London School Of Economics And Political Science (LSE)
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We are student educational project investigating the death of the Left. We run reading groups on the history of the Left, discussion groups on contemporary politics and public panel discussions. We are open to all new participants and no previous background knowledge is required.Platypus is a project for the self-criticism, self-education, and, ultimately, the practical reconstitution of a Marxian Left. At present the Marxist Left appears as a historical ruin. The received wisdom of today dictates that past, failed attempts at emancipation stand not as moments full of potential yet to be redeemed, but rather as “what was” — utopianism that was bound to end in tragedy. As critical inheritors of a vanquished tradition, Platypus contends that — after the failure of the 1960s New Left, and the dismantlement of the welfare state and the destruction of the Soviet Union in the 1980s-90s — the present disorientation of the Left means we can hardly claim to know the tasks and goals of social emancipation better than the “utopians” of the past did.Our task is critique and education towards the reconstitution of a Marxian Left. Platypus contends that the ruin of the Marxist Left as it stands today is of a tradition whose defeat was largely self-inflicted, hence at present the Marxist Left is historical, and in such a grave state of decomposition that it has become exceedingly difficult to draft coherently programmatic social-political demands. In the face of the catastrophic past and present, the first task for the reconstitution of a Marxian Left as an emancipatory force is to recognize the reasons for the historical failure of Marxism and to clarify the necessity of a Marxian Left for the present and future. — If the Left is to change the world, it must first transform itself!Platypus asks the questions: How is the thought of critical theorists of modern society such as Marx, Lukcás, Benjamin and Adorno relevant for the struggle for social emancipation today? How can we make sense of the long history of impoverished politics on the Left leading to the present — after the international Marxist Left of Lenin, Luxemburg, and Trotsky, to the barrenness of today — without being terrorized or discouraged by this history? — How might the answers to such questions help the urgent task of reconstituting the Left at its most fundamental levels of theory and practice? How might we help effect escape from the dead-end the Left has become?We hope to re-invigorate a conversation on the Left that has long since fallen into senility or silence, in order to help found anew an emancipatory political practice that is presently absent. What has the Left been, and what can it yet become? — Platypus exists because the answer to such a question, even its basic formulation, has long ceased to be self-evident.
MembershipPurchasing a membership will allow us to run our core activities. We charge the minimum amount possible to ensure that we remain accessible to all. Our society aims to provide students with a rich and challenging educational environment, as well as a social space to explore the Left and its history. If you think this is something that should continue to exist on campus, consider purchasing a membership.
Events and ActivitiesWe run three kinds of events on campus. Our reading group operates weekly with discussions of selected texts. We also hold a coffee break each week where we talk about ongoing events within the modern Left. We host panels as often as possible for which we invite a range of speakers to present their views on a particular theme. Previous panel topics have included: ‘The Politics of Environmentalism’, ‘After the Election, What’s Left’, ‘Socialism in the 21st Century’ and ‘The American Revolution and the Left’ amongst many others.