FALL 2013 subtitle:
Reading Marx’s critique of capitalism in France and Italy in the 60’s
In the 1960’s, Marxists in the Western World felt the need to “return” to the original writings of Marx, and attempt a reconstruction of Marxism. It was made inevitable and desirable at the same time by the failure of existing socialist regimes and new revolutionary prospects in the capitalist world, by diverging interpretations of the “philosophy of praxis” itself, as well as unexpected results of its intersection with new paradigms of social and textual criticism. In the categories invented in these circumstances originate models of critical theory which are still among the most influential today. This class will compare two of them, which both focused on the philosophical and political dimensions of the “critique of political economy”, as developed in and around Marx’s Capital: that proposed in Italy by the “operaista” school (Tronti, Negri and others), and that proposed in France by Althusser and his group (labeled “structuralist” at the time).
Primary readings will be taken from: Marx (Capital, Grundrisse), Lukacs (History and Class-Consciousness), Tronti (as available in English), Negri (Marx beyond Marx, Revolution retrieved), Althusser (For Marx, Reading Capital, Essays in Self-Criticism).
Application Procedure:
Please send an email to Assistant Director Catherine LaSota by April 30, 2013 with the following information:
name
program and year
relevant courses taken
a couple of sentences explaining interest in the course
