Peter Staudenmaier

On Saturday, April 11, Platypus invited members from various groups on the Left to lead discussions on the politics of their project at the Seventh Annual Platypus International Convention. This is audio from the discussion led by Peter Staudenmaier of the Institute of Social Ecology. The discussion was moderated by David Mountain. Audio Recording Your browser does not support the audio element Every year at the Platypus International Convention, speakers from various perspectives are asked to bring their experience of the Left’s recent history to bear on today’s political possibilities and challenges as part of the “Differing Perspectives on the Left” workshop series. [Read More]

A moderated panel discussion held on April 11 at the Platypus International Convention VII. Audio Recording Your browser does not support the audio element Panelists Mike Macnair, CPGB (UK) August Nimtz (University of Minnesota) Aaron Smeaton (Groupe Internationaliste Ouvriere, Internationalist Communist Tendency) Peter Staudenmaier (Institute for Social Ecology) Moderated by Jamie Keesling. Description From the financial crisis and the bank bail-outs to the question of “sovereign debt”; from the Arab Spring to Occupy Wall Street; from the struggle for a unified European-wide policy to the elections in Greece and Egypt that seem to have threatened so much and promised so little – the need to go beyond mere “protest” has asserted itself: political revolution is in the air, again. [Read More]

The fourth installment of a panel series with thinkers, activists and political figures focused on contemporary problems faced by the Left in its struggles to construct a politics that adequately address issues of democracy. Held at the University of Chicago on November 23, 2013. The first three panels were held in Halifax, Frankfurt, and Thessaloniki. Audio Recording Your browser does not support the audio element Panelists Michael Goldfield (Wayne State University) [Read More]