Economic Update Extra: Prof. Michael Pelias (September 25, 2018)

Podcast: Economic Update with Richard D. Wolff
Host: Richard D. Wolff (referred to as "Sam" in transcript)
Guest: Professor Michael Pelias, with contributions from Stanley Aronowitz
Theme: The rationale and ambitions behind founding a new "Left University" in New York City, the necessity for critical thinking in education, and the historical urgency of creating new educational and intellectual spaces.

Episode Overview

This episode continues a conversation with Professor Michael Pelias, joined by Stanley Aronowitz, about their efforts to establish a new Left University in New York City. The dialogue examines the meaning and importance of critical thinking in higher education, critiques of existing academic institutions, the aim to foster "organic intellectuals," and the historical necessity of alternative educational projects in response to the current crises in both universities and the labor movement.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Critical Thinking as the Core of Education

• Definition & Importance

  • Pelias roots "critique" in its Greek etymology (krainon: "to separate out"), not as negativity but a process of genuine engagement and analysis.

    "Critique is really a very... positive word in the ancient philosophy. It's an effort to understand." (Pelias/Aronowitz, 01:29–01:36)

  • There's a shared worry that genuine critical thinking has been diluted or sidelined in current universities, becoming mere rhetoric without substance.

• Process of Critique

  • Pelias lays out a "threefold moment" of philosophy:
    1. Descriptive: Understanding the problem in historical context
    2. Critical: Separating and analyzing the issue
    3. Analytical: Opening space for solutions

    "There would be a threefold moment, the description of the problems... a critical moment... and analytical, that loosens it up." (Pelias, 02:28–02:57)

  • Notable Application: Questions the normalization of student debt, advocating for alternatives like a "jubilee" (debt cancellation) to benefit both individuals and society at large. (Pelias, 01:57–02:21)

Education Beyond Vocational Training

• Sam (Host) contrasts education for the job market with education oriented towards innovation and critical self-reflection:

  "An education that teaches you how to plug into a job can never begin to be as exciting as an education that teaches you to see beyond what is... to put into your head how it could be better." (Sam, 03:13–04:17)

• Concern: Modern society praises innovators but fails to cultivate creative, critical thinkers en masse due to educational limitations. (Sam, 03:45)

Creating "Organic Intellectuals" & Bottom-Up Learning

• Vision:
  • Pelias/Aronowitz aim to develop "organic intellectuals" — critical thinkers rooted in their social realities, not academic elites.

    "An organic intellectual is someone who is very critical, actually enters in the nucleus of the moment... digs where they are... able to transcend that." (Pelias/Aronowitz, 04:33–04:51)

• Method:
  • Emphasize community, peer-learning, and moving away from hierarchical, top-down academic models:

    "Those that teach themselves are the ones being educated as well... we've forgotten that with so much top-down hierarchy." (Pelias/Aronowitz, 04:53–05:16)

Academia’s Contradictions & Lost Potential

• Double Standard:
  • Sam (Host): Sciences encourage novelty, but in social sciences/humanities, new ways of seeing or organizing society face resistance.

    "In the sciences... there's a push to come up with new ways... But when it comes to social science and humanities... there's a fear almost." (Sam, 05:34–06:12)

• Aronowitz: Universities have been "depoliticized," stripped of their critical, innovative edge in societal analysis. (Aronowitz, 06:12–06:31)

Inclusion and Building Community

• Admissions:
  • Pelias: Open to all, with current courses attended by a diverse age range from undergraduates to octogenarians.

    "...Population has ranged in age from 19... all the way up to 85 year old ex... Communist Party members. We have a very far range." (Pelias/Aronowitz, 06:48–07:02)

• Community:
  • Education as a "forum" and meeting place, fostering dialogue, solidarity, and a collective search for solutions.

    "It gives people a space to talk about ideas... a place where people can go and really exchange what they're reading and have some kind of commonality." (Pelias, 07:02–07:22; Aronowitz, 07:22–07:26)

Embracing Technology and Physical Presence

• Distance Learning:
  • Lectures are already recorded and made available online via YouTube for accessibility (07:45–08:01).
  • Future plans for full online courses, but initial focus remains on in-person community creation.

    "Part of the idea is to build the center, to build a community." (Pelias, 08:16)

Political & Historical Urgency

• Historical Moment:
  • Sam/Aronowitz/Pelias note increasing economic decline, inequality, and social conflict, seeing the university project as a necessary response.
  • Sam:

    "This is a time when people are asking questions about the way society works, looking for solutions to problems that have become pretty urgent. So it really might be the right moment for a new university..." (Sam, 08:30–09:35)

• Aronowitz:

  "I don't think we have a choice but to do this... unless we form something that is alternative and different... we don't really have a chance of keeping what's very, very precious alive and consistent in a leftist tradition..." (Aronowitz, 09:35–09:47)

Building on Existing Initiatives

• The Left University draws on the ongoing success of Brooklyn Commons courses, Judson Memorial Church classes, and the Marxist Educational Project, aiming to unify and expand these programs into a broader movement (09:47–10:24).

Connecting with Labor

• Sam/Aronowitz: Parallels between crises in universities and the labor movement; both require renewal or risk extinction.

  "The university as a place of open-ended, honest and exciting new thinking becomes reduced to a vocational training institute means there is no choice. Or else the old concept... is gone." (Sam, 11:07–12:06) "The labor question is first and foremost in most of our minds going forward... labor unions are facing the same dilemma. No choice. No choice at this point." (Aronowitz, 12:09–12:30)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Critical Thinking:

  "A critique is really a very positive word in the ancient philosophy. It's an effort to understand."
  — Stanley Aronowitz, 01:31

• On Education’s Purpose:

  "An education that teaches you how to plug into a job can never begin to be as exciting as an education that teaches you to see beyond what is..."
  — Sam (Richard D. Wolff), 03:13

• On Organic Intellectuals:

  "An organic intellectual is someone who is very critical, actually enters in the nucleus of the moment... and at the same time disseminate in an active questioning and answering... a new group of intellectuals... not from the upper class."
  — Michael Pelias, 04:33–04:53

• On Inclusion:

  "I think everybody is welcome... population has ranged in age from 19 year olds... all the way up to 85 year old ex... Communist Party members."
  — Michael Pelias, 06:40–07:02

• On the Historical Necessity:

  "I don't think we have a choice but to do this... unless we form something that is alternative and different... we don't really have a chance of keeping what's very, very precious alive and consistent in a leftist tradition."
  — Stanley Aronowitz, 09:35–09:47

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:00–01:14: Setting the stage: critical thinking and the university's mission
• 01:14–02:57: Defining critique and outlining the philosophical approach
• 03:13–04:28: Education for jobs vