4/13 (NYC): “Is an Emancipatory Communism Possible?” A talk by Allan Armstrong

Is an Emancipatory Communism Possible?
A talk by Allan Armstrong
Wednesday, April 13^th at 7:00 PM
TRS, Inc, 44 East 32nd Street, 11th Floor
(Between Madison & Park Avenues)
New York, NY 10016

Mention of the word “Communism” today conjures up visions of tyrants. Young people, even when they clash violently with the representatives of global capitalism in Seattle or London, call their protests “anti-capitalist,” not communist.

However, anti-capitalism is not enough. Revolutions can lead to immediate feelings of intense liberation, but they are usually followed by much longer periods of defense, setbacks, and painful reconstruction. The 20th century was the “Century of Revolutions,” but it eventually produced so little for humanity at such a high cost, that it is not surprising that many are very cautious, despite growing barbarism.

Allan Armstrong will argue that it is vital that we outline a genuine new human emancipatory communism, which takes full stock of the failings of both “official” and “dissident Communism,” and which can persuasively show that human liberation can still be achieved. He will explore Marx’s vision, particularly as detailed in his “Critique of the Gotha Program,” which emphasizes the need to break with capitalist production relations rather than expecting a new society to come about through political changes.

Allan Armstrong, a republican, Scottish internationalist, and communist, is currently co-editor of Emancipation & Liberation, the journal of the Republican Communist Network. He is also involved with the commune, a collective dedicated to outlining a new communism for the 21st century. Armstrong is the author of  “Why We Need a New Emancipatory Communism” (https://web.archive.org/web/20110706050924/http://thecommune.co.uk/2009/06/02/why-we-need-a-new-human-emancipatory-communism/) and “The Communist Case for ‘Internationalism from Below’” (https://web.archive.org/web/20110706050935/http://thecommune.co.uk/2010/06/06/the-communist-case-for-internationalism-from-below/).

Presented by Marxist-Humanist Initiative & the New SPACE (https://web.archive.org/web/20100925012624/http://new-space-nyc.org/).