Inspired by the LA class proposal, 'the destructon of Socialism in America,' I am interested in something slightly less fatalistic.
The LA proposal reads:
"Phase 1- We'll all contribute, discuss literature from the period between ww1 and ww2 in which the socialist party of america was targetted by the Wilson Administration using his sedition act to jail it's leaders and finacial backers to lengthy prisons sentences and the following creation of American social sciences and introduction to higher education by John D Rockefeller Junior through the philanthropic institutions of Rockefeller Philanthropies, Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial, Social Science Research Center and the Problems and Planning committee (among others).
Phase 2- We'll dig up the texts to arrive at an understanding of american socialism at the time of it's eradication and we will restart the evolution of the philosophy from where it left off, publish our findings so that large scale participation can be acheived in the ideological advancement of socialism
Phase 3- The goal of the class will be to describe a viable tactic for separating socialism from it's association with the welfare/prison state created by the social sciences to replace socialism. We'll develop and implement strategies to gain popular support with the goal of creating a viable, popularly controlled entity that can challenge government power and force legislation that benefits the people."
I would be cuious to hear which parts of this people would be compelled to keep, and which could be modified. Which is to say, perhaps the first class ought to be a discussion of the concept itself. Is socialism the prefered name for the contemporary leftist imaginary? It's not at all clear to me that it is, and yet, at the same time, there is this strange attatchment to the word as the preferred slur of the populist right.
The work it seems, therefore, is twofold. On the one hand there is the practical question - what is socialism presently, and what has it been. And, second, what is the word socialism, and what has it, in turn, signified historically.
For example, seperate from this question of socialism-as-smear, there remain quite powerful anti-essentialist arguments against socialism made by the new social movements. These began to see theoretical articulation in the late 1970s and early 1980s through a revitalization of Gramsci's concept of hegemony, among many others. Most contemporary theory continues to operate within this paradigm, which is not self-evidently socialist, far from it, in fact. Any return to socialism, it would seem, must reckon not only with the current, largely semantic, insidiousness, but also with much more difficult and entrenched historical and theoretical legacies.
The reading list should be synthesized based on the interests of the participants.
Comment
Hi All,
So first meeting is Monday at 9:30 at 177 Livingston, to discuss and plan for the panel next Saturday. We realize its short notice, but would love you to come if you are able.
More information on a group rate for the Forum coming shortly.
13 Mar 2010 10:05AM
Two other notes toward a possible reading list:
1) This book might be an interesting curiosity, at the least...one of the first books to pose the question in its title:
Sombart, Werner (1906): Warum gibt es in den Vereinigten Staaten keinen Sozialismus? Tübingen: Mohr. Several English translations, incl. (1976): Why is there No Socialism in the United States? New York: Sharpe.
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/7913
Out of print and quite expensive, but maybe we could scan it?
2) Beverly Gage at Yale teaches a class called "Communism and Anti-Communism in the United States"--I have some friends who took it; I could write her for the syllabus or suggestions.
11 Mar 2010 9:42AM
I'd lobby for keeping this to America (the rest of the world will come in despite itself) and skipping the Koestler (except maybe the Richard Wright chapter? Is that supposed to be a good one? Louis Fischer is the other American--don't know anything about him). The Gornick book is a bit less one-sided...
Are there other American historical moments worth touching on?
10 Mar 2010 5:42PM
Hey, I second the interest in one session that's more historically oriented; in fact, if we're going to focus on thinking about a viable tract for socialistic thought and action today, I think we should spend some time examining the popularity of and later disenchantment with socialism in the U.S. (and, to a lesser extent, Europe), especially among intellectuals. In addition to the Gornick book, we could read selections from The God That Failed, the classic anthology edited by Arthur Koestler. (And perhaps watch Antonioni's film "Chung Kuo Cina"?)
10 Mar 2010 5:08PM
This sounds great! Unfortunately, those of us who work at galleries (on the Tues - Sat schedule) won't be able to make it. I hope that we might be able to schedule some additional events on the topic. The Fate (and history) of Socialism in America is obviously a salient topic with some current relevance.
9 Mar 2010 9:35PM
Ok. We have a panel. Tentatively scheduled for Saturday, March 20 at 3pm at the Left Forum.
Participants will be Marshall Berman (Adventures in Marxism, All That's Solid Melts Into Air, The Politics of Authenticity), Kenneth Levin (BMCC), Fred Magdoff (Monthly Review) and Martha Rosler (Artist/Activist). More info coming.
9 Mar 2010 3:19PM
So I am in talks with Seth, who organizes the Left Forum about having not only a class, but a panel there. The hope would be that the panel would address questions the class would generate at a previous meeting, sort of like we are doing with Democracy Now only with (even more) socialism.
If anyone has any suggestions for people they might like to see on said panel, please drop me an email or even a text or a call (508-397-5525) as we are up against the wire with this.
6 Mar 2010 12:33PM
I have contacted the Left Forum to see about having a class there. Depending on their response, that should determine how we proceed. Thanks to Sarah for that excellent idea.
@sam: Agreed about Debs. I've had Citizen and Socialist, Nick Salvatore's bancroft winning effort sitting on my shelf for a few years now. Would love an excuse to finally get at it.
I'd also be really fascinated at mapping where the many socialist trends have ended up. There the various social forums, as we know, but also the league for the fifth international. I would love to hear what representatives from these organizations have to say...
Be in touch soon!
5 Mar 2010 12:51PM
I'm personally interested in at least a session or two that would trace the history of socialism in the US. Eugene Debs, for instance, is a figure I find fascinating but know hardly anything about (I'm curious to read Marguerite Young's insane-sounding book on Debs, edited down after she died from the 1750-page manuscript she'd submitted, but it's probably not the best starting point: http://www.amazon.com/Harp-Song-Radical-Eugene-Victor/dp/0679427570)
And I found 'The Romance of American Communism' by Vivian Gornick to be quite rewarding, and a good candidate for a reading group...
3 Mar 2010 1:12PM
Take a look at some of the upcoming panels on Marxism and Theory at Left Forum, March 19-21 (http://www.leftforum.org/node/372). Since a lot of people come in from out of town, a meeting scheduled around this time might bring some interesting participants, particularly if the class is run on site at LF.
3 Mar 2010 10:52AM