"Them belly full, but we hungry"

As global warming, soaring food prices, war and racism wrack the planet, resistance movements from Nepal to the Niger Delta to Chiapas are linking the looming global crisis to one source: capitalism. But questions remain: Why is the most productive social system humanity has ever created also so destructive? What are the alternatives to capitalism? How do we get there from here?

Using the global food crisis as a starting point, "Them Belly Full, But We Hungry" is a three-day introduction to marxism that seeks to unpack how capitalism works—to get behind surface appearances and see why capitalism must put profit before basic human needs. It will also examine the intersections of revolutionary movements and people's struggles against the ravages of capitalism and its three pillars, homophobia, racism, and sexism. The intensive is designed for workers, students, artists and activists who are interested in not only understanding the world, but changing it.

Marx brought a dialectical approach to participating in social change. He recognized that an understanding of the world cannot come from passive contemplation alone, that active struggle is necessary. Yet he also insisted that analysis, critical reflection--learning from our own experience as well as those of others--and struggle to make our concepts and ways of seeing both clear and accessible are as important as political engagement in the streets.

As Bob Marley’s song goes: "Them belly full, but we hungry… Now the weak must get strong"

Friday July 11

9:00 – 10:00 Registration & Introductions

10:00 – 11:00 Colonialism & the Project of Decoloniality with Lincoln Van Sluytman

11:00 – 1:00 Global Food Crisis with Fred Magdoff

1:00 – 2:00 LUNCH BREAK

2:00 – 3:30 Capitalism & Waste with Heather Rogers

3:30 – 5:30 Marx & Capital with Randy Martin

Saturday July 12

8:30 – 9:00 BREAKFAST WILL BE SERVED
9:00 – 11:00 Class Consciousness Workshop with Bertell Ollman

11:00 – 1:00 Globalization with Bill Tabb

1:00 – 2:00 LUNCH BREAK

2:00 – 4:00 Women and the Food Crisis with Lisa Maya Knauer

4:00 – 6:00 Race Today with Sam Anderson, Humberto Brown & Cleo Silvers

Sunday July 13

9:00 – 11:00 How Capitalism Delivers: Food & Energy Inflation, Unsustainable Household Debts & Looming Recession with Rick Wolff (Reading 1, Reading 2, Reading 3)

11:00 – 1:00 Capital & Class with Vivek Chibber

1:00 – 2:00 LUNCH BREAK

2:00 – 4:00 Is the Bronx Still Burning? 21st Century Visions for Sustainable Development with John Kim, Rachel Lineart & Terry Marshall

4:00 – 6:00 Evaluation & Graduation