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SUMMARY:Marxist Psychology: Vygotsky’s Cultural-Historical Theory
DESCRIPTION:A six-week workshop with Carl Ratner\, in which we will seek to solve the riddle Marx posed in his first thesis on Feuerbach: “in contradistinction to materialism\, the active side [the subjective side of human behavior] was developed abstractly by idealism – which\, of course\, does not know real\, sensuous activity as such.” Exploring a materialist theory of subjectivity which does know sensuous activity\, we will see how historical materialism can be extended to reveal how it is compatible with psychology and how human psychology is itself a historical-materialist phenomenon. \nBridging political economy and psychology\, we will review Marx’s writings on the structure of social systems that encompass cultural emergents such as religion. As emphasized by Wendy Brown in her Foreword to the Reitter-North translation of Capital\, “Marx developed an understanding of political economy as the distinctive mode through which we build entire worlds through our singular cooperative powers—transforming nature\, elaborating divisions of labor and organizations of ownership\, producing wealth\, creating ways of life\, institutions\, social forms\, subjects\, and subjectivities… Capital brings into being not only particular kinds of markets\, technologies\, and industries\, but classes\, families\, and political structures; race and gender orders; relations with ‘nature’; new formations of space and time; and legal codes and conflicts.” \nTurning to the field of cultural psychology\, we will explore how cultural forms stimulate and organize human psychology. Here we will focus on the work of the Russian psychologist\, Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934)\, who formulated a “cultural-historical psychological theory.” Vygotsky was a dedicated Marxist who was active in efforts during the revolutionary period to develop socialist cultural institutions and social sciences. Vygotsky said\, “We must learn from Marx’s whole method how to build a science\, how to approach the investigation of the mind.” Read more… \nCarl Ratner went through college and graduate school in the 1960s. He was a professor of social psychology in the California State University system for 31 years. He adopted Vygotsky’s work when it was first translated in the 1980s\, writing extensively on Vygotsky and authoring the Preface to vol. 5 of his Collected Works. Ratner was one of the few followers of Vygotsky who emphasized his Marxist orientation and developed it. Ratner is the author of Macro Cultural Psychology: A Political Philosophy of Mind (Oxford\, 2012); his most recent book is Cultural Psychology\, Racism\, and Social Justice (Springer\, 2022). Carl has been active in the cooperative movement and served on the board of directors of California’s largest food coop in the 1970s and 80s. He lived in China from 1981-1983 and taught the first course on social psychology in Peking University since it had been banned after the Revolution. \nRegistration for this series is now closed.
URL:https://marxedproject.org/event/marxist-psychology-ratner/
LOCATION:Online Event – Zoom Meeting
CATEGORIES:Critical Theory,featured,historical materialism,Intro to Marxism,Marx,Marxist Method,Multi-session Classes,Philosophy,Political Economy,Psychology,Reading Group,Science and Method,Winter 2026
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260225T190000
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CREATED:20260114T153929Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260325T185232Z
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SUMMARY:Extraction: A Book Talk with Author Thea Riofrancos
DESCRIPTION:Live event concluded\, but you may watch the recording on YouTube.\nWill green capitalism save us from the climate crisis? “Clean” technologies and renewable energy are certainly growing sites of capitalist investment\, with government policies playing a key role in making these sectors profitable. But the supply chains that produce the technologies pose vexing dilemmas for the energy transition. These dilemmas are most dramatic at the extractive frontiers of green capitalism: where the natural resources needed to manufacture electric vehicles and build windmills are extracted. \nThea Riofrancos\, author of Extraction: The Frontiers of Green Capitalism\, unpacks these challenges through the lens of lithium\, a so-called “critical mineral” essential for its role in decarbonizing one of the most polluting sectors: transportation. With forecasters predicting an enormous surge in lithium demand\, exceeding existing supplies\, Global North governments and downstream firms scramble to “secure” lithium\, resulting in a new state-corporate alliance and the return of vertical integration. \nMeanwhile\, Global South governments are attempting to leverage critical mineral deposits into sustainable and sovereign economic development. And\, across the world\, environmental and Indigenous movements contest the rapid expansion of extraction\, defending ecosystems\, livelihoods\, and waterways already under pressure from global warming from a new boom in mining. It is in the play of these forces\, unfolding amidst geopolitical rivalry and economic turbulence\, that the energy transition will be forged. To conclude\, Riofrancos will explore the possibility of a less mining-intensive pathway to zero-carbon transportation. \nThea Riofrancos is Associate Professor of Political Science at Providence College\, a Strategic Co-Director of the Climate and Community Institute\, and a fellow at the Transnational Institute. Her research focuses on resource extraction\, renewable energy\, climate change\, the global lithium sector\, green technologies\, social movements\, and the Latin American left. She is also the author of Resource Radicals: From Petro-Nationalism to Post-Extractivism in Ecuador and the coauthor of A Planet to Win: Why We Need a Green New Deal. Her writings have appeared in scholarly journals and in the New York Times\, Financial Times\, Foreign Policy\, n+1\, and Dissent.
URL:https://marxedproject.org/event/extraction-a-book-talk-with-author-thea-riofrancos/
LOCATION:Recording available on YouTube
CATEGORIES:Book talks,Climate Change,Ecosocialism,Extractivism,featured,Imperialism,Indigenous Peoples,Latin America,Political Economy,Seminars and Talks,Special Event,Winter 2026
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