The Brecht Forum was an independent

Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...

educational and cultural center in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, New York, named after German writer

Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known as Bertolt Brecht and Bert Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a p ...

. Throughout the years, the Forum offered a wide-ranging program of classes, public lectures and seminars, art exhibitions, performances, popular education workshops, and language classes.http://brechtforum.org/nyms . The Brecht Forum closed in 2014. Many of the teachers and activists from the Forum have continued offering classes and discussions through the Marxist Education Project, which was founded following the Forum's closure and operates out of the Brooklyn Commons in the Boerum Hill neighborhood.

History

The Brecht Forum was founded in 1975, as the New York Marxist School by a collective of civil rights, community, labor, and student activists. It was named after Bertolt Brecht, who once argued that those who fight for Communism must be able to both fight and renounce fighting. Brecht Forum has been described as one of the governing directorate of the subculture that emerged out of New York's complex Marxist underworld. In 2004, it moved to Westbeth, 451 West St., New York, NY, formerly Serge’s Gym where its program also included the Theater of the Oppressed Laboratory, the Institute for Popular Education, and Neues Kabarett series. In 2012, it moved to the Commons in Brooklyn at 338 Atlantic Avenue, where its successor organization, the Marxist Education Project, now hosts many events each year. The Brecht Forum's website is being maintained as an archive at brechtforum.net. The site contains videos and audio recordings of programs over its close to 40-year history. Additional archival material is gradually being digitized and added to the site. At the Brecht Forum, people communicate, meet, and display their art.

2008 financial crisis discussion

On October 6, 2008, a discussion panel "An Offer We Can’t Refuse?" was held on the

2008 financial crisis The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide financial crisis centered in the United States. The causes of the 2008 crisis included excessive speculation on housing values by both homeowners ...

included Naomi Klein, Arun Gupta, Frances Fox Piven, William Greider, and Doug Henwood. In the discussion moderated by Christopher Hayes, the panel of progressive intellectuals and activists proposed radical solutions in response to the crisis.

References

External links

The Marxist Education Project website
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Brecht Forum Archive
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Brecht Forum Introduction video
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brecht Forum Alternative schools in the United States Defunct socialist organizations in the United States Theatre in the United States Theatrical genres Arts organizations based in New York City Culture of New York City Organizations based in Brooklyn Organizations established in 1975 1975 establishments in New York City Socialism in New York (state)