Discussion series: "Marx for Today"

Monday, Feb. 12, 6:30 pm

The major developments of our time, such as the globalization of capital and the glaring inequality, war, and environmental destruction it is producing, have led to renewed interest in Karl Marx's critique of capitalism. Marx's work addresses questions that are only first now being widely asked-such as is there an alternative to existingcapitalism and the failure of what called itself "socialism" over the past 100 years? Can humanity free itself from value production and alienated relations?

These unresolved questions call for a wide-ranging exploration of what Marx's thought means for today. Few writers more directly addressed this than Raya Dunayevskaya (1910-87), founder of Marxist-Humanism in the U.S. We will explore central issues in Marx's thought by studying a number of her writings on Marx, many of which will be included in a forthcoming book centering on her writings on Marx. We will also read selections from Marx and other writers.

First Discussion: Marx vs. Post-Marx Marxism:
Marx, Lenin and Luxemburg and the
Search for an Alternative to Capitalism

Leading off the discussion:
Peter Hudis, co-editor, The Rosa Luxemburg Reader (from Monthly Review Press)

Our generation is the first to have access to all of Marx's writings. We can therefore measure to what extent Marxists after Marx lived up to his concept of liberation. We will explore this issue by re-examining Marx's thought in light of the contributions of two of the most important post-Marx Marxists-V.I. Lenin and Rosa Luxemburg.

Readings:
* Rosa Luxemburg, Women's Liberation, and Marx's Philosophy of Revolution: chapter 9, sec. 1, "A Preliminary Note on the Dialectic"; chapter 12, sec. 1, "Post-Marx Marxists..." (1981)
* "The Inevitability of Socialism and the Law of Motion of Capitalist Society" (1946)
* "Theoretic Preparation for Uprooting Capitalism: Marxist-Humanist Perspectives, 2007"

Readings for all meetings are available from
News and Letters Committees

NEWS & LETTERS
36 S. Wabash, Room 1440

phone: 312 236-0799
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