Drew Milne on Marx / Critical Theory / Ecology

Watch lecturer, poet and critical theorist Drew Milne deliver the first talk in Critical Theory // Practice on Marx / Critical Theory / Ecology.

Drew Milne is a lecturer in the English Faculty, University of Cambridge, specialising in modern drama, poetry and critical theory. He edited the anthology 'Marxist Literary Theory: A Reader' (1996) with Terry Eagleton; and the anthology 'Modern Critical Thought: An Anthology of Theorists writing on Theorists' (2003). He has published a number of essays on critical theory, including essays on Adorno, Habermas, Marcuse, and Derrida.

Our second talk this term! Alex Anievas gives an international historical account of the origins of capitalism!

RETHINKING THE ORIGINS OF CAPITALISM AND THE "RISE OF THE WEST": BEYOND THE EUROCENTRIC CAGE

with Alex Anievas

Room 4, Mill Lane Lecture Theatre, Cambridge
Tuesday, 3 November, 2015 @ 5-6:30PM

Mainstream historical accounts of the development of capitalism describe a fundamentally European process - a system born in the mills and factories of England or under the guillotines of the French Revolution. Drawing on his groundbreaking book with Kerem Nisancioglu, 'How the West Came to Rule', Alexander Anievas tell a very different story, offering a unique interdisciplinary and international historical account of the origins of capitalism. Anievas argues that contrary to dominant wisdom, capitalism’s origins should not be understood as confined to the geographically and culturally sealed borders of Europe, but as the outcome of a wider array of global processes in which non-European societies played a decisive role. Through an outline of the histories of Mongolian expansion, New World discoveries, Ottoman-Habsburg rivalry, the development of the Asian colonies and bourgeois revolutions, Anievas will give an account of how these events and processes came together to produce capitalism.

The book: Alexander Anievas and Kerem Nişancıoğlu 2015: Capitalism: A History of Violence. Pluto Press.

Alexander Anievas is a Leverhulme Research Fellow in the Department of Politics and International Studies (POLIS) In Cambridge. His research focuses on the development of non-Eurocentric approaches to international historical sociology and political economy, with a particular emphasis on the study of epochs of macro-historical change and conjunctures of interstate conflict, war and revolution. He is the author of 'Capital, the State, and War: Class Conflict and Geopolitics in Thirty Years’ Crisis, 1914-1945', and co-author of 'How the West Came to Rule: The Geopolitical Origins of Capitalism.
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Welcome to the second of this term's Critical Theory and Practice seminars. The aim of these talks is to integrate radical theory with political practice and activism. Each talk consists of a presentation followed by a Q&A session (and trip to the Anchor pub round the corner). We record each session, so if you can't make it, like our pages so you get updated once the video is uploaded. Organised by Cambridge Defend Education (CDE) and Cambridgeshire Left.

For more about our upcoming events:

https://www.facebook.com/criticaltheorypractice

Our termcard is here! Check out talks in our seminar series this term!

Come to our first talk this year on Marxism / Critical Theory / Ecology with Drew Milne!

MARX / CRITICAL THEORY / ECOLOGY

with Drew Milne

Room 4, Mill Lane Lecture Theatre, Cambridge
Tuesday, 20 October, 2015 @ 5-7PM

Contemporary politics throws up ecological crises with gathering intensity: from Fukushima and fracking and new nuclear power stations to genetic modification plant technology. The Volkswagen emissions scandal is a symptom of the deep ecological corruption of capitalism, offering clear demonstration of the limits of green capitalism. The necessity for developing political alliances across red and green political perspectives has never been clearer. Problems at the level of political practice nevertheless reflect widespread suspicions that Marx and Marxism lack a relevant understanding of ecology, while the priorities of climate change activism often come into conflict with traditional labour movement politics. This talk seeks to glean some of the fragmented theoretical resources suggested by Marx and by neo-Marxist traditions of critical theory, so as to develop a contemporary politics of ecology.

Dr Drew Milne is a lecturer in the English Faculty, University of Cambridge, specialising in modern drama, poetry and critical theory. He edited the anthology 'Marxist Literary Theory: A Reader' (1996) with Terry Eagleton; and the anthology 'Modern Critical Thought: An Anthology of Theorists writing on Theorists' (2003). He has published a number of essays on critical theory, including essays on Adorno, Habermas, Marcuse and Derrida.
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*                                  *                                  *

Welcome to the first of this year's Critical Theory and Practice seminars! Organised by Cambridge Defend Education (CDE) and Cambridgeshire Left, the aim of these talks is to integrate contemporary radical theory with political practice and activism. Each talk will consist of a presentation followed by an open-ended Q&A session (and a trip to the pub).

For more about our upcoming events:

https://www.facebook.com/criticaltheorypractice

Seminars for Michaelmas 2015/2016

The speakers for the Michaelmas term in the academic year 2015/2016 is now finalised. We are pleased to confirm the following speakers and topics:

Tuesday 20th October | Drew Milne (Cambridge) | 'Karl Marx/Critical Theory/Political Ecology'

Tuesday 3rd November | Alex Anievas (Cambridge) | 'Rethinking the Origins of Capitalism and the "Rise of the West": Beyond the Eurocentric Cage'

Tuesday 17th November | Priyamvada Gopal (Cambridge) | '"What are intellectuals for?" Revisiting Edward Said and the Question of Representation'

Tuesday 1st December | Stewart Motha (Birkbeck) | 'TBC'

All seminars will take place in Mill Lane Lecture Room 4 and will start at 5pm.