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Left Forum 2011: Interview with Howard Engelskirchen

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Philosopher, lawyer, and professor Howard Engelskirchen speaks about participatory economics and how democracy informs this practice, as well as the Marxist underpinnings of this movement.

Engelskirchen formerly taught at Union College, Iowa State University, and Western State University, and is the author of Capital as a Social Kind (Routledge, 2010). Here's a little bit about that book:

Capital as a Social Kind provides an introduction to social kinds in social theory. Thinking about kinds, the way we sort the things of the world into categories -- water, for example, is a natural kind – has made an important contribution to our understanding of science in the last half century, but these advances have been largely applicable to the natural, rather than the social sciences. Drawing on the rich examples offered by Marx’s analysis of capital and exploring a methodology that will be of interest to both Marxist and non-Marxist social theorists alike, Capital as a Social Kind extends this approach to the study of social life.

The book argues that, provoked by his study of Aristotle, Marx’s attentions foreshadowed contemporary themes in the realist philosophy of science. Importantly, social kind analysis is relevant not only to understanding his critique of political economy but illuminates also a materialist study of law, justice, morality and the transition to socialism. Social kind analysis also opens a path for the development of today’s moral realism by suggesting the need for a systematic study of the causal structures of social life. In this respect the importance of normative themes in Marxism is defended against claims that the Marxist tradition lacks the resources to call capitalism unjust or to defend morality and human rights.

Left Forum 2011: Interview with Shakoor AljuwaniLeft Forum 2011: Interview with Osagyefo Sekou

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Shaun Randol is the Founder and Editor in Chief of The Mantle. He is also an Associate Fellow at the World Policy Institute in New York City, and a member of the National Book Critics Circle.