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‘Citizen Marx’ with author Bruno Leipold
Recording available on YouTubeWhat better time than the present moment to revisit Karl Marx’s commitment to the democratic republic as a necessary (if not sufficient) step on the path to human freedom? Author Bruno Leipold presents his recently published 'Citizen Marx: Republicanism and the Formation of Karl Marx's Social and Political Thought.'
‘Roses for Gramsci’ with Andy Merrifield
Online: Zoom link will be provided to registered participantsAuthor Andy Merrifield presents 'Roses for Gramsci,' a remarkable personal journey through the life and writings of the great Sardinian Marxist, Antonio Gramsci.
Through the Lens of Spectacle: Panel 1, Oversight
Online: Zoom link will be provided to registered participants“The spectacle is the bad dream of modern society in chains, expressing nothing more than its wish for sleep,” Guy Debord declared in The Society of the Spectacle (1967): it is “a permanent opium war.” A half-century later, the specter of the spectacle continues to haunt Marxist cultural studies. In two linked panels, the Yale Working Group on Globalization and Culture proposes to track “the worldwide division of spectacular tasks” from lens manufacture to retail logistics, stadiums to camptowns, polar expeditions to spring festivals, as well as revolutionary specters in novels and borders, assassinations and squares.
Through the Lens of Spectacle: Panel 2, Witness
Online: Zoom link will be provided to registered participants“The spectacle is the bad dream of modern society in chains, expressing nothing more than its wish for sleep,” Guy Debord declared in The Society of the Spectacle (1967): it is “a permanent opium war.” A half-century later, the specter of the spectacle continues to haunt Marxist cultural studies. In two linked panels, the Yale Working Group on Globalization and Culture proposes to track “the worldwide division of spectacular tasks” from lens manufacture to retail logistics, stadiums to camptowns, polar expeditions to spring festivals, as well as revolutionary specters in novels and borders, assassinations and squares.
Literary Echoes of Vietnam’s 1975 Victory
Online: Zoom link will be provided to registered participantsWhile the bombs were falling, only a stone wouldn't be terrified. If the Americans noticed movement in the forest, they would eliminate the forest. Who knows how much money was ... Read more
Aristotle, Hegel, Marx: A Philosophical Dialogue
Online: Zoom link will be provided to registered participantsJoin us for a dialogue on philosophical themes featuring the authors of two forthcoming books. Michael Lazarus is the author of 'Absolute Ethical Life: Aristotle, Hegel and Marx,' and Jensen Suther is the author of 'True Materialism: Hegelian Marxism and the Modernist Struggle for Freedom.'
Reading Death of the Author by Nigeria’s Nnedi Okorafor
Online: Zoom link will be provided to registered participants"To build a better future, we have to envision it first." Reading science fiction, discussing it together, and reading it politically, offers one tool for "envisioning" a future worth building. We continue our explorations of diverse points of view of social conflict and resolution, possible and imagined just worlds, here on Earth and perhaps afar.
Book Talk: Brian Kwoba on Hubert Harrison
Online: Zoom link will be provided to registered participantsBrian Kwoba will speak on his newly published book Hubert Harrison: Forbidden Genius of Black Radicalism and Harrison's prominent role in the early Socialist Party, IWW, and Black radicalism during ... Read more
Reading Science Fiction Politically: Severance by Ling Ma
Online: Zoom link will be provided to registered participants"To build a better future, we have to envision it first." Reading science fiction, discussing it together, and reading it politically, offers one tool for "envisioning" a future worth building. We continue our explorations of diverse points of view of social conflict and resolution, possible and imagined just worlds, here on Earth and perhaps afar.
Historical Roots of American Fascism: Gilded Age to the Second World War
Online: Zoom link will be provided to registered participantsTake part in the Political Strategy Study Group’s sweeping look at the history and political significance of the major waves of struggle and counter-revolution in the United States. At present ... Read more
Antonio Gramsci Studies: 2025 Series
Online: Zoom link will be provided to registered participantsThe continuing 2025 Gramsci Study Sessions will read and explore from: Selections from the Prison Notebooks Selections from Cultural Writings Selections from Political Writings Gramsci’s writings on international politics, as ... Read more
Summer in France in the Shade of Noir
Online: Zoom link will be provided to registered participantsThe MEP Literature Group continues its tradition of easy summer reading focusing on the noir genre. Our two selections - 'Command Performance' and 'Creation Lake' - are both set in France and both deal with corruption in high places by right-wing politicians and corporations who manipulate inept investigators of low social standing and morals.