A New Idea: The Paris Commune of 1871 (Thinking Critically about Society)

The Direct Action Monterey Network is teaming up with Old Capitol Books and the Monterey Community Education Project to offer a free series of seminars and discussion on social theory and history.

--What is Marxist Feminism?, Friday 3 November
--A New Idea: The Paris Commune of 1871, Friday 10 November
--Understanding Post-Colonial Theory, Friday 17 November

A New Idea: The Paris Commune of 1871
Friday 10 November 2017, 7pm
Facilitated by Jeffrey Erwin

In the aftermath of the fall of the Second Empire, a mass uprising turned over the city of Paris to revolutionaries: Jacobins, Blanquists (authoritarian socialists) and Proudhonists took the leadership of a decentralized and radical government. This experiment was to last but two months before it was destroyed by military remnants of the French state and the mistakes of the Commune’s leadership. Yet the lessons of the Commune were long-lasting, contributing to the theories of (and divisions between) Marxists, Anarchists, and other movements of the Left.

We will read and discuss first hand accounts, poetry, divergent analysis, and other texts of the time and aftermath.

Readings (available for free at oldcapitolbooks.com):

Mikhail Bakunin, “The Paris Commune and the Idea of the State”
More TBA

This event is free and open to everyone.

In the past, the TCAS seminars have included led discussion groups around readings addressing Polyamory, Anarchism, Prisons & Incarceration, Alternative Sexualities, Understanding Fascism, and Revolutionizing Education (just to name a few). This fall we’re moving into our fourteenth series of TCAS and it’s a great hit!

These series of seminar sessions have been put together to encourage the exchange of ideas, experiences, and knowledge surrounding a particular topic or theme. We want to create a place where people can meet with other people from Monterey Bay communities to talk about current events and discuss new philosophies and ways of thinking critically about society. Though these seminars have been designed for non-students, and for those of us who have had little or no college experience, everyone is invited to participate. We believe that everyone can have something to offer to the seminars as we move through current debates in politics and different political and social theories.