The taxpayer-funded Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC) is scheduled to host a "Radical Assembly" conference next spring, featuring discussions on topics such as "imperial hubris," the rise of China, and "trans futures." The event, co-sponsored by BMCC's Political Science Program and the group "Historical Materialism," is described as an annual conference dedicated to the development of critical Marxist theory and socialist strategy.
The three-day conference, set to take place from April 22-24, is also co-sponsored by the Institute for the Radical Imagination, an organization that aims to foster critical analysis and democratic socialist strategy. According to an invitation obtained by The Post, the conference theme is "Facing Despair, Fighting Despair."
The invitation states, "As the forces of capitalism have increased their capacity for coercion and command, as never-ending wars and authoritarian regimes have proliferated, the dominated classes (especially the younger generations) are faced with a future that appears to be brutish and bleak." It further notes that the conference aims to be a "space of broad comradely discussion of all issues related to critical Marxist theory and research across the globe and across all disciplines and interests."
Potential topics for discussion include the relationship between technology and class struggle, fossil capitalism and ecological crisis, authoritarianism and fascism, Palestine's resistance and solidarity, imperialism and anti-imperialism, the decline of the United States and the rise of China, feminist, queer, and trans futures, racial capitalism and decolonial perspectives, Marxism and religion, abolition as socialist strategy, and the challenges of municipal socialism.
Critics have expressed concern over the event. New York State Conservative Party Chairman Gerard Kassar called the conference "an absolute disgrace" and "downright scary." He stated, "BMCC is a taxpayer-financed institution. They’re forcing taxpayers to pay to promote Marxism, whose goal is the violent overthrow of the US government. It’s a threat to our society."
BMCC is the largest community college within the City University of New York (CUNY) system, serving approximately 21,000 students with an annual budget of $187 million. The college receives city and state funding, and many of its students benefit from tuition-free or subsidized attendance.