Chicago                                       New York City
A moderated panel discussion and audience Q&A on the legacy and effects of the Islamic Revolution for the Left, both in Iran and internationally, Â addressing the still-vexing questions of the relationship of anti-imperialism, democracy, and religious fundamentalism for potential responses to this year's election crisis and protests
New York City:Â Brecht Forum, September 13th 6pm
Panelist include:
Ervand Abrahamian, author of Iran Between Two Revolutions, The Iranian Mojahedin, Khomeinism, Tortured Confessions, and Inventing the Axis of Evil
Hamid Dabashi, author of Theology of discontent: the ideological foundation of the Islamic Revolution, in Iran, Authority in Islam: from rise of Muhammad to the establishment of the Umayyads, and Islamic Liberation Theology: Resisting the Empire
Siyaves Azeri, Head of the Committee of International Relations of the Worker-Communist Party of Iran
Chicago: University of Chicago, November 5th 2009
Panelist include:
Maziar Behrooz, author of Rebels with a Cause: The Failure of the Left in Iran
Chris Cutrone, PhD candidate in the Committee on the History of Culture and Lecturer in the Social Sciences Collegiate Division at the University of Chicago; Adjunct Assistant Professor, Art History, Theory and Criticism and Visual and Critical Studies, School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Â
Kaveh Ehsani is a member of the editorial committee of Middle East Report
Danny Postel, author of Reading "Legitimation Crisis" in Tehran: Iran and the Future of Liberalism
Panel presentation by the Platypus Affiliated Society at Left Forum 2009: "Turning Points," Pace University, NYC, April 17-19, 2009
The panelists elucidate significant moments in the progressive separation of theory and practice in the 20th and 21st Century history of Leftist politics: 2001 (Spencer Leonard); 1968 (Atiya Khan); 1933 (Richard Rubin); and 1917 (Chris Cutrone). Each of these dates marked fundamental transformations on the Left. How do we relate to their legacies today? How has the problem of relating theory to practice, and ends to means, been dealt with politically on the Left? How has the political thought and action associated with each of these historical turning points revealed or obscured problems on the Left? How do the historical failures of the Left affect possibilities for the Left today and in the future?
A panel discussion with:
Benjamin Blumberg (Chair)
Chris Cutrone
Atiya Khan
Spencer Leonard
Richard Rubin
Transcript (Click Below):
A panel discussion with:
Alexander L. Hanna (chair): former organizer for United Students Against Sweatshops
Atlee McFellin: Students for a Democratic Society, New School Radical Student Union
Pam Nogales: Platypus (New York)
C. J. Pereira Di Salvo: former organizer for United Students Against Sweatshops
Laurie Rojas: Platypus (Chicago), former member of Students for a Democratic Society
Transcript in Platypus Review #15 (Click below):
Young people’s heightened participation in politics in the run-up to the election of Barack Obama was crucial to his election and cannot be ignored. The burning post-election questions that the Left must answer are 1) what are the current politics of youth and student organizations and 2) how can the mobilization of youths and students be expanded and deepened? This panel aims to explore these questions by critically reflecting upon the politics of two of the largest and most successful Left student organizations of recent times: the new Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS).
The panelists will engage these organizations by examining the various perspectives currently influencing them, and explore how these ideas affect their means and ends. This requires us to delve into their current politics, principles, and practice with relation to the history of Left student activism, as well as the history of the Left as a whole. We hope this panel will not only provide insight into the failures of the student Left, but also begin a serious discussion within these organizations and the Left at-large of what the revolutionary potential of such struggle can be.
Left Forum 2009 "Turning Points"
April 17-19, 2009
Dialectics of Defeat: Towards a Theory of Historical Regression and
Politics of the Contemporary Student Left: Hopes and Failures
TOUT VA B!EN (1972)
A Film by Jean-Luc Godard and Jean-Pierre Gorin
Running Time: 96 minutes (In French w/ English Subtitles)
Thursday, April 16th, 2009
8:00 p.m.
435 Grand Ave # 2F
Brooklyn, NY
