On November 5-7, the 7th international Rethinking Marxism conference will take place at University of Massachusetts Amherst. The conference brings together a wide range of scholars and activists whose work or political practice puts them in conversation with the Marxist research program.

Conference presenters will deliver papers on traditional Marxist themes and matters that intersect with Marxism, such as

• critical race theory
• feminism
• political economy
• anarchist studies
• cultural and literary studies

Dead Writing and Dead Social Formation

University of Massachusetts faculty member Stan Harrison will attend the conference and deliver his paper on the morning of November 6.

Harrison's paper, which promises to interest no one, carries the impenetrable title The Phantom Subject of the Internetworked Factory of Dead Writing and Dead Social Formation.

Cornered in the dark recesses of his office, Harrison shared his thesis with this reporter: "Marxists should define the Internet as a factory operation that generates dead writing, fashions a dead social formation, and transforms subjects of internetworked languaging into phantom objectivities, or phantom subjects that should be subjected to Marxist analysis."

When asked to elaborate on the meaning of his densely wrought thesis, Harrison quipped, "I wrote it. You got me there. But you don't really expect me to understand it."

Something for Everyone

Conference organizers have put together a well-rounded and mildly entertaining conference in the deperate hope that their other offerings will off-set the damage done by Harrison's presention.

This year's proceedings will feature two plenary sessions, an art exhibition, concurrent panels, workshops, and art/cultural events.

For more information about the conference, visit the conference website.