<div><div><div dir="ltr"><div><b><font size="4">ROUND TABLE: What is the Occupy movement? </font><br>Hosted by the Platypus Affiliated Society</b></div><div><b><br></b></div><div><b>Speakers:<br>
</b>Jason Giannetti<br>
Nick Ford (ALL-oNE)<br>Evan Sarmiento (FRSO)<br>Stephen Squibb (Occupy Harvard, n+1)<br>Doug Enaa Greene (Kasama Project)</div><div><p><br></p></div><div><p><b>DATE</b><font color="#222222" face="arial, sans-serif">: December 15 (Thursday)</font><br>
<b>TIME</b><font color="#222222" face="arial, sans-serif">: 6-8:30 PM</font><br><b>Location</b><font color="#222222" face="arial, sans-serif">: Room K354, CGIS Knafel Building, Cambridge St., Cambridge, MA (No ID necessary to enter)</font><br>
<a href="http://www.facebook.com/events/267223019993579/" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">http://www.facebook.com/events/267223019993579/</a><br><font color="#222222" face="arial, sans-serif"><a href="http://boston.platypus1917.org/2011/12/07/what-is-the-occupy-movement/" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">http://boston.platypus1917.org/2011/12/07/what-is-the-occupy-movement/</a></font></p>
<p><b>Email: </b>boston (at) platypus1917 (dot) org</p></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><b><font size="4">EVENT BRIEF:</font></b></div><div><p>The
recent Occupy protests are driven by discontent with the present state
of affairs: glaring economic inequality, dead-end Democratic Party
politics, and, for some, the suspicion that capitalism could never
produce an equitable society. These concerns are coupled with
aspirations for social transformation at an international level. For
many, the protests at Wall St. and elsewhere provide an avenue to raise
questions the Left has long fallen silent on:</p>
<p><i>• What would it mean to challenge capitalism on a global scale?</i></p><p><i>• How could we begin to overcome social conditions that adversely affect every part of life?</i></p><p><i>• And, how could a new international radical movement address these concerns in practice?</i></p>
<p>Although participants at Occupy Wall St. and elsewhere have managed
thus far to organize resources for their own daily needs, legal
services, health services, sleeping arrangements, food supplies, defense
against police brutality, and a consistent media presence, these
pragmatic concerns have taken precedent over long-term goals of
the movement. Where can participants of this protest engage in
formulating, debating, and questioning the ends of this movement? How
can it affect the greater society beyond the occupied spaces?</p>
<p>We in the Platypus Affiliated Society ask participants and interested
observers of the Occupy movement to consider the possibility that
political disagreement could lead to clarification, further development
and direction. Only when we are able create an active culture of
thinking and debating on the Left without it proving prematurely
divisive can we begin to imagine a Leftist politics adequate to the
historical possibilities of our moment. <b>We may not know what these
possibilities for transformation are. This is why we think it is
imperative to create avenues of engagement that will support these
efforts.</b></p>
<p>Towards this goal, Platypus will be hosting a series of roundtable
discussions with organizers and participants of the Occupy movement.
These will start at campuses in New York, Chicago and Boston, but will
be moving to other North American cities, and to London, Germany, and
Greece in the months to come. We welcome any and all who would like to
be a part of this project of self-education and potential rebuilding of
the Left to join us in advancing this critical moment.</p>
<p><img src="cid:ii_1343326d66fbe1f8" alt="newposter.jpg" title="newposter.jpg"><br></p><p>___</p><p>The
Platypus Affiliated Society organizes reading groups, public fora,
research, and journalism focused on problems and tasks inherited from
the "Old" (1920s-30s), "New" (1960s-70s) and post-political
(1980s-90s) Left, for the possibilities of emancipatory politics today.
In Boston, Platypus chapters meet for reading groups and coffee breaks
at Harvard University and MassArt. For more information, see <a href="http://boston.platypus1917.org/" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">http://boston.platypus1917.org</a></p>
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