Syriza

The crisis of neoliberalism

May 3, 2017 | The Platypus Affiliated Society

On February 18th, 2017, as part of its third European Conference, the Platypus Affiliated Society organized a panel discussion, “The Crisis of Neoliberalism,” at the University of Vienna. The event brought together the following speakers: Chris Cutrone, President of Platypus; John Milios, former chief economic advisor of SYRIZA; Emmanuel Tomaselli, of the International Marxist Tendency; and Boris Kagarlitsky, of the Institute for Globalization Studies and Social Movements in Moscow. What follows is an edited transcript of their discussion. [Read More]

The Greek left tradition and the SYRIZA phenomenon

May 3, 2016 | The Platypus Affiliated Society

AFTER THE OUTBREAK of the global economic crisis in 2008, Greece was actually the first Euro-area country where the neoliberal “shock doctrine” was imposed. (I thank Professor Vassilis Droucopoulos for his comments on an earlier version of this article.) This was an attempt to place the fallout of the systemic capitalist crisis on the shoulders of working people. These extreme austerity policies were disputed. A series of mass demonstrations and strikes ensued. [Read More]

Greece SYRIZA The European Union

Horkheimer in 1943 on party and class

January 12, 2016 | The Platypus Affiliated Society

Without a socialist party, there is no class struggle, only rackets HORKHEIMER’S REMARKABLE ESSAY “On the sociology of class relations” (1943)1 is continuous with Adorno’s contemporaneous “Reflections on class theory” (1942) as well as his own “The authoritarian state” (1940/42), which similarly mark the transformation of Marx and Engels’s famous injunction in the Communist Manifesto that “history is the history of class struggles.” All of these writings were inspired by Walter Benjamin’s “On the concept of history” (AKA “Theses on the philosophy of history,” 1940), which registered history’s fundamental crisis. [Read More]

/20th Century Capitalism Communist party Critical theory Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel History Vladimir Lenin Liberalism Karl Marx Marxism Max Horkheimer Political party Socialism Socialist Socioeconomic SYRIZA Theodor W. Adorno Walter Benjamin

The crisis in Greece and the prospects for the Left

November 20, 2015 | The Platypus Affiliated Society

THE POLITICAL LIFE OF GREECE during the last months has been determined by the quick and complete failure of SYRIZA to achieve its goals through negotiations with the leading powers of the European Union (EU): relaxation of the harsh austerity policies being applied to the country, a partial write-off of its unbearable debt, and thus mitigation of the humanitarian crisis. Though quite modest, SYRIZA’s aspirations were not therefore more realistic. Because of its commitment to Greece’s Eurozone and EU membership, SYRIZA from the very start subordinated itself to the operating principles of these institutions and the negotiating framework set by the creditors. [Read More]

Greece SYRIZA European Union

¿Más allá de la izquierda y la derecha? (Beyond left and right?)

December 1, 2014 | The Platypus Affiliated Society

CAMPAIGNING STRONGLY AGAINST AUSTERITY and for greater democracy in Spain, the political party Podemos (“We Can”) gained popularity immediately upon its formation in early 2014. In the elections to the European Parliament of that year it won 5 seats (equivalent to 8% of the Spanish vote). On October 17, 2014, Lucy Parker and David Mountain of the Platypus Affiliated Society interviewed Eduardo Maura, Professor of Philosophy at University of Madrid and spokesperson for Podemos. [Read More]

Podemos Spain Austerity Syriza Left Unity

Radical Ideology Today

Marxism and Anarchism

January 17, 2014 | The Platypus Affiliated Society

A panel event that took place in Aristotle University of Thessaloniki at 17 of December 2013, organized by the Thessaloniki chapter of the Platypus Affiliated Society. Audio Recording Your browser does not support the audio element Panelists Nikos Nikisianis: member of Network for Social and Political rights (participates in Syriza) Lia Gioka: activist and translator Tasos Sapounas: member of the communist marxist-leninist party of Greece Description It seems that there are still only two radical ideologies: Anarchism and Marxism. [Read More]

Anarchism Ideology Marxism Political theory Politics Radical SYRIZA

The Labor Left After Politics and After Utopia

April 6, 2013 | The Platypus Affiliated Society

A panel held on April 6 2013, at the 2013 Platypus International Convention at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Audio Recording Your browser does not support the audio element Panelists Steven Ashby (University of Illinois Chicago) Sam Gindin(Socialist Project) Andreas Karitzis (SYRIZA) Description The emergence of modernity was accompanied by the emergence of labour, its discontents, and the expression of these discontents. From the late 18th century to the present, these expressions have assumed many and often opposing forms, and these in turn have been absorbed by many and often opposing interpretations. [Read More]

Platypus International Convention Platypus International Convention 2013 Labor Socialist Project SYRIZA

SYRIZA (Greece)

Differing Perspectives on the Left

April 6, 2013 | The Platypus Affiliated Society

A workshop on SYRIZA, with Andreas Karitzis, held on April 6, 2013, at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Audio Recording Your browser does not support the audio element At the fifth annual international convention of the Platypus Affiliated Society, speakers from various perspectives were 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]

Platypus International Convention Platypus International Convention 2013 SYRIZA

2013 Platypus International Convention Opening Plenary: The Left in Power?

April 5, 2013 | The Platypus Affiliated Society

The opening plenary of 2013 Platypus International Convention, a panel held on April 5, 2013, at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Audio Recording Your browser does not support the audio element Panelists Eirik Eiglad (New Compass) Andreas Karitzis (SYRIZA) Paul Demarty (Communist Party of Great Britain) Description Recently Leo Panitch, characterized SYRIZA as “the most promising anti-neoliberal party on the European political stage”. This statement reflects the mood of many in the Left, who have seen the huge electoral empowerment of this left Greek party as a spark for a possible global reconstitution of the radical Left. [Read More]

Platypus International Convention Platypus International Convention 2013 Communist Party of Great Britain CPGB New Compass SYRIZA