New Theories

[PostAnarchy]

Hi all. Part of the reason I came to this website was to develop and also read about the new leftist theories. I am of the opinion that those that cling to say the texts of Lenin and Marx almost like a religious text are doing a disservice to the left and not taking into account the fundamentally different situation that we find ourselves in and instead constantly reliving the battles of the past over and over again.

If anything can point me in the right direction for examining new theories and ideas of the 21st century it would be appreciated.

[Poison]

I agree. I find the clinging distasteful, though of course respect for the classical theorists is important, Communism and leftist theories will die if we aren't critical of these classical theories and force ourselves to push these theories forward and perfect them. I receive a lot of flack for this position, glad to see someone else has it.

[Rosa Lichtenstein]

Here's a good place to start:

http://www.marxists.de/admin/contents.htm

Loads of new stuff in there!

[el_chavista]

... I am of the opinion that those that cling to say the texts of Lenin and Marx almost like a religious text are doing a disservice to the left and not taking into account the fundamentally different situation that we find ourselves in ...

If anything can point me in the right direction for examining new theories and ideas of the 21st century it would be appreciated.

The chess player Bobby Fischer once said: "You can´t create if you don't know what has been created before."

According to the "socialism of the 21st century's creator" Heinz Dieterich, he based his "theory" on the "Scotch school" of Paul Cockshott (computing) and Allin Cottrell (economist), and the "Bremen school" of Arno Peters, mathematician Carsten Stahmer, Cuban fisic Raimundo Franco and Dieterich himself. Also Michael Lebowitz is a very well known theorist supporter of that socialism.

Bear in mind that it is a kind of Socialism from below. An already in power leftist, like Chávez, is needed to be able to implement the "direct democracy" (instead of "the dictatorship of the proletariat") and the "councils" of neighbors and workers (I see a resemblance with the "council communism").

[Die Neue Zeit]

^^^ Comrade, since when did Lebowitz talk about labour credits (I wasn't aware)?

[ZeroNowhere]

Capitalism is capitalism. An idea being made in the 21st Century hardly gives it any more validity than those of before.

No theory except Marxism-Leninism can claim such continuing stark relevance and applicability.
Reeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaallllllllllllllly?


"direct democracy" (instead of "the dictatorship of the proletariat")
Wait, why is direct democracy incompatible with the dictatorship of the proletariat again?
Also, if we're going to rely on Chavez to bring about socialism, we're never going to get anywhere. At all. :)

[The Garbage Disposal Unit]

If I had to pick one current theorist off the top of my head, I'd recommend giving Slavoj Žižek a whirl. "Welcome To The Desert Of The Real" is absolutely wonderful, and, so far, I'm enjoying "Violence", though it is frustratingly dense at moments. If I had to pick a second, I'd go the extreme unacademic route, and say that some of CrimethInc.'s most recent shit is really, really, decent, especially in terms of North American anarchist thought.
Seriously though, the most dynamic theory isn't in books - it's in the hands of people who are putting shit into practice, and coming back to theory on a new basis from their successes and failures. Particularly, I think there is a lot of brilliant stuff coming from people who are becoming engaged in issues around colonialism, and in indigenous struggles. Partially, the appeal is, to me, the way the issue of colonialism ties into so much of how we live our day to day lives, and the way in which being settlers shapes our outlooks and relationships - dig that shit.

It's almost 6AM. Crap.

[el_chavista]

^^^ Comrade, since when did Lebowitz talk about labour credits (I wasn't aware)?
"Jesus, you got me chief!" Should I have said: "Also Michael Lebowitz is a very well known theorist supporter of a new socialism"? I will appreciate an explanation of yours about the "labour credits" point. Thanks in advance.

[Sasha]

started an similair thread a while back; http://www.revleft.com/vb/autonomism-and-other-t93956/index.html?p=1290725#post1290725

i would say that if your into anti-authoritarian communism/anarchism Autonomism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autonomism)is an intresting tendicy to have an look at (there are some links to text/thinkers on the bottom of that link)
also related to the Zapatista strugle a lot of good stuff is written recently (both on theory and praxis) this hit i got with google (http://flag.blackened.net/revolt/mexico.html)seem a reasonble way to start digging on the EZLN
and aperently the leninist/trotskyst/maoist/stalinist churn out huge volumes of articels but thats not realy my cup of tea so no help there.