November 2017: It’s that time again! Old Capitol Books, the Direct Action Monterey Network, and the Monterey Community Education Project are teaming up to bring you a series of free seminars and discussions on critical thinking and social theory. This November we’re having three seminars: Marxist-Feminism, Post-Colonial Theory, and Learning from the Paris Commune. These discussions are facilitated by local professors at CSU Monterey Bay, local activists, and thinkers (just like you!)
What is Marxist-Feminism?
Friday 3 November 2017, 7pm
Facilitated by Stephanie Spoto
What is the function of domestic labor under capitalism? Why were women pushed out of the factories after the war? How can we understand the “unhappy marriage of Marxism and feminism”? This seminar will look at the works of Angela Davis, Silvia Federici and other key Marxist and feminist thinkers to explore the nature of the feminist movement in relation to anti-capitalist movements.
Readings:
A New Idea: The Paris Commune of 1871
Friday 10 November 2017, 7pm
Facilitated by Jeffrey Erwin
In the aftermath of the fall of the Second Empire, a mass uprising turned over the city of Paris to revolutionaries: Jacobins, Blanquists (authoritarian socialists) and Proudhonists took the leadership of a decentralized and radical government. This experiment was to last but two months before it was destroyed by military remnants of the French state and the mistakes of the Commune’s leadership. Yet the lessons of the Commune were long-lasting, contributing to the theories of (and divisions between) Marxists, Anarchists, and other movements of the Left.
We will read and discuss first hand accounts, poetry, divergent analysis, and other texts of the time and aftermath.
Readings:
Understanding Post-Colonial Theory
Friday 17 November 2017, 7pm
Facilitated by Sriya Shresha
This seminar will focus on colonial and post-colonial studies, with readings from Edward Said and Ania Looma. Facilitated by Dr. Sriya Shrestha of CSU Monterey Bay.
Readings:
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