April 19, 2013 Verso Books presents Unhitched: The Trial of Christopher Hitchens

Event Cancelled

Note from Richard Seymour:

"I'm sorry to anyone who is disappointed, but all businesses are shut down and public transport is closed. Until the other killer is caught, I'm not even able to really leave the house. It's especially unfortunate, because there is an urgent need for a response to this that tackles Islamophobia, and the clash-of-civs narrative that the likes of Hitchens have promoted."

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In light of the attack and the highly racialized response from some of the media, we would like to offer this event as a place to for people to freely discuss the attack on Boston along with the original subject matter. Hitchens' notorious echo of "turn tragedy into war," following the September 11th attacks provides a strong negative lesson. Let's bring our minds and hearts together to discuss how we could create a positive one.

 

Presentation and Q&A with author Richard Seymour
On Friday April 19th, join Richard Seymour, one of Britain's leading young radical intellectuals and principal contributor to the popular blog, Lenin's Tomb, for a discussion of his recent book, Unhitched: The Trial of Christopher Hitchens.

In his younger years, a career-minded socialist, Hitchens emerged from the smoke of 9/11 a neoconservative “Marxist,” an advocate of America's invasion of Iraq filled with passionate intensity. Throughout his life, he played the role of universal gadfly, whose commitment to the truth transcended the party line as well as received wisdom. But how much of this was imposture? In this highly critical study, Richard Seymour casts a cold eye over the career of the “Hitch” to uncover an intellectual trajectory determined by expediency and a fetish for power, which is also a cautionary tale for our times.

This event is free and open to the public. See Facebook Event Page.

versobooks.com

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RICHARD SEYMOUR: One of Britain's leading young radical intellectuals, Richard is the principal contributor to Lenin's Tomb
(http://www.leninology.com/), one of the UK's most popular blogs. A regular columnist for the Guardian, Seymour is also the author four books, most recently "American Insurgents: A Brief History of American Anti-Imperialism" (Haymarket 2012) and "Unhitched: The Trial of Christopher Hitchens" (Verso 2013). He is a founding member of the International Socialist Network.

PRAISE FOR RICHARD SEYMOUR'S "UNHITCHED"

"Clever, incisive...'Unhitched' offers a more thorough and in-depth discrediting of Hitchens than anything previously published. And in doing so, Seymour has made an important contribution to understanding the political role of the intellectual celebrity in our time." - In These Times

"Richard Seymour's 'Unhitched,' a slim and scathing denunciation of turncoat scoundrel Christopher Hitchens, is a thoroughly satisfying and politically important book by one of the few remaining great radical left journalists.” - Rabble

"Seymour reveals Hitchens as having had a lifelong admiration both for the United States and for empires as civilizing forces." --Washington Post Book World

"Richard Seymour employs a unique technique to shred Hitchens’s political philosophy to pieces: Seymour puts the late writer on trial." --The Christian Science Monitor

By way of preview, please see, "Case Closed: Hitchens in the Dock" by Jack McCarthy inCounterPunch. Jack writes that, 'the future the gold standard for the deconstrucion of Hitchens will be Richard Seymours’ “Unhitched: The Trial of Christopher Hitchens.

Sponsored by:
Verso Books
Haymarket Books
Encuentro 5
Mass Global Action
Howard Zinn Memorial Lecture Series
Open Media Boston
Democratic Socialists of America
International Socialist Organization

Thursday 4/18- Don't Let Them Turn Tragedy Into Racism

Don't Let Them Turn Tragedy Into Racism
Resisting US Empire in the Age of Obama

TWO EVENTS IN BOSTON!

4PM: George Sherman Union 320-21, Boston University

7PM: Science Center Hall E, Harvard University

RSVP on Facebook: BU Event | Harvard Event

The horrific images of the bombings at the Boston Marathon on April 25 shocked everyone. The brutal attack has left 3 dead and scores injured. We have seen images of hundreds of ordinary people, doctors, nurses and other caregivers rush into action to help strangers in need.

And now we can't let this tragedy turn into hate and racism. After 9/11, racist and anti-Muslim attacks skyrocketed - both by individuals, and by the FBI and Dept. of Homeland Securitys.  Similarly, after Monday's attacks, the police raided the house of Boston students of Saudi Arabian nationality.  Right-wing fanatic and Fox News commentator Erik Rush tweeted that Muslims are "evil. Let's kill them all." 

More than 10 years after 9/11 and the invasion and occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq, President Obama has continued Bush's 'War on Terror' by increasing wars abroad and repressing civil liberties at home.

What will it take to stop tragedy from turning into racism?

