Around the Nation: October 3, 2007

MIT's Center for International Studies presents a Starr Forum on the book "The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy." Featuring a discussion with the authors John Mearsheimer (University of Chicago) and Stephen Walt (Harvard University), with additional remarks by Bruce Riedel (Brookings Institution). Kirsch Auditorium, Stata Center, MIT bldg. 32-123. Free and open to the public. For more information, contact: Annie Abbondante, 617-253-8306.

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First Parish Church, 3 Church St. Free,

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Join the Center for the Humanities for a panel discussion about the current presidential campaign, with a specific emphasis on issues of how gender and race are presented and performed--by both the media and the candidates. Participants will include Melissa Harris-Lacewell, associate professor of Political Science, Princeton University; Tavia Nyong’o, assistant professor of Performance Studies, NYU; Jennifer Senior, associate editor, New York magazine; and Gary Younge, columnist for The Nation and author of Stranger in a Strange Land: Encounters in the Disunited States. 365 Fifth Ave at 34th St. Free. No reservations. 365 Fifth Ave at 34th St. More information via e-mail or call 212-817-2005. Co-sponsored by The Nation.

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Eight-session class begins, taught by Rick Wolff. This course uses Marxian class analysis to examine the rise and collapse of the USSR between 1917 and 1989. We will study how capitalist, socialist and communist class structures coexisted inside the USSR and shaped the following: the 1917 revolution and civil war, Lenin’s New Economic Policy, Stalin’s industrialization and agricultural collectivization, post-WW2 Soviet growth, and the 1980s collapse. We aim to draw important lessons for the left today from the achievements and failures of the Soviet system. The central text will be Class Theory and History: Capitalism, Communism and the USSR, by Stephen Ressnick and Richard Wolff. It is available in paperback in bookstores and via the Internet. Further readings will be provided. Richard Wolff teaches economics at the University of Massachusetts. Among other works, he is the author, with Stephen Ressnick, of Knowledge and Class: A Marxian Critique of Political Economy, and New Departures in Marxian Theory. Sliding scale: $75-$95, free for Brecht Forum subscribers. Brecht Forum, 51 West Street (A, C, E, 1, 2, 3 to 14th St.), 212-242-4201.

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Software is more than instructions for computing machines: it enables (and disables) political imperatives and policies. Nowhere is this potential for radical social and political change more apparent than in the practice and movement known as free software. Free software makes the knowledge and innovation of its creators publicly available. The liberation of code—celebrated in free software’s explicatory slogan “Think free speech, not free beer”—is the foundation for example, of the GNU/Linux phenomenon. In their book Decoding Liberation: The Promise of Free and Open Source Software, Samir Chopra and Scott D. Dexter examine the emancipatory potential of technology, asking: What are the freedoms of free software, and how are they manifested? Suggested donation: $6/$10/$15--free for Brecht Forum subscribers. Brecht Forum, 51 West Street 212-242-4201.

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Jane Guskin, co-author of The Politics of Immigration: Questions & Answers, leads the discussion. Have you heard an anti-immigrant argument that you feel is wrong but need the facts to contest? (For example: "Immigrants are a drain on social services.") Bring these arguments and concerns to a dialogue, and we'll work together to develop responses using facts, reasoning and personal experiences. Open University of the Left, 2040 N. Milwaukee Ave., at the In These Times building, second floor.

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Fifty youth leaders ages 16 to 27 are in Washington this week to participate in Mobilize.org's "Democracy 2.0 Summit"--a national movement designed to call attention to the ways that our democratic process and institutions are properly serving--and failing to serve--the interests of young Americans. Democracy 2.0 is designed to address the civic participation needs and interests of the Millennial Generation (targeting the 16-30 age group). 1539 Longworth House Office Building in the Homeland Security Committee Room.

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The Beastly Bombing, or A Terrible Tale of Terrorists Tamed by the Tangles of True Love. Book and Lyrics by Julien Nitzberg, Music by Roger Neill. Nitzberg and Neill's Gilbert-and-Sullivan-style romantic operetta about white supremacists and Al Qaeda terrorists plotting to blow up the Brooklyn Bridge has already been dubbed "the first great work of comedy to emerge from the post-9/11 little planet of horrors." Winner, "Best Musical of the Year," LA Weekly Awards. Julia Miles Theater, 424 W. 55th Street (between Ninth and Tenth avenues). 212-352-3101. Six shows only.

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