A ONE-DAY CONFERENCE IN MEMORY OF ERIK OLIN WRIGHT
ERIK OLIN WRIGHT spent the last years of his life thinking about ways to challenge and transform capitalist societies. He distilled his thinking in a book, How to Be an Anti-Capitalist in the 21st Century (Verso, 2019). The symposium is designed to launch a debate about the strengths and weaknesses of Wright’s approach. We seek to both honor our colleague’s memory and assure that his ideas become part of current discussions of socialism and socialist strategy. The event will consist of three panels during the day and an evening session that will include tributes to Wright and a keynote by his friend, Ira Katznelson.
This event is co-sponsored by the Robert L. Heilbroner Center for Capitalism Studies and the journal, Politics and Society. Free and open to the public.
Keynote Address by Ira Kaztnelson, Columbia University | Videography and Editing by Mariajose Ortiz
Date
Thursday, September 26, 2019 | 9 am – 9:30 pm
Locations
9 am – 5 pm | Wolff Conference Room, 6 East 16th St, 11th Floor
7 pm – 9:30 pm | L105, University Center, 63 5th Avenue
Schedule
9:00 – 9:30 am
Welcome Remarks
Wolff Conference Room D1103 6 E 16th St
William Milberg, The New School for Social Research
Magali Sarfatti-Larson, Temple University [08:30]
9:30 – 11:30 am
Session 1 // Conceptualizing Capitalism
Wolff Conference Room D1103 6 E 16th St
Vivek Chibber, NYU
- [02:32] “Stressing the Capitalism in Anti-Capitalism — Reflections on Erik Wright’s Last Work”
Stephanie Mudge, UC Davis
- [21:00] “Can Democracy Survive Capitalism’s Erosion? A Comment on E.O. Wright”
Michael Dawson, University of Chicago
- [35:30] “Race, capitalism in the current crisis: Conundrums for those who envisage a socialist future”
DISCUSSANT: Gianpaolo Baiocchi, NYU
11:30 – 1:00 PM
LUNCH BREAK
1:00 – 2:45 pm
Session 2 // Oppositional Discourses and Strategies
Wolff Conference Room D1103 6 E 16th St
MODERATOR: Joel Rogers, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Stephanie Luce, City University of New York
- [05:05] “$15 and a Revolution: Building anti-capitalist worker’s movements”
Glen Coulthard, University of British Columbia
- [18:20] “Anti-Capitalism and Indigenous Self-Determination in Conversation”
Teresa Ghilarducci, The New School for Social Research
- [36:45] “Making Older People Work”
[49:50] DISCUSSANT: Angela Harris, UC Davis
[01:02:05] Panelists’ Responses
2:45 – 3:15 pm
Coffee Break
3:15 – 5:00 pm
Session 3 // Socialism, Human Rights, and Sites of Contestation
Wolff Conference Room D1103 6 E 16th St
MODERATOR: Gay Seidman, Professor of Sociology, University of Wisconsin, Madison
Nancy Fraser, The New School for Social Research
- [01:48] “What should socialism mean in the 21 st century?”
Cesar Rodriguez-Garavito, University of los Andes
- [19:20] “Anti-Capitalist Human Rights for the 21st Century”
Sabeel Rahman, Demos and Brooklyn Law School
- [37:18] “Anti-capitalism and America’s ‘Third Reconstruction’”
[52:19] DISCUSSANT: Fred Block, UC Davis
5:00 – 7:00 pm
Dinner Break
7:00 – 8:00 pm
Remarks on Erik Olin Wright’s Legacy
8:00 – 9:30 pm
Keynote
Ira Katznelson, Columbia University
- “Is Liberal Socialism Possible?”