Rachel Bruhnke, Nadya Williams ,Mickey Huff, Peter Phillips, Bill Hackwell
The Cold War Truth Commission is a compilation of Testimonies, both by renowned activists and scholars, and also direct victims of the U.S's Cold War purge of the Left in the name of "anti-communism". The Panel will consist of the book's editor, as well as several Bay Area residents who are featured in the book. After panelists share, the public will be encouraged to take the mic to tell their own Testimonies of having been red-baited for their progressive work. As the MAGA base today still cries "communism!", we will together unravel the true purpose of the U.S. Cold War: To crush social programs, peace. labor, and anti-racist efforts both at home and abroad. If those values are "communist", we ask, then what is an "anti-communist" stand for?
Paul Messersmith-Glavin and Jasper Bernes
This workshop will explore the ideas of Japanese Marxist Kohei Saito, in the context of other ecological Marxists and the social ecology of Murray Bookchin. We will look at what Saito has found in researching the thinking of Marx during the last 14 years of his life and compare and contrast those ideas to others such as Bookchin who have also thought through the roots of the ecological crisis and ways out. We will explore what we mean when we talk about growth and address both the viability and implications of an anarchist communist degrowth politics. We will also collectively think through what can be done in terms of various forms of revolutionary organizing.
