Today is the anniversary of Karl Marx's death. Check out our video on Marx's legacy!
Approaching Marxism is an educational series providing introductions to core Marxist concepts, their ambiguities and development, and the debates that they have spawned since. In this episode, look at how to approach Marx as a thinker, the importance of maintaining a concrete and detailed approach to Marx alongside the canonisation and simplification needed for building a mass politic, and the pitfalls of and clash between these approaches.
A full reading list and a lesson plan to aid with the concepts outlined in this video is available, for free, on our Patreon
#marx #marxism #Marxist #socialist #communists #socialism #communism #karlmarx #theory #educational #educationalcontent
After at least 3000 hours of collective work we released our last feature length documentary Decay: on fascism and breakdown in early 2022. It takes a look at 20th Century fascism, early English settler colonialism in the Americas and the prospects of a contemporary neofascism. The film focuses on the political economy of these forms, drawing on Rajani Palme Dutt's view that fascism represented an organisation of capitalist decay, to illustrate the various different laws of motion which condition the development of reactionary political movements.
Find the full documentary on our YouTube page.
#breakdown #politics #politicaltheory #historyfacts #documentary #DocumentaryFilmmaking #videoessay #longformcontent #youtubedoc #youtubedocumentary #britishfilm #filmmaker
Around a month ago we released our latest episode of Approaching Marxism, including a collaboration with Jason W. Moore.
Approaching Marxism is an educational series providing introductions to core Marxist concepts, their ambiguities and development, and the debates that they have spawned since. In this episode, we take a look at Marx's theory of the metabolic rift, its articulation through the work of the second-wave of contemporary western ecosocialist thought (particularly in the work of John Bellamy-Foster), the importance of this theory in disputes between first-wave and second-wave modern ecosocialist thought, and more recent disputes over the dialectics of nature.
Watch in full via our youtube channel,
#marxism #climatechange #Marxist #climatecrisis
Every capitalist views a crisis as an opportunity. The climate crisis has been met by many attempts to commodify the atmosphere - carbon credits etc. The latest iteration? Geoengineering.
#SocialismOrExtinction
Many liberal strains of anti-capitalism situate consumerism and consumption as the cause of the climate crisis. As Marx's critique of political economy reveals, this mistakes a symptom for the cause.
#SocialismOrExtinction #capitalism #ecocide #consumerism #socialism #communism #marxism
Those which blame the whole of humanity for the climate crisis are telling themselves a lie. The counterpoint? The working class fought the fossil fuel economy from its inception.
#SocialismOrExtinction #capitalism #socialism #communism #strikes #unions #GeneralStrike #fossilfuels #fossileconomy #ecology #climatechange
It is often argued that the industrial revolution and the fossil fuel economy were driven by a need to increase productivity.
The reality is quite different: industrial machinery was first deployed by the capitalist class as a weapon against strikes.
#SocialismOrExtinction #capitalism #socialism #marxism #climatechange #strike #Strikes #GeneralStrike #industrialaction
The treatment of pre-capitalist societies' labour practices without scientific worth is a lynchpin of colonial and enlightenment ideology.
The development of plant sciences in neolithic mesoamerica is a powerful counterpoint. Check out our quick explainer!
#SocialismOrExtinction
Capitalism requires a ready supply of commodified human labour.
It achieves this with blood and fire, first forcing a separation between labourers and the land.
#SocialismorExtinction #capitalism #marxism #ecology #climatechange #politicaltheory #theory #globalwarming
Marx's understanding that class struggle drives forward history is well known. Far less discussed is his view on the natural basis of class formation.
Check out quick explainer! #SocialismOrExtinction
NATURE AND THE COMMODITY
Capitalism excludes any consideration of the ecological impacts of its economy in its most basic form.
Check out our quick explainer on nature and the commodity form!
#SocialismorExtinction #socialism #marxism #nature #amazon #goldmine #goldmining #ecocide #capitalism #amazonrainforest
CLIMATE: RELATIONS AND MEANS OF PRODUCTION
It's a common approach to reduce both the climate crisis' and solutions to it to a technical question, at the expense of a social analysis of production.
This is not viable: technology is a product of social relations.
#SocialismorExtinction #climatechange #elnino #capitalism #marxism #communism #marx #globalwarming #crypto #cryptocurrency
The communist left in western Europe and the Northern Americas has been in a crisis of sectarianism for a long time. Don't miss our latest episode of Approaching Marxism on its roots in the revisionist controversy! Out now on YouTube
#communism #capitalism #marxism
Thank you so much for your continued patience with us over our upcoming feature film, Decay: on fascism and breakdown. Whilst a little delayed beyond our projections at the end of December, we are now able to offer a release date for the film, and dates for our patron-only post-release Q&A. In our own view, this work is our best to date by a considerable margin, offering a detailed look at fascism in the 1930s and early English settler colonialism, and some theoretical positions on the nature of the growing reactionary wave confronting the globe today. As we enter the very final phases of the film's development, we have already put thousands of hours into this project to ensure that it can be the best possible quality. We cannot express how much it means to us to have the opportunity to make this. We could not have done this without your support.
Pending any major technical issues, Decay: on fascism and breakdown will be released on 11 February 2022 at 7pm (GMT). We will be premièring the film on YouTube, with Lexi and James in the chat to take questions and comments on its contents from first-time viewers. Keep an eye on our YouTube channel and social media for when the link goes live!
Following this, we will be offering an informal Q&A to patrons on our Discord. This will be held on 18 February 2022 at 6pm (GMT). We hope to see you all there.
Thank you again for your support!
Statement Patreon link: https://www.patreon.com/posts/61681933
