by MHI
What would the economic basis of lower phase of communism have to be to merit that name? What would it take to have an economy that is under the control of freely associated producers, instead of one in which economic forces control people, with or without a despotic, state-instituted plan? To address these questions, Marxist-Humanist Initiative (MHI) will hold a public meeting on Zoom, “The Economics of the Lower Phase of Communism: Ante Andabak and Andrew Kliman in Conversation,” on Sunday, June 14, 2026, 1-3 pm Eastern Daylight Time.
Ante Andabak, a PhD student in Zagreb, will interview Andrew Kliman regarding building blocks that such a post-capitalist mode of production requires, such as directly social labor and the elimination of value and money, and what would be needed for such a system to be a viable and robust alternative to the present economic order. In the second half of the meeting, the floor will be open for participants’ comments and questions. We ask all participants to do the readings and acquaint yourselves with the prepared questions prior to the meeting.
The readings, questions, and biographical notes on Andabak and Kliman follow below.
Zoom Information
Meeting Time: Sunday, June 14, 2026, 1-3 pm Eastern Time (US and Canada)
To join the Zoom meeting, click this link: https://zoom.us/j/93518338572?pwd=hjREshAdQzqRa00RJaLaDuBK6Z8pWs.1
You may need to enter the following:
- Meeting ID: 935 1833 8572
- Passcode: 929069
Readings
Part 1 of Karl Marx’s Critique of the Gotha Program.
Selections from Andrew Kliman’s “The Critique of the Gotha Program on Capitalism vs Communism: An Analysis and Commentary.” Please read the following sections: Capitalist vs. Communist Society (Both Phases), Marx’s Concepts of Directly and Indirectly Social Labor, Capitalism vs. the Lower Phase of Communism, Unequal Rights for Unequal Quantities of Labor, Concluding Comments.
Ante Andabak’s Prepared Questions
Click to access June-14-MHI-meeting-questions.pdf
Biographical Notes
Ante Andabak is a teacher in and PhD student at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb. His PhD thesis, Critical Reception of the Treatment of Capitalism in Franz Kafka’s Fiction, explores hardships experienced by literary writers—those that are endemic to literary practice and those that are due to the capitalist mode of production. He is author of “Bodily Abounds. Hilary Mantel’s The Mirror and the Light as Cixousian ‘Feminine Text’” (Open Research Europe) and “How I Became Yugoslav” (the Equator).
Andrew Kliman, author of Reclaiming Marx’s “Capital” (Lexington Books) and The Failure of Capitalist Production (Pluto Books), is completing a new book on Marx as a theorist of socialist society. He writes frequently for With Sober Senses, the online publication of Marxist-Humanist Initiative.
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