The annual conference, associated with the leading English-language journal of critical Marxist research, will draw hundreds of scholars to hear 250 papers delivered by speakers from eight countries, including Canada, the US, Mexico, India, South Korea, Britain, Australia and Turkey.

Highlights of the conference include the following plenary sessions:

Global Crisis, Working Class Households and Migrant Labour − with Johanna Brenner, professor emerita Portland State University; McGill University Professor Aziz Choudry; and Professor David McNally, of York University’s Department of Political Science, organizer of the conference (Thurs., May 13, 5-7pm).

“Is Marxism a Theodicy” − A lecture by Professor Terry Eagleton, Chair of the Department of English and Creative Writing at Lancaster University, a literary critic and novelist. Professor Eagleton has recently published a book on religion, arguing that social critics ought not to belittle people’s religious beliefs but, instead, take them seriously as expressing fundamental concerns about the values that inform their lives. In this lecture, he will discuss whether Marxism too depends upon something akin to religious values. (Fri. May 14, 5:30 to 7pm).

Marxism and the Global South, with Vijay Prashad, Professor of International Studies at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, columnist and author of The Darker Nations: A People's History of the Third World ; and Kevin Anderson, author of Marx at the Margins and professor at University of California at Santa Cruz). (Sat. May 15, 5:30 to 7pm).

Capitalism, Race and Colonialism, with Cherokee intellectual and anti-violence activist Andrea Smith; Professor David Roediger of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and Elizabeth Esch, assistant professor of history and American studies, Barnard College. (Sun. May 16, 2 to 3:30pm).

WHAT:             Historical Materialism 2010 conference

WHEN:             May 13-16, 2010

WHERE:           Accolade West, York University Keele campus (#93 on Map).

INFO:               http://www.yorku.ca/hmyork/

York University is the leading interdisciplinary research and teaching university in Canada. York offers a modern, academic experience at the undergraduate and graduate level in Toronto, Canada’s most international city. The third largest university in the country, York is host to a dynamic academic community of 50,000 students and 7,000 faculty and staff, as well as 200,000 alumni worldwide. York’s 10 Faculties and 28 research centres conduct ambitious, groundbreaking research that is interdisciplinary, cutting across traditional academic boundaries. This distinctive and collaborative approach is preparing students for the future and bringing fresh insights and solutions to real-world challenges. York University is an autonomous, not-for-profit corporation.

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Media Contact:

Janice Walls, Media Relations, York University, 416 736 2100 x22101 / wallsj@yorku.ca

Conference registration takes place in the lobby of the Accolade West building.