Featuring internationally-acclaimed socialist blogger and author RICHARD SEYMOUR of Lenin's Tomb; and KHURY PETERSEN-SMITH of the International Socialist Organization.

Sponsored by: BU Anti-War Coalition; BU Students for Justice in Palestine; International Socialist Organization; Haymarket Books; Harvard Socialists at GSAS; United National Antiwar Coalition (Boston); and Verso Books.

Boston Mobilization for Socialism 2013

Interested in fighting for a world based on human need and not corporate greed?

 Check our upcoming national conference happening in Chicago this summer!

A weekend full of revolutionary politics, debate, and entertainment

 

Millions of people have come to the understanding that capitalism is no longer working. From extreme weather caused by climate change and the relentless drive to slash workers’ living standards to the epidemic of police brutality, the signs of a society in crisis are all around us. The question isn’t whether society has run amok; the question is what to do about it.

The Socialism 2013 conference will bring together hundreds of activists from across the U.S., and around the world, to tackle the many discussions and debates that confront anyone interested in changing the world. How can women’s liberation and LGBT equality be won? What will it take to win real justice for immigrant workers? Can organized labor make a comeback? What lessons can be learned from the revolutions shaking the Middle East? Why is Marxism relevant today?

Featured speakers include teachers on the front lines of the fight to defend public education, anti-racist fighters against police brutality and the New Jim Crow, trade unionists, Marxist authors, radical historians, and much more.

In Boston, we're starting to prepare for the conference now--join us! You can get updates on plans by "liking" the Boston Mobilization for Socialism 2013 Facebook page here: http://www.facebook.com/BostonS13

The best way to get registered, figure out plans for your stay, and build the conference here is by coming to ISO meetings. The last part--building the conference--is especially important. Everyone going to the conference is not just an attendee, but a participant--an organizer. We want to reach out to as many radicals as possible fighting for a better world to join the discussions in Chicago. We are also preparing ourselves through ongoing discussions and study groups, in addition to our activism, to be able to actively contribute to discussion at Socialism. Stay tuned for upcoming ISO meetings in Dorchester, Harvard, and UMass. If you haven't yet, join the Boston ISO Facebook group, and if you're at UMB, the UMass ISO page:
http://www.facebook.com/groups/bostonsocialism/
http://www.facebook.com/umb.socialists

 

If you would like to make a donation to the Boston Mobilization
to Socialism 2013, please do so here!

The International Socialist Organization presents
a speaking tour on fighting sexual violence

featuring Tithi Bhattacharya, Associate professor of history at Purdue University

Stop the Culture of Violence Against Women

Wednesday, April 10, 7pm

Codman Square Health Center, Dorchester

RSVP on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/631933536832446/

 

From Delhi to Steubenville:
Fighting Rape Culture and Sexual Violence

Thursday, April 11, 3:30pm
UMass Boston, McCormack Hall 2nd Floor, Room 0116

RSVP on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/451694051577935

 

From Steubenville to Harvard:

Understanding Rape Culture and Fighting Against It

Thursday, April 11, 7pm

Harvard University, Dudley House, Graduate Common Room

While most sexual violence committed against women is hidden in silence, two recent cases have become very public and have forced a national discussion about rape culture and sexual violence against women. A movement against sexual violence exploded in cities across India following the violent gang rape of a 23 year old women in Delhi that resulted in her death. Another attack that was brought to light because people spoke out was the rape of the 16 year old woman in Steubenville, Ohio. Two men raped the young woman after a night of drinking and she didn't even know what happened until seeing pictures on the internet the next day.

Both cases are all too familiar for women around the world but the fact that people decided to stand up and say enough is enough is something new and refreshing. The public outrage has pushed many people to ask the tough questions. Questions like, why is there so much violence against women? How has rape become so normalized in our society? And most importantly, what can we do to change this? In response to violence against women we all too often hear things like, “she was too drunk” or “she was dressed slutty” or “was it really rape?” It is clear that there is an urgent need for movement that can unapologetically fight for a society that doesn't encourage sexism but one that actively fights sexism.

With the decline of the women's liberation movement that fought to combat sexist ideas in society and fought for better conditions for women, we continue to see the rollback of it's gains. Sexual education that promotes consent and sexual health is absent from our schools, the advertising industry heavily relies on photographs of highly sexualized women to sell products and most women have very little access, if at all, to health services such as birth control, abortion and other services that allow women to control their own lives. The attack on women is only getting worse and will continue to as long as there isn't a mass movement of women and men that demand for something better.

Join the discussion where we can talk about where sexual violence against women comes from, what sexism looks like today, and what we can do in the here and now to fight it.

Thursday, 3/7, Boston, "Black Power Revolt of the 1960s: A Black Panther Speaks"