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You are invited to a series of four discussions on 
 
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CAN HUMANITY FREE ITSELF FROM GLOBAL CAPITALISM? 
 
A new look at 
       _Marxism and Freedom, from 1776 until Today_ 
 
Alternate Sunday evenings in 
November and December in New York City 
 
Parlor of Parish House 
Washington Square United Methodist Church 
133 W. 4th Street, Manhattan 
 
Sponsored by News and Letters Committees. 
Free Admission.  For copies of _Marxism and Freedom_, 
or for more information, call (212) 663-3631. 
e-mail:  [log in to unmask] 
 
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These four open discussions will explore some of the central questions 
facing today's freedom movements.  They include:  What is capitalism, 
and how can it be uprooted?  Why has Marx's thought taken on new 
importance in light of the struggles against globalized capital? 
What is the legacy of the revolutions and revolutionary movements of  
the past century? How can we ensure that a new bureaucracy does not emerge 
after a revolution? Why was Hegel's philosophy important to Marx, and  
what significance does it have for the social movements of our day? 
 
These questions are central to Raya Dunayevskaya's _Marxism and 
Freedom, from 1776 until Today_.  Hailed as one of the most important 
works in Marxist theory of the past half century, it has been translated 
into Spanish, French, Japanese, Italian, and Chinese.  A new English- 
language edition has recently been published by Humanity Books.  Join us 
in exploring this work with new eyes, as part of breaking down the 
separation between philosophy and action. 
 
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Sunday, November 5, 6:30 pm 
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Hegel's Dialectic and Marx's Humanism: 
Their Objectivity and Meaning 
 
Opening the discussion:  Anne Jaclard 
 
Hegel's revolution in philosophy emerged from the impact of the 
French Revolution, and Marx's philosophy of revolution emerged from 
the impact of a new era of proletarian revolts.  This class explores 
the contemporary significance of Hegel's dialectic and the new humanism 
born from Marx's _Economic-Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844_ in light 
of the struggles of workers, women, youth, Blacks and other minorities 
for non-alienating human relations. 
 
Suggested readings from _Marxism and Freedom_: 
Chapter 1:  The Age of Revolutions 
Chapter 3:  A New Humanism:  Marx's Early Economic-Philosophic Writings 
Chapter 16:  Automation and the New Humanism 
 
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Sunday, November 19, 6:30 pm 
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Marx's _Capital Reconsidered_:  American Roots of Marxism and the 
Black Dimension 
 
Opening the discussion:  Paul Geist and Russell Rockwell 
 
Marx's greatest theoretical work, _Capital_, has taken on new importance 
in light of global capital's incessant drive to commodify every sphere of 
human and natural existence.  In exploring _Capital_ with eyes of today's 
economic-political realities, this class will also focus on how the 
development of Marx's work was influenced by the freedom struggles of 
his own period, especially the struggles against slavery and the fights 
for a shorter working day. 
 
Suggested readings from _Marxism and Freedom_: 
Chapter 5:  The Impact of the Civil War on _Capital_ 
Chapter 6:  The Paris Commune Illuminates and Deepens the Content 
of _Capital_ 
Chapter 7:  The New Humanism and Dialectic of _Capital_, Vol. I 
Chapter 8:  Sections 1 & 3:  The Logic and Scope of _Capital_, Vols. 
II and III 
 
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Sunday, December 3, 6:30 pm 
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Revolution and Counter-Revolution in the Era of Globalized 
State-Capitalism 
 
Opening the discussion:  A. Anielewicz 
 
What happens after the revolution?  What was achieved with the Russian 
Revolution of 1917, and why did it become transformed into a totalitarian 
state-capitalist society under Stalin?  How did state-capitalism emerge as 
a new global stage of production, and what is disclosed by the emergence 
of new revolts against it, especially in Eastern Europe, Africa, Latin 
America, and China?  This class will explore the legacy of 20th-century 
revolutions and the central problem disclosed by them -- that of counter- 
revolution emerging from within revolution itself. 
 
Suggested readings from _Marxism and Freedom_: 
Chapter 12:  What Happens After? 
Chapter 13, Section C:  The Third Five Year Plan 
Chapter 15:  The Beginning of the End of Russian Totalitarianism 
Chapter 17:  Sections C:  The Economic Compulsion of State-Capitalism 
 
 
 
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Sunday, December 17, 6:30 pm 
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Beyond Post-Marx Marxism:  Towards a New Unity of Theory and Practice 
in the Abolitionist and Marxist-Humanist Tradition 
 
Opening the discussion:  Eli Messinger and Ted Rosmer 
 
This class explores the need for a new unity of theory and practice, 
and of philosophy and organization, that transcends the legacy of 
"post-Marx Marxism."  We will look at the state socialism of Ferdinand 
Lassalle and the anarchism of Pierre Proudhon; the reformism of the 
Second International and Lenin's great divide in turning to Hegel in 
1914. We will also look at Stalin, in terms of what enables someone 
who was once a revolutionary to succumb to the impulses from an alien 
class.  Our focus is on how the development of Marxist-Humanism poses 
an alternative to post-Marx Marxism, in a way that speaks to today's 
"new passions and forces." 
 
Suggested readings from _Marxism and Freedom_: 
Chapter 4:  Worker, Intellectual, and the State 
Chapter 9, Sections 2 & 3:  The Second International 
Chapter 10:  The Break in Lenin's Thought 
Chapter 14:  Stalin 
Introduction (1985):  "Dialectics of Revolution:  American Roots 
and Marx's World Humanist Concepts" 
 
_Constitution_ of News and Letters Committees 
_The Philosophic Moment of Marxist-Humanism_ (Chicago:  News and 
Letters, 1989) 
 
 
"An oasis in the desert of Marxist thought ..  Raya Dunayevskaya's 
book shows not only that Marxian economics and politics are throughout 
philosophy, but that the latter is from the beginning economics and 
politics."  -- Herbert Marcuse, from the original preface (1957) 
 
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