Intro to Anticapitalism for Artists
Intro to Anticapitalism for Artists is our core offering, which runs continuously based on availability. Interested applicants can join the standby list below to be alerted as to when the next cohort launches.
Artists today are engaged in a number campaigns for equity and inclusion within their respective industries, and this is in large part due to a recent popular flourishing of identity politics. Yet even when the discourse purports to be ‘intersectional,’ the class analysis is often lacking. This renders the demands overwhelmingly moral rather than material, often superficial when implemented, and always falling short of being comprehensive or ‘radical’ in the sense that Angela Davis evokes as “getting at the root of things.”
Karl Marx, born just over 200 years ago, synthesized the philosophy, science, and economics of his day to create a powerful critique of capitalism and its oppressive inevitability. His ideas - ultimately advocating for a workers’ revolution - have since been implemented and reified, tarnished and dismissed, appropriated and abused, and perhaps most of all: misunderstood. Yet his response to the problem of capitalism, an argument for socialism, continues to endure and evolve because of the carefully reasoned analysis at its core. In fact, Marx’s theories only seem to become harder and harder to ignore as time goes on.
The problem for liberation today is therefore not necessarily the search for a new critique, but a rediscovery, reapplication, and modern synthesis that can inspire a new generation to organize themselves. Artists have been, and will forever be, uniquely situated toward this goal.
INTRO TO ANTICAPITALISM FOR ARTISTS is a mixed-media course designed to create a space for artists to engage with a radical class education in the service of enriching their lives as both artists and revolutionaries.
Each cohort comprises roughly 15 artists and one facilitator who will meet weekly over the course of ten weeks to discuss text and video assignments over Zoom. An eclectic combination of essays, articles, speeches, lectures, books, and film will require about 4 hours of preparation prior to meeting, and meetings themselves will last 2 hours. Sessions will be donation-based, and all materials will be provided.
The course is designed for artists who desire — but do not yet possess — a grasp of formal anticapitalism (i.e., the who, what, and why of it all). No previous knowledge is required, and the following topics will be covered:
An overview of the history of Capitalism
An introduction to “Critical Theory,” or the ways of clearly recognizing and scrutinizing the systems which dominate our lives
The fundamentals of Marxist theory, concepts, and terminology
A brief survey of some anticapitalist responses: movements, programs, activists, events
Class intersections with antiracism, feminism, gender studies, etc & anticapitalist perspectives from colonized & oppressed identities
Application of anticapitalism to the arts and our current moment (BLM, COVID-19, climate change, etc)
Weekly group conversations will be a way for participants to engage with the assigned media, ask questions, push back against it, learn from each other, and most importantly, contextualize anticapitalism for themselves. They should be fun, invigorating, and empowering sessions unto themselves.
Please note that we both prioritize BIPOC applicants and hold space for BIPOC-only cohorts, though persons of all backgrounds are nonetheless encouraged to apply. Please reach out if you have any questions or concerns.