Marxism Today
Felix Kreisel
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Participants welcome at individual sessions (series)
Prereq: Read the World Socialist Web Site at http://www.wsws.org/
Following the collapse of the "socialist bloc" world politics is characterized by instability and successive crises. US imperialism drives for world domination, old alliances shatter and re-form, advanced capitalist countries suffer economic stagnation and social polarization, the Third World reels from famine and wars, the former "socialist" states show social and cultural regression. Despite huge scientific and technological progress humanity is suffering from a fatal illness - capitalism.
Web: http://web.mit.edu/fjk/Public/iap/
Contact: Felix Kreisel, x3-8625, fjk@mit.edu
The State of Capitalist Russia and other successor states
Felix Kreisel
What is the balance sheet of twelve years of capitalist restoration in the former Soviet Union? Economic and social collapse, ethnic wars and a drift to dictatorship in most of the successor states.
Tue Jan 4, 06-08:00pm, 1-246
The 1917 Russian Revolution: Was Socialism Doomed?
Felix Kreisel
We shall look at the Russian Revolution of 1917 within the context of world capitalism in crisis. Suggested reading: Trotsky's "History of the Russian Revolution" and "Permanent Revolution."
Tue Jan 11, 06-08:00pm, 1-246
The 2004 Elections and Crisis of American Democracy
Bill Van Auken, Socialist Equality Party candidate for President in 2004
The election of 2004 exposed the sick state of American "democracy" and the crisis of the two party system. Underlying the political crisis is the unprecedented social and economic polarization of American society. Suggested reading: http://www.wsws.org/
Tue Jan 18, 06-08:00pm, 1-246
What Was Soviet "Communism?" What Kind of Socialism Do We Need?
Felix Kreisel
We shall examine the class content of the mature Soviet state, look at the reasons for its collapse and suggest the historic lessons learned from it. Suggested reading: Trotsky's "The Revolution Betrayed."
Tue Jan 25, 06-08:00pm, 1-246
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