Platypus Toronto

The May 2011 edition of the Platypus Review is now available in print and on the web. Of particular interest to the Canadian Left is Andony Melathopoulos’s interview with Left labour intellectual, Sam Gindin.

Please join us for a discussion of the relations between Marxism and the Israel-Palestine conflict.

The focus of the conversation will be a newly published round table discussion between Alan Goodman from The Revolutionary Communist Party USA, and Richard Rubin of Platypus entitled:
“Marxism and Israel: Left Perspectives on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict”:
http://platypus1917.org/2011/05/05/marxism-and-israel-left-perspectives-o…n-the-israeli-palestinian-conflict/

Copies of the Platypus Review are available at the following locations around the UofT:
Sammy’s Student Exchange at Hart House
University College Junior Commons Room
Wymilwood Cafe at Victoria College
New College Library
Sid Smith Student Centre



Contact Ashley Weger
//ashleyweger@gmail.com



Platypus Coffee Breaks are a great time to meet with members of Platypus, fellow travelers, and allies of the group. It’s an opportunity to discuss issues raised in the latest issue of the Platypus Review, consider the state of the Left, and just hang out with people who have similar political interests.
- Platypus Affiliated Society (Toronto)

The coming insurrection? A reflection on resistance at the G20

As a theoretical justification for tactics of subversion, violence, and destruction in the name of anti-capitalism, The Coming Insurrection was without a doubt in the minds, hearts, and backpacks of the black-clad protesters who converged on, collided with, and combusted cop cars in protest of the Toronto G20 Summit in June. Perhaps less apparent is the manner in which the emphasis on the propaganda of the deed, à la the insurrectionists and those participating in Black Bloc actions, is hardly restricted to the usual, sable-appareled suspects. Rather, this lust for radical change rooted in “real struggle” represents the culture of the contemporary anti-capitalist Left en masse, and is reflective of a politics whose fervent affirmation of action expresses a non-critical, reified understanding of society.

Is Marx back? An interview with Leo Panitch

In light of the recent economic crisis, Marxist theory has enjoyed a resurgence of interest. This most recent is the last of many returns to Marx’s work throughout the 20th century. Still, the question poses itself: Why return to Marx, yet again? What does this move tell us about our contemporary situation? Most important, what do previous returns to Marx tell us about capitalism and those who have self-consciously struggled against it? Why Marxism—and what must Marxism become?

On February 19, 2010, Ian Morrison of Platypus spoke with Leo Panitch, author and professor of Political Science at York University, about these and other topics. Below is an edited transcript of their public interview and of the audience Q & A that followed.