From: glevy@PRATT.EDU
Date: Fri Sep 26 2003 - 05:32:27 EDT
-------- Original Message -------- Subject: Upcoming Capital course in NYC From: "Drewk" <Andrew_Kliman@msn.com> Date: Thu, September 25, 2003 11:03 pm To: "Union for Pluralism in Radical Economics \(UPRE\)" <upre@upre.org> Please note that the wrong title and wrong description of this seminar appear in the Brecht Forum's schedule of events and on its website. THE ANNOUNCEMENT BELOW IS THE CORRECT ONE. Please feel free to forward it. Indeed, I would appreciate folks forwarding it in order to help rectify the Brecht Forum's error. Thanks, Andrew Kliman ============== CAPITAL, MARX'S _CAPITAL_, AND ALTERNATIVES TO CAPITAL A THREE-TERM SEMINAR LED BY ANDREW KLIMAN Mondays, 7:30–9:30 p.m., starting on October 13, 2003 At the Brecht Forum, 122 West 27th St., 10th floor, New York, NY (212) 242-4201. Tuition on sliding scale. Although we now have a mass movement which opposes global capitalism and holds that “Another world is possible,” few have turned to Marx’s writings to help gain an in-depth understanding of what capitalism is and whether proposed alternatives are actually viable. Yet _Capital_ is a book which Marx wrote "for the workers," and which in his view showed that “the present society is no solid crystal, but an organism capable of change, and constantly engaged in a process of change.” This full-year (3-term) seminar will grapple with the following questions –– "Can capitalism be reformed for the better?,” "Is market socialism a viable alternative?," "What specific social and economic changes are necessary if humanity is to free itself from the power of capital?," and "Is such freedom possible?" In order to help answer these questions, we will undertake a close reading of Volume I of _Capital_ in conjunction with parts of other works by Marx that treat these questions –– _The Poverty of Philosophy_, _A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy_, and the “Critique of the Gotha Program.” Writings of more recent thinkers, including critics of Marx, will also be examined. The seminar is therefore primarily a class on _Capital_, but not on the book "in general." We will read it specifically as a book about the above questions. All seminar participants are expected to do the readings for each class and to take their turn in making presentations and leading the discussion. No prior knowledge of _Capital_ is necessary or expected, though those who have read it before are welcome to participate. Participants are urged to buy the Ben Fowkes translation (available as a Penguin or Vintage paperback) so that we can easily refer to selected passages. Photocopied selections from other works will be made available at cost. For the first session’s reading, or more information, please write to Andrew_Kliman@msn.com . * * * * Andrew Kliman teaches economics at a local college. At the Brecht Forum, he has recently taught courses on Volumes II and III of _Capital_, Marx’s commentaries on _Capital_, and economic crisis and crisis theory. He is co-editor of the forthcoming collection _The New Value Controversy and the Foundations of Economics_, and his work has appeared in the _Cambridge Journal of Economics_, _Capital and Class_, _Historical Materialism_, _Research in Political Economy_, and elsewhere. His latest project is a book-length critique of radical political economics.
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