Audio: “Roots of the Economic Crisis” @ Historical Materialism 2010 in NYC

On January 15th, Andrew Kliman gave a talk on the “Roots of the Economic Crisis: The Persistent Fall in Profitability & Debt Financing” at the 2010 Historical Materialism Conference at the CUNY Graduate Center in NYC. Kliman spoke on a panel with Fred Moseley and Simon Mohun entitled “Origins of the Current Crisis.” An audio recording of this panel is now available. Read more

1/15: Talk on the Roots of the Economic Crisis @ Historical Materialism 2010 in NYC

Please join us at the 2010 Historical Materialism Conference in NYC for a talk by Andrew Kliman on the “Roots of the Economic Crisis: The Persistent Fall in Profitability & Debt Financing.” Read more

Video: “Temporal Value Theory at a Moment of Capitalist Crisis”

The Marxist-Humanist Initiative sponsored and participated in several panels and events at the Rethinking Marxism conference in Amherst, MA, from November 5-8, 2009. Video from a series of sessions, Temporal Value Theory at a Moment of Capitalist Crisis, sponsored by the Marxist-Humanist Initiative and Critique of Political Economy at Rethinking Marxism is now available. Special thanks to Brendan Cooney for the video recordings. Read more

Iraqi Women Still Fighting for Freedom and Equality

By Anne Jaclard.

Exclusive interview by MHI with Yanar Mohammed, president of the Organization of Women’s Freedom in Iraq (OWFI), which she co-founded shortly after the US invasion in 2003.

Iraq is fast becoming a forgotten story to the rest of the world, but women continue to be killed in the streets of Baghdad simply for being women. OWFI activists are still in constant danger of assassination by political Islamists. I still have to sleep in secret locations and travel with guards, and we need guards to protect our office. Fortunately, we share a building with the Federation of Workers Councils and Unions in Iraq (FWCUI), who support all our endeavors, events, and programs.

One of our new projects is organizing women workers to lay the groundwork for unionization, a joint project with FWCUI. Few women in Iraq are in unions, and most other unions have shown little interest in bringing them in. Our project, called “Women at Work,” consists at this stage of finding interested nurses in private hospitals and helping them learn leadership skills, so they are able to start preparatory committees toward unionization. They are now organizing for a nurses’ annual conference. We found some “experienced” women who were union leaders under Saddam, but they tend to be nationalistic or patriarchist; we want to help new left-leaning leaders to emerge. Read more

Ian Macdonald, 1957-2009

By Andrew Kilman.

We mourn the untimely loss of our British comrade Ian MacDonald, who died Sunday Nov. 15 after a brief battle with cancer. A member of the London Corresponding Committee and a frequent writer for its journal, The Hobgoblin, he was also a long-time, highly respected union activist.  Ian wrote extensively about the ills of the social work system for which he last worked. Read more

Audio: Nov. 4 Talk on Swedish “Socialism”

On November 4th, 2009 the Marxist-Humanist Initiative and the New SPACE presented a talk by Daniel Ankarloo, “Swedish ‘Socialism’ – Not what it used to be, but then again it never was,” in NYC. An audio recording of this talk is now available online.

Read more

Chris Harman, 1942-2009

By Andrew Kliman.

We have just learned of the death of Chris Harman, Marxist thinker, editor of the International Socialism journal, and leading member of the International Socialism tendency and the (British) Socialist Workers Party. The announcement issued by the SWP Central Committee and my message of condolence are below.  — Andrew Kliman Read more

Reply to Bill Jefferies & the Permanent Revolution Organization

By Andrew Kliman.

In an October 16 article, “ISJ 124: Kliman and Choonara review” published on the website of the Permanent Revolution organization, Bill Jefferies criticizes my recent review of Chris Harman’s new book, Zombie Capitalism. Key points of contention have to do with the current economic crisis and its causes, so my response to Jefferies may be of general interest, and of interest to those who’ve read my new study of movements of profitability in the U.S. corporate sector. Read more

The Self-Thinking Idea Does Not Mean You Thinking

A new statement by the Marxist-Humanist Initiative, followed here by two writings by Raya Dunayevskaya from her last period of work on the relationship between philosophy and organization.

Note from the National Secretary of the MHI:

The Marxist-Humanist Initiative held a successful first Annual Conference in New York City on Sept. 26 and 27, nearly six months after our founding conference. The conference agenda appears in the announcement of the conference below.

A major event that took place at the conference was our collective work on a new public statement. We have since finished it, and we publish it here.

Our statement is followed by two writings by Raya Dunayevskaya that are discussed in the statement. They are from 1986, during the period before her death in 1987 when she was preparing to write a book on philosophy and organization-a subject she considered to have constituted a void in Marxism since Marx’s own writings. Her notes and letters from this period and unpublished writings from throughout her life are archived in the Wayne State University Walter P. Reuther Library of Labor and Urban Affairs and are available to the public. Read more

Nov. 4 talk: “Swedish ‘Socialism’: Not what it used to be, but then again it never was”

Marxist-Humanist Initiative and the New SPACE (New School for Pluralistic Anti-Capitalist Education) are proud to present a talk by Swedish Marxist Daniel Ankarloo in New York City on Wed. Nov. 4. Entitled “Swedish ‘Socialism’ – Not what it used to be, but then again it never was,” the talk will begin at 7:00 p.m. and be followed by discussion. The location is TRS Inc. Professional Suite, 11^th floor, 44 East 32^nd Street, Manhattan (between Madison & Park Aves.) A contribution is requested. Read more