Fraser University)
Nikos Malliaris (Lieux Communs)
Dimitrios Roussopoulos (Transnational Institute of Social Ecology)
Joseph Schwartz (Temple University)
Description:
âNo coarser insult, no baser defamation, can be thrown against the workers than the remark, âTheoretical controversies are for the intellectualsââ
â Rosa Luxemburg, Reform and Revolution (1900)
âSince there can be no talk of an independent ideology formulated by the working masses themselves in the process of their movement the only choice is â either bourgeois or socialist ideology⊠This does not mean, of course, that the workers have no part in creating such an ideology. They take part, however, not as workers, but as socialist theoreticians, as Proudhons and Weitlings; in other words, they take part only when they are able, and to the extent that they are able, more or less, to acquire the knowledge of their age and develop that knowledge.â
â Vladimir Lenin, What is to be Done? (1905)
"The liquidation of theory by dogmatization and thought taboos contributed to the bad practice."
â Adorno, Negative Dialectics (1966)
This discussion will reflect on the relationship between revolutionary politics and thinking in the past and present and ask why has it become increasingly difficult to render political life intellectual and intellectual life political today? Panelists will consider the historical role of revolutionary theory as a moment of revolutionary politics, and the ways in which thinking can be held responsible for politics, and politics held responsible for thinking.
A panel held at the Sixth Annual Platypus International Convention on Saturday, April 5th at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Panelists:
Samir Gandesha (Simon Fraser University)
Nikos Malliaris (Lieux Communs)
Charis Papadopoulos (Kokkino-SYRIZA)
Description:
âWe are the 99%â
- Occupy Wall Street (2011)
"The Left must define itself on the level of ideas, conceding that in many instances it will find itself in the minority"
- Leszek Kolakowski, The Concept of the Left (1968)
The distinction of the Left and the Right was never clear. But following the failure of the âOld Leftâ the relevance of these categories has increasingly ceased to be self-evident. In its place there has been a recurring declaration of the "end of ideology"; by 1960s intellectuals like Daniel Bell, 1980s postmodernists and the 1990s post-Left anarchism.
Yet in spite of the recurring death of ideology, the terms âLeftâ and âRightâ seem to persist, albeit in a spectral manner. With the politics that attended the uprisings of 2011 â from the Arab Spring to Occupy - there seemed a sense that the Left ideology has simultaneously become irrelevant and inescapable. While the call for democracy by the "99%" has its roots in the historical demands of the Left, these movements were notable to the extent that they were not led by Left organizations. To many who participated in these movements, Left politics seemed âpurely ideologicalâ and not a viable avenue to advance discontents. Now that this moment has passed there is a sense that the Right has prevailed, and even a sense of resignation, a sense that the âLeftâ was not really expected to be competitive.
This ambiance seems in contrast to the past. At the height of the âNew Left'sâ struggle to overcome the âOld Leftâ the Polish Marxist Leszek Kolakowski declared that the concept of the Left "remained unclear". In contrast to the ambivalence of the present, the act of clarifying the ambiguity of the Left seemed to have political stakes. The Left, he declared, could not be asserted by sociological divisions in society, but only by defining itself ever more precisely at the level of ideas. He was aware that the ideas generated by the Left, such as "freedom" and "equality", could readily be appropriated by the Right, but they would only do so if they failed to be ruthlessly clarified. For Kolakowski the Old Communist "Left" had ceased to be Left and had become the Right precisely on the basis of its ideological inertia.
What does it mean today when the challenges to the status quo are no longer clearly identifiable as originating from the Left? While it seems implausible that Left ideology has been transcended because people still explain social currents in terms of "Left" and "Right", there is a sense in the present that to end exploitation will demand a measure of ârealpolitikâ --a better tactical response -- rather than ideological clarification. One has the uneasy feeling that existence of the âLeftâ and the âRightâ only persist by virtue of the fact the concept of the Left has somehow become settled, static and trapped in history. But wouldn't this be antithetical to any concept of the Left?
Questions:
1) How is the Left distinguished from the Right? Is it important to continue to discern and define the Left? How would this be done?
2) Do social struggles today express the distinction between Left and Right and if yes how is this visible?
3) Do you believe that the Left expresses better âcollectiveâ demands and the Right refers to âindividualâ demands? If not this, then what?
4) Today, many relate the Right with neoliberalism, with the state or with reformism and opportunism. What defines the Right? How is one to recognize it? What and who does it now refer to?
5) In the history of the two previous centuries Left was to a large extent associated with the struggles of the oppressed and the idea of social emancipation. How would the Right relate to these social struggles differently?
6) How would you define the history of the 20th century in terms of the influence and prevail of Left or Right ideas? Can the course of the Communist states be grasped according to this distinction?
7) Are there Right ideologies inside the Left? If yes, how should they be treated and why?
8) What is the role of ideology within political movements today? How do you regard the centrality of ideology to Kolakowski's concept of the Left? Can the Right have ideology? Do you feel there is active engagement over ideological questions on the Left or is it more often relegated below tactical questions?
Every year at the Platypus International Convention, speakers from various perspectives are asked to bring their experience of the Leftâs recent history to bear on todayâs political possibilities and challenges as part of the âDiffering Perspectives on the Leftâ workshop series.
A workshop with the Anarcho-Syndicalist Review (Jon Bekken) held on April 5, 2014, at the Sixth Platypus International Convention.
Every year at the Platypus International Convention, speakers from various perspectives are asked to bring their experience of the Leftâs recent history to bear on todayâs political possibilities and challenges as part of the âDiffering Perspectives on the Leftâ workshop series.
A workshop with TOP B3rlin (Bender) held on April 5, 2014, at the Sixth Platypus International Convention.