A teach-in held on September 5th, 2013 at Dalhousie University, led by Quentin Cyr.

In the mid-19th century, Marx and Engels observed, in the Communist Manifesto, that a "specter" was haunting Europe â the specter of Communism. A century and a half later, it is Marxism itself that continues to haunt the Left, while capitalism remains.

What does it mean that Marx and Marxism still appeal, while political movements for socialism are weak or non- existent? What were Marxism's original points of departure for considering radical possibilities for freedom that might still speak to the present?

How does Marxism still matter?

Please note: Due to technical difficulties, the first few seconds of the teach-in are cut off.

The 2013 annual "President's Report" presented by Platypus International Convention President Chris Cutrone, on the subject of the Left in the 1980s.

The political and cultural Left, which stand for increasing the scope of freedom, have shifted positions historically on issues of sexuality. For instance, where once the Left challenged marriage and family norms in society, there has been a turn to advocating participation in predominant institutions, for instance gay marriage: there has been some conflict in LGBTQ circles over the politics of gay marriage, whether it should be advocated in certain ways or at all by the Left. What do such controversies tell us about the politics of sexual freedom and the history of the Left, moving forward? How are issues of sexual freedom related to issues in the greater society and not of concern merely to sexual minorities and subcultures? Is there simply a narrative of historical progress, as expressed for example in President's Obama's recent Second Inaugural Address? Or might we look forward to renewed political disputes around issues of sexual freedom? What can history teach us about this?

Sammy Medina, Pam C. Nogales C., and Ross Wolfe gave teach-ins as part of the Free University during the Day of Action against Cooper Union’s unprecedented tuition requirements. Pam did a teach-in on 19th-century American history and struggles for emancipation, while Sammy and Ross talked about the sociohistoric project of early modernist architecture.

PLEASE NOTE: Due to technical issues, only the first forty-five minutes of the talk were recorded.

A discussion led by Platypus Affiliated Society member Spencer A. Leonard on the current economic crisis, longue-durée social change, and the Left. This teach-in was an introduction to the some of essential problems to be explored in the Chicago iteration of the "Radical Interpretations of The Present" panel on December 3rd, 2012.

In 1999 the prominent social theorist Moishe Postone published an artile entitled "Contemporary Historical Transformations: Beyond Post-Industrial Theory and Neo-Marxism" in which he interrogated the two predominant theories of the social change that had been formulated in the 1970s by Daniel Bell and Ernest Mandel. Today we live in what would seem like a historical moment far removed from the economic boom of the late 90s, but how much has society really changed from the one Postone described just over a dozen years ago?

The "Contemporary Historical Transformations: Beyond Post-Industrial Theory and Neo-Marxism: article discussed can be found here.