How do we develop a political organization capable of avoiding the same traps of the past? Are communist parties inevitably social democratic and bureaucratic? Can existing parties in the US be saved? In this panel, Marxist organizations come together to learn from the experience in India and elsewhere. This public event is both a workshop and a frank and sober discussion about the road ahead.
CAPITAL is the indispensable sourcebook on Marx’s method for analyzing the economy, politics and struggles. Many of us have less time to study it because, as Marx predicted, we have to work longer hours— and often more than one job—in order to survive. Fortunately, even a basic familiarity with the key concepts of Volume I offers many tools for understanding capitalism’s dynamics.
The talk includes three parts: first, it makes an argument for the use of workers’ inquiry as a method to study contemporary work conditions, in this case involving an undercover activist ethnography; second, it draws on heterodox and critical Marxist theory to understand the transformation of work; third, it focuses on the challenges of resistance and organization in contemporary work through a concrete example.
Historically, this is the first time that capital has locked out an entire teaching body at a university. Please join your fellow workers against this fresh onslaught of capital on our lives and future. There will be report backs from union members, students and local residents along with solidarity messages from comrades. Email your message of solidarity if you cannot attend.
To “bear witness” is to speak truth in the face of power.
This event is a benefit for Ramsey Orta, who videoed the police murder of Eric Garner, and is scheduled to go to jail October 3. Tonight’s proceeds will go to Mr. Orta and his family. Verso Books has been a great partner in putting this event together. Thank you Verso!
What are the prospects and possibilities for independent working class politics in the wake of the Sanders campaign?