Freedom in the Antropocene (Boston, 2/7/20)
February 7, 2020
| The Platypus Affiliated Society
On February 7, 2020, at Boston College, the Platypus Affiliated Society hosted a panel titled \“Freedom in the Anthropocene\“.
Description:
The Dutch atmospheric chemist Paul Crutzen recently characterized the period marked by the start of the industrial revolution in the 18th Century to the present as a new geological epoch, the Anthropocene. This periodization is meant to capture a change in the history of the planet, namely that for the first time in history its course will be determined by the question of what humanity will become.
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After The Election: What's Left? (LSE, 29/1/20)
January 29, 2020
| The Platypus Affiliated Society
A moderated panel discussion held January 29, 2020 at London School of Economics in the wake of the 2019 UK general election.
Description:
The movement around Jeremy Corbyn has been the centre of the British Left since 2015. A generation of activists have thrown themselves into the Labour party, some abandoning former organisations or anti-party (anarchist) political perspectives. But in the wake of the landslide victory of the Conservative Party in 2019, the goals of the Left seem unclear.
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Imperialism and the Left (UChicago, 1.16.20)
January 16, 2020
| The Platypus Affiliated Society
Panel discussion on the topic of “Imperialism and the Left” at the University of Chicago on January 16th, 2020, hosted by the Platypus Affiliated Society.
Panelists:
Earl Silbar Gregory Lucero Desmund Hui Lou Sterrett Description:
With the ousting of Morales in Bolivia, political repression in Hong Kong, and rising tensions with Iran, the question of Imperialism has posted itself with particular force in the last couple months.
Nevertheless, while all three have received much attention from the left, the commonality is not at all clear.
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Freedom in the Anthropocene (Corvallis, 1.16.20)
January 16, 2020
| The Platypus Affiliated Society
Panelists:
Rich Daniels, Emeritus Associate Professor of English, member of Radical Philosophy Association
Ken Ward, Extinction Rebellion
Max Wilbert, Deep Green Resistance
The Dutch atmospheric chemist Paul Crutzen recently characterized the period marked by the start of the industrial revolution in the 18th Century to the present as a new geological epoch, the Anthropocene. This periodization is meant to capture a change in the history of the planet, namely that for the first time in history its course will be determined by the question of what humanity will become; the question of freedom.
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Sex and the Left (Bay Area, 8.12.19)
December 8, 2019
| The Platypus Affiliated Society
[archiveorg sexandtheleft2019 width=640 height=140 frameborder=0 webkitallowfullscreen=true mozallowfullscreen=true]
Panel discussion on the topic of “Sex and the Left” at the Howard Zinn Book Fair in San Francisco on 8 Dec 2019, hosted by the Platypus Affiliated Society.
Moderator: William Lushbough
Featuring: - Norma Gallegos (Freedom Socialist Party [FSP] and Bay Area Radical Women in SF) - Lew Finzel (affiliated with News and Letters in Oakland with an interest in Charles Fourier and sexual utopias) - Audrey Crescenti (Platypus Affiliated Society)
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30 Years of 1989: The end of history? (Corvallis, 10.17.19)
October 17, 2019
| The Platypus Affiliated Society
Panelists:
Sarah Henderson - Author of Building Democracy in Contemporary Russia
Adam Lunceford - Heart of the Valley Democratic Socialists of America
GL Morrison - Oregon Communist Party
William Smaldone - Author of European Socialism: A Concise History
Description:
1989 is largely remembered as a decisive close to the Cold War contest between communism and capitalism—with the victory of the latter casting a seemingly damning verdict against Marxism as a form of politics.
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Sex and the Left (Goldsmiths, 10.10.19)
October 10, 2019
| The Platypus Affiliated Society
On 10 October, 2019, the Platypus Affiliated Society at Goldsmiths University hosted a panel on \‘Sex and the Left\‘.
Panelists:
- Jeanie Crystal (Artist)
- Peter Tatchell (British Human Rights Campaigner, best known for his work with LGBT movements)
- Rachel Holmes (Historian and author of Eleanor Marx: A Life, published by Bloomsbury Publishing)
- Zack Murrell-Dowson (Researcher into Trans Liberation)
What do we mean by a liberated sexuality? What are the bounds of sexual freedom available to us in capitalism?
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Does Marxism Need a Theory of Power? @ Marx NU Conference (Copenhagen, 05.10.19)
October 5, 2019
| The Platypus Affiliated Society
Panel on \“Power\” at the Marx NU 2019 conference in Copenhagen organised by Selskab for Marxistiske Studier, with an intervention by PAS Aarhus member Victor C. With Michael Rahlwes (The Crisis of Marxism and Marx’s Critique of Politics), Erica Borg & Amedeo Policante (Capital, Biopower and the Anthropocene: Critical Reflections on the Earth Bank of Codes), Victor Sacha Cova (Does Marxism Need a Theory of Power?), followed by questions from the audience.
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The New Deal and American Socialism (Left Forum 2019)
June 30, 2019
| The Platypus Affiliated Society
On June 30, 2019 at the Left Forum at Long Island University Brooklyn in New York City, the Platypus Affiliated Society hosted a panel titled \“The New Deal and American Socialism\“.
Description:
The New Deal is widely associated with socialism. This association holds true not only within the popular imagination shared across many sections of American society, but also within the historical imagination of the contemporary Left. This panel will consider the New Deal as it appeared to organized political tendencies that struggled for socialism during and after the 1930s.
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Beyond Sect or Movement: What is a Political Center? (Left Forum 2019)
June 30, 2019
| The Platypus Affiliated Society
On June 30, 2019 at the Left Forum at Long Island University Brooklyn in New York City, the Platypus Affiliated Society hosted a panel titled \“Beyond Sect or Movement: What is a Political Center?\”
Description:
In his 1973 essay, \“Anatomy of the Micro-Sect,\” Hal Draper gives a definition of a party as opposed to a ‘movement’ or the ‘sects’ that seemed to dominate the Left of his time:
A > sect presents itself as the embodiment of the socialist movement, > though it is a membership organization whose boundary is set more or > less rigidly by the points in its political program rather than by its > relation to the social struggle.
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