The Brecht Forum and its projects The New York Marxist School and The Institute for Popular Education 122 West 27 Street, 10 floor New York, New York 10001 (212) 242-4201 (phone) (212) 741-4563 (fax) [EMAIL PROTECTED] (e-mail) December 1996 Events LECTURES Tuesday, December 3 at 7:30 pm; $6 Is China on the Socialist Road? Hugh Deane, Sidney Gluck, A. Tom Grunfeld & Timothy Tung Co-sponsored with the U.S.-China Peoples Friendship Association Four speakers who are knowledgable and deeply interested in China will discuss and support their varying conclusions to this question. Hugh Deane edits _China Review_. Sidney Gluck is a businessman, photographer and Co-chair of the U.S.-China Peoples Friendship Association. A. Tom Grunfeld has published books on China's minority peoples, including the Tibetans, and Timothy Tung edits _Du Shu_, a leading Chinese literary publication. ***** Wednesday, December 4 at 7:30 pm; $6 The Legacy of Ernest Mandel Alan Freeman Ernest Mandel stood out in the twentieth century as a Marxist economist who explicitly denied any self-equilibrating of capitalism. On this basis, he produced a radically new account of uneven development in the Third World and successfully predicted the end of the post-World War II boom. Alan Freeman will discuss the relevance of Mandel's work to contemporary social and economic issues. Alan Freeman, a Lecturer at the University of Greenwich, co-edited _Ricardo, Marx, and Sraffa_ with Ernest Mandel and _Marx and Non-Equilibrium Economics_ with Guglielmo Carchedi. ***** Thursday, December 5 at 7:30 pm; $6 The Debacle of the New World Order: The Middle East Today Sungur Savran Recent events in the Middle East (developments in Iraqi Kurdistan, the state of the Israeli Palestinian "peace process", etc.) have shaken the New World Order in the region to its very foundations, leaving the U.S. gains from the Gulf War in shambles. What are the prospects for the near future? What solidarities exist for the liberation of the oppressed of the Middle East, in particular the Palestinians and the Kurds? Sungur Savran--an economist, teacher, and writer--is a political activistin the Turkish left. He is currently involved in the movement to stop the genocidal government attacks on the Kurdish people. ***** Thursday, December 12 at 7:30 pm; $6 The Global Economy from Below Barbara Garson Barbara Garson is exploring the global economy by following her own money around the world. She began by depositing her book advance ($28,500) in a one-branch small-town bank, followed it into a Wall Street money-center bank, then out to South East Asia and back to the U.S. Along the route she has talked to everyone from CEOs to migrant construction workers, seeing who gets helped, who gets harmed, and who gets by-passed as her capital courses around the earth. Barbara Garson is the author of two classic books on work, _All the Livelong Day_ and _The Electronic Sweatshop_, plus _MacBird_ and other plays. ***** Friday, December 13 at 7 pm; $6 The Technological Revolution and the Emergence of a New Class Jonathan King We are entering a techological/information revolution that promises higher production with a fraction of the labor formerly required. This revolution, as distinct from the industrial revolution, appropriates the information and eye/hand coordination of the worker into digital form which is then reproducible. This talk will draw on examples from biotechnology to discuss the social and political implications of "workerless production." Jonathan King is Professor of Molecular Biology at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. ***** Thursday, December 19 at 7:30 pm; $6 The Domestication of Violence in Latin America June Nash Popular uprisings by indigenous peoples and campesinos in reaction to neoliberal polices have evoked a response of militarization throughout the subcontinent. Justified by drug traffic control, the new armies have infiltrated rebellious areas with daily assaults on the human rights of citizens who are seeking alternatives to new polices instituted in the name of free trade agreements. June Nash, a Professor of Anthropology at the CUNY Graduate Center, has worked for many years with peasants in Chiapas. ***** Friday, December 20 at 7:30 pm; $6 Race, Racism, and Health Care Matt Anderson, M.D.; Chinita Fulchon, Ph.D.; Daniel Neuspiel, M.D.; Susan Moscou, F.N.P. Health care providers grapple with concepts of race and ethnicity and their use in clinical practice, their impact on clinical strategies, patient-provider interactions, public policy concerns, obfuscation of class realities, and general misuse of race and ethnicity in the health care environment. The panel will address the origins of racial classifications, the construction and perceptions of race/ ethnicity by providers, the use of race and drug screening in child welfare policy, and the deconstruction of race. Dr. Fulchon