Media – The Platypus Affiliated Society: Recent Episodes
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On February 7, 2020, at Boston College, the Platypus Affiliated Society hosted a panel titled "Freedom in the Anthropocene".
Description: The Dutch atmospheric chemist Paul Crutzen recently characterized the period marked by the start of the industrial revolution in the 18th Century to the present as a new geological epoch, the Anthropocene. This periodization is meant to capture a change in the history of the planet, namely that for the first time in history its course will be determined by the question of what humanity will become.
A teach-in held by the Platypus Affiliated Society Manchester on the 30th of January 2020, explaining in basic terms what is meant by 'the dialectic', through Theodor W. Adorno's An Introduction to Dialectics.
A moderated panel discussion held January 29, 2020 at London School of Economics in the wake of the 2019 UK general election.
Description: The movement around Jeremy Corbyn has been the centre of the British Left since 2015. A generation of activists have thrown themselves into the Labour party, some abandoning former organisations or anti-party (anarchist) political perspectives. But in the wake of the landslide victory of the Conservative Party in 2019, the goals of the Left seem unclear. It feels like we’ve been here before. How did we get to this point? How has the election changed the political arena? How should the Left relate to the Labour party going forward? Is the Left transforming Labour or is Labour transforming the Left? Is the goal of the Left socialism in the 21st century? If so, what is socialism and how can we achieve it? After the election, what's Left?
Pamela and Sophia discuss the recent Warren-Sanders pseudo-controversy, Momentum's response to Labour's (UK) defeat, and the call for a Sanders' presidency by today's left. Members Mike Atkinson and David Mountain talk about building Platypus at the University of Manchester, their impressions of the city's left and their upcoming teach-in, "What the Bloody Hell is 'The Dialectic'?" Finally, we have a quick check-in with Erin Hagood, the editor-in-chief of the Platypus Review, who tells us about the articles in the latest issue, #122, and the upcoming line-up for the February issue.
With the ousting of Morales in Bolivia, political repression in Hong Kong, and rising tensions with Iran, the question of Imperialism has posted itself with particular force in the last couple months.
Nevertheless, while all three have received much attention from the left, the commonality is not at all clear. What exactly is imperialism? And what constitutes (if at all) effective resistance to it? Finally how has the Left historically understood imperialism and has that understanding been lost? This panel seeks to address these questions and more by bringing together both activists and academics. Q&A will follow the discussion.
The Dutch atmospheric chemist Paul Crutzen recently characterized the period marked by the start of the industrial revolution in the 18th Century to the present as a new geological epoch, the Anthropocene. This periodization is meant to capture a change in the history of the planet, namely that for the first time in history its course will be determined by the question of what humanity will become; the question of freedom.
On this episode of SPS, we discuss HBO's Euphoria, what it says about the emerging "Zoomer" culture, and whether Gen Z's cynicism should be taken for granted. Rose Freeman interviews Peter Tatchell, a human rights advocate and veteran activist of the LGBTQ movement. They discuss his experience on the left and his thoughts on Jeremy […]
Panel discussion on the topic of "Sex and the Left" at the Howard Zinn Book Fair in San Francisco on 8 Dec 2019, hosted by the Platypus Affiliated Society. Moderator: William Lushbough Featuring:- Norma Gallegos (Freedom Socialist Party [FSP] and Bay Area Radical Women in SF)- Lew Finzel (affiliated with News and Letters in Oakland […]
Teach-in by Efraim Carlebach of the Platypus Affiliated Society at the LSE SU Platypus Society on 5 December 2019, on the history of the Labour party and its relationship to the Left, and the December 2019 UK general election.
Teach-in at Aarhus by Platypus member Victor Cova. Description:The contemporary left seems weaker than ever. Compared to the uprisings of the 1960s, to say nothing of the world revolution of the 1920s, the events that followed the 2008 crisis (#Occupy, Arab revolutions, Movement of the Squares, Black Lives Matter...) were nothing short of disappointing. Marxism […]