The Legacy of Trotskyism

 April 30, 2011  |  The Platypus Affiliated Society

One of the plenary sessions held at the third annual Platypus Affiliated Society international convention, hosted by the School of the Art Institute of Chicago from April 29–May 1st, 2011, set about exploring the legacy of Trotsky’s Marxism. Audio Recording Your browser does not support the audio element Transcript in Platypus Review #38 Panelists Mike Macnair, Communist Party of Great Britain (Oxford Univ. St. Hugh College) Bryan Palmer, Trent University [Read More]
Platypus International Convention 2011  Anti-Stalinism  Communism  Communist Party of Great Britain  CPGB  IBT  International Bolshevik Tendency  Leon Trotsky  Karl Marx  Marxism  Socialism  Stalinism  Trotskyism 

Marx and Engel's Marxism

 March 20, 2011  |  The Platypus Affiliated Society

A panel discussion organized by the Platypus Affiliated Society held on March 20, 2011, at Left Forum, Pace University. Audio Recording Your browser does not support the audio element Panelists Benjamin Blumberg - University of Chicago Nathan Smith - The Platypus Affiated Society Pam Nogales - New York University Richard Rubin - Platypus Tana Forrester - The Platypus Affiliated Society Description Marx and Engels were not the preeminent socialists but rather socialism’s greatest critics, distinguishing their “communism” from “reactionary,” “bourgeois” and “democratic” socialism. [Read More]
Left Forum  Left Forum 2011  Friedrich Engels  Forum 2011  Karl Marx  Marxism  New York  NYC Other  Socialism  Bourgeois Revolutions 

The Bourgeois Revolution From Marx's Point of View

 March 19, 2011  |  The Platypus Affiliated Society

A panel discussion organized by the Platypus Affiliated Society, held on March 19, 2011, at Left Forum, Pace University. Audio Recording Your browser does not support the audio element Panelists James Vaughn - University of Texas at Austin, Platypus Affiliated Society Jeremy Cohan - New York University Richard Rubin - Platypus Affiliated Society Spencer A. Leonard - University of Chicago, Platypus Affiliated Society Description The “bourgeois revolutions” from the 16 through the 19 centuries – extending into the 20–conformed humanity to modern city life, ending traditional, pastoral, religious custom in favor of social relations of the exchange of labor. [Read More]
Left Forum  Left Forum 2011  Bourgeois  Bourgeois revolution  Bourgeoisie  Karl Marx 

Marxism and Israel

Left Perspectives on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

 November 15, 2010  |  The Platypus Affiliated Society

A roundtable discussion between Alan Goodman from The Revolutionary Communist Party USA, and Richard Rubin from Platypus entitled “Marxism and Israel: Left Perspectives on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict” at Hunter College in New York City. Panelists were asked to speak on the role the Left has played in the development of Israel, the Left’s analysis of the role of American intervention in the Middle East, and what a critical Marxian approach to the conflict currently looks like, compared to what it might look like. [Read More]
Hunter College  Israel  Israel-Palestine  Palestine  RCP  RCP (USA)  Revolution Communist Party USA  Revolutionary Communist Party  Zionism 

Which Way Forward for Palestinian Liberation?

Which Way Forward for Palestinian Liberation?

 April 4, 2010  |  The Platypus Affiliated Society

On February 23, Platypus hosted an event entitled Which Way Forward for Palestinian Liberation? in which Joel Kovel, author of Overcoming Zionism and frequent commentator on the Israel-Palestine conflict, and Hussein Ibish, political analyst and senior fellow at The American Task Force on Palestine, answered questions posed by Richard Rubin of Platypus. Audio Recording Your browser does not support the audio element Joel Kovel, right, and Hussein Ibish, left, discussing which way forward, at the event. [Read More]
Palestine  Israel  Palestinian liberation  Zionism  Israel-Palestine conflict  Israel-Palestine  The American Task Force on Palestine 

The Platypus Synthesis

History, Theory, and Practice

 June 14, 2009  |  The Platypus Affiliated Society

At the 1st annual international convention of the Platypus Affiliated Society, in Chicago, June 12-14, 2009, the concluding plenary event, a discussion on Platypus’s theoretical stance, its raison d’etre, and where the project will be going. Audience question-and-answer discussion follows. Held on June 14, 2009 at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Audio Recording Your browser does not support the audio element A transcript can be found here [Read More]
Platypus International Convention  Platypus International Convention 2009  History  Platypus  Platypus Affiliated Society  Practice  Theory 

Dialectics of Defeat

Towards a Theory of Historical Regression

 April 18, 2009  |  The Platypus Affiliated Society

Panel presentation by the Platypus Affiliated Society at Left Forum 2009: “Turning Points,” Pace University, NYC, April 17-19, 2009. Audio Recording Your browser does not support the audio element Transcript Panelists Benjamin Blumberg (Chair) Chris Cutrone Atiya Khan Spencer A. Leonard Richard Rubin Description The panelists elucidate significant moments in the progressive separation of theory and practice in the 20 and 21st Century history of Leftist politics: 2001 (Spencer A. [Read More]
About Platypus  Left Forum  Left Forum 2009  1917  1933  1968  2001  Dialectics  Historical regression  Pace University 

What is a Movement?

A discussion on the Meaning and Direction of Left Political "Movements" Historically and Today

 October 16, 2008  |  The Platypus Affiliated Society

On October 16, 2008, a panel discussion titled What is a Movement? A Discussion on the Meaning and Direction of Left Political “Movements” Historically and Today was held in Chicago. Audio Recording Your browser does not support the audio element Transcript in Platypus Review #14 Panelists Luis Brennan (new Students for a Democratic Society) Elena Davis (Pomegranate Health Collective) Chuck Hendricks (UNITE/HERE) Jorge Mujica (Movimiento 10 de Marzo) [Read More]
Leftism  Movement  Movimiento 10 de Marzo  SDS  Student movement  Students for a Democratic Society  Unite Here 

Israel-Palestine and the One State Solution

 March 8, 2008  |  The Platypus Affiliated Society

Platypus talk on Israel-Palestine and the “one state” solution by School of the Art Institute of Chicago Professor of Philosophy Raja Halwani and Platypus co-founder Richard Rubin at Around the Coyote Gallery in Chicago March 8, 2008. Opening night talk of the art exhibit “On Naji al-Ali” curated by Haseeb Ahmed.

Audio Recording

Israel  Israel-Palestine  Israel-Palestine Conflict  One state solution  Palestine  Raja Halwani  Richard Rubin  Two state solution