is Director of Psychosocial Training, Department of Family Medicine at Montefiore Medical Center. Dr. Neuspiel is the Medical Director at Montefiore's University Avenue Family Practice. Dr. Anderson is Medical Director and Susan Moscou is family nurse practitioner at Montefiore Care for the Homeless. WORKSHOP Friday, December 6 from 6 to 9 pm, and Saturday, December 7 from 10 am to 4 pm (public performance/demonstration Saturday, December 7 at 8 pm) An Introduction to Forum Theater a technique of the Theater of the Oppressed led by the Theater of the Oppressed Laboratory (TOPLAB) Tuition: $50 The workshop features exercises, games, and improvised scene work from the Theater of the Oppressed repertory developed by Brazilian director and Workers Party (PT) activist Augusto Boal. Workshop participants will join in a public perfomance/demonstration on Saturday night. Boal's approach emphasizes physical dialogues, non-verbal imagery, consensus building, and problem-solving. Preparatory games explore relations of power and group solutions to concrete problems raised by participants, transforming spectators into "spect-actors"--protagonists of the theatrical action. The aim of the forum is not to find an ideal solution, but to invent new ways of confronting oppression. The Theater of the Oppressed Laboratory has been working with Augusto Boal since 1990 and has presented training workshops throughout the country for educators, trade union, political, and community activists, and workers in the health and human services profession. It has also worked with battered women, people with AIDS, inner-city high school students, transgendered people, prostitutes, and homeless populations. Note: preregistration is required. This workshop is strictly limited to thirty participants. To register, call The Brecht Forum office at (212) 242-4201. For more information on the Theater of the Oppressed Laboratory, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED] CULTURAL EVENTS Werner Stadler's Mythical Dreams paintings on South American Myths Opening Reception: Wednesday, December 11 from 6 to 9 pm ***** Kevin Norton Quintet Saturday, December 14 at 8 pm; $10 Kevin Norton, drums and vibes; David Bindman, tenor sax and clarinet; Bob DeBellis, alto sax, bass clarinet, and clarinet; Joe Fonda, bass; Tomas Ulrich, cello; plus very special guest artist, clarinetist David Krakauer Kevin Norton describes his music thusly: First I start with a Squishing Machine and take something old and fixed and put it in. Then I go into a voodoo trance and ask Elliot Carter, Charlie Parker, Edgard Varese and Thelonius Monk what they want for lunch. They usually say both the chicken and the egg at the same time. SPANISH CLASSES Edgar Betelu and Werner Stadler are native speakers with extensive teaching experience. Small classes emphasize participation and conversation, without neglecting grammar. Pre-registration is advised. Beginning Spanish Edgar Betelu Mondays and Wednesdays, 5:30-7:30 pm 8 weeks (16 sessions) beginning December 2 Tuition: $320 Intermediate Spanish Werner Stadler Tuesdays, 5:30-7:30 pm 8 weeks (8 sessions) beginning December 3 Tuition: $160 Advanced Spanish Werner Stadler Mondays, 5:30-7:30 pm 8 weeks (8 sessions) beginning December 2 Tuition: $160 ***** The Brecht Forum, founded in 1975, is an independent institution of the left, not affiliated with any other organization, party, or university. Tuition and lecture fees cover only a third of our expenses; most of the rest comes from donations large and small from friends and supporters all over the country. Become a Brecht Forum Subscriber. By making a pledge of $15 a month or more you will become a Brecht Forum Subscriber and receive a Subscriber Card entitling you to free admission to all lectures, classes, and workshops (excluding Spanish classes and Theater of the Oppressed Laboratory workshops), and a fifty percent discount on seminars and special events. You can pay monthly, quarterly, or annually; we can bill you direct or automatically debit your checking account or charge your Visa or MasterCard. For more information, call the office at (212) 242-4201. The Brecht Forum Subscriber Program is the best way to insure that our doors stay open, and that this valuable resource for the left grows and prospers. Our policy is that no one is turned away for inability to pay. All Brecht Forum lectures and panels are available on audiotape at $8. To order, make checks payable to *The Brecht Forum* and send to The Brecht Forum, 122 West 27 Street, 10 floor, New York, New York 10001. You can also pay by credit card (Visa or MasterCard); supply full account information, including expiration date. For orders outside the U.S., please send a bank check or international money order payable in U.S. funds, or pay by credit card, and include an additional US$5 per order to cover the cost of air postage. //30
