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Subject:

Fwd: "Capital" class suppressed, teacher expelled

From:

Chris Jones <[log in to unmask]>

Reply-To:

Chris Jones <[log in to unmask]>

Date:

Mon, 17 May 2004 11:59:35 +0100

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text/plain

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>X-Original-To: [log in to unmask]
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>X-Originating-IP: [4.172.63.212]
>X-Originating-Email: [[log in to unmask]]
>From: "Drewk" <[log in to unmask]>
>To: <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: "Capital" class suppressed, teacher expelled
>Date: Fri, 14 May 2004 02:28:09 -0400
>X-Priority: 3 (Normal)
>Importance: Normal
>X-OriginalArrivalTime: 14 May 2004 06:24:17.0810 (UTC)
>FILETIME=[15D31720:01C4397C]
>X-Virus-Scanned: by amavisd-new at gn.apc.org
>X-Spam-Status: No, hits=0.0 tagged_above=-999.0 required=4.2
>  tests=LINES_OF_YELLING
>X-Spam-Level:
>
>"On Feb. 9, the Brecht Forum informed the teacher of its course on
>"Capital, Marx's Capital and Alternatives to Capital," Andrew
>Kliman, that it does not want him to teach there in the future,
>and that it "would not object" to his leaving before the current
>course was over. The expulsion letter came in response to Kliman's
>and the class' complaints that the Brecht substantively rewrote
>the course announcement without his knowledge or consent. The
>Brecht's version of the announcement hid the fact that the course
>is a seminar on Capital and, without permission, identified him as
>having written for NEWS & LETTERS."
>
>* complete ARTICLE below, and at
>http://www.newsandletters.org/Issues/2004/March/teacher_Marchb04.h
>tm
>
>* extensive DOCUMENTATION supporting the charges made in the
>article available at
>http://www.newsandletters.org/Issues/2004/March/docum.html
>
>
>Brian Martin, a courageous fighter against suppression of dissent,
>notes:
>
>"Publicity is undoubtedly an extremely potent method of opposing
>suppression. ...  It is vitally important that action be taken
>against suppression. This is because the most important effect of
>suppression is ... on others who observe the process. Every case
>of suppression is a warning to potential critics not to buck the
>system. And every case in which suppression is vigorously opposed
>is a warning to vested interests that attacks will not be
>tolerated." (from his very cool website
>[http://www.uow.edu.au/arts/sts/bmartin/dissent/])
>
>So please do FORWARD the article and URLs, as a warning to vested
>interests that attacks will not be tolerated.  Thanks
>
>====================
>
>NY LEFT INSTITUTION PURGES "CAPITAL" TEACHER
>
>New York -- On Feb. 9, the Brecht Forum informed the teacher of
>its course on "Capital, Marx's Capital and Alternatives to
>Capital," Andrew Kliman, that it does not want him to teach there
>in the future, and that it "would not object" to his leaving
>before the current course was over. The expulsion letter came in
>response to Kliman's and the class' complaints that the Brecht
>substantively rewrote the course announcement without his
>knowledge or consent. The Brecht's version of the announcement hid
>the fact that the course is a seminar on Capital and, without
>permission, identified him as having written for NEWS & LETTERS.
>
>"Such numerous and important changes are by no means 'purely
>stylistic,' as the Brecht claims," Kliman said. "I have never
>before had text substantially altered like this without
>consultation. I've never even heard of such a case before. The
>Brecht has shown itself to be a petty, sectarian institution
>utterly lacking in intellectual integrity."
>
>Kliman had been teaching for a sixth term at the Brecht to an
>unusually large class of 23. The course has resumed at another
>location.
>
>Teachers at the Brecht Forum, a 28-year-old New York City left
>educational institution, are not paid. The purged seminar leader
>is a widely published Marxist-Humanist theorist whose writings
>have clashed with established "Marxist" economics. He and others
>have refuted "Marxist" economists' alleged proofs of Marx's
>internal inconsistency.
>
>What was Kliman's crime that merited expulsion? Only that he and
>the class objected to the Brecht re-writing the course description
>and Kliman's biography without his knowledge and consent for its
>catalogue, website, e-mail and flyers. The Brecht did this not
>once, but twice. The rewriting, which disguised the fact that the
>course was a course on CAPITAL, undoubtedly served to reduce
>enrollment.
>
>Although the Brecht claimed the changes were "stylistic," it is
>known that the administration dislikes Kliman's work and politics.
>One student reported from personal conversations that leaders of
>the Brecht were "out to get" him. During another discussion of the
>rewriting problem, an influential person at the Brecht complained
>about Kliman's "idealism" and expressed disagreement with his
>recently published "Marx's Concept of Intrinsic Value."
>
>The three-term seminar emerged out of Kliman's Brecht course on
>CAPITAL Vols. 2 and 3. He and several students co-wrote the new
>course's description. Acting on its own, the Brecht changed the
>course title to "Four Questions" and removed several points in the
>description, actions that disguised the fact that the course
>consists primarily of a close reading of Vol. 1. In addition,
>Kliman's biography was changed by removing references to his prior
>Brecht teaching, dropping some of his publications, and adding
>that he had published in NEWS & LETTERS.
>
>When this happened last fall, Kliman objected privately, and the
>Brecht sent out the correct version of the course description to
>its email list. Yet when the winter publicity appeared, the
>description had again been modified, and the Brecht's rewrite of
>Kliman's bio again replaced his own. This occurred even though he
>had asked the Brecht not to alter the text without his permission.
>
>Kliman and the class then requested a correction, an apology, and
>assurance that such re-writing would not occur again. The Brecht's
>executive director, Liz Mestres, not only refused, but insisted
>she has a right to make changes to course announcements without
>the knowledge and consent of their authors, even when the changes
>are additions that disclose teachers‚ supposed political
>associations. As one student said, "There is little doubt that
>Mestres made this identification to scare off prospective
>students."
>
>Brecht administrators faulted Kliman for discussing the matter
>with the class; they interrupted two class meetings by shouting at
>him when the matter was being discussed. Several students sent
>letters to the Brecht objecting to its rewriting without
>permission. Another objected to the idea that such matters should
>be kept from the class. Kliman's several attempts to discuss the
>matter with Mestres were rebuffed.
>
>Many class members think the issues at stake are fairly simple: no
>school has a right to rewrite course descriptions and bios without
>consultation; the class has a right to present its project as it
>sees fit; no institution has the right to publish teachers'
>supposed affiliations without permission. Yet some class members
>held that a left institution should not be challenged, even if it
>suppresses other leftists, in order to maintain "unity" -- even
>when changing its practices would not harm the institution in any
>way.
>
>Another student countered that "Only through reasoned debate can
>leftists work out differences and problems and figure out how best
>to fight. That is, the tactic of suppressing dissenting views is
>not only wrong 'in principle,' but produces backward movement, not
>forward. By debating and developing ideas now about what
>non-capitalism means, we are helping the movement go forward
>toward that goal. The process we are engaged in is the very
>opposite of suppressing dissent."
>
>--Seminar participants
>
>(NEWS & LETTERS, March 2004)


--
Chris Jones
CSE / Capital and Class
25 Horsell Road
London, N5 1XL
02076079615
www.cseweb.org.uk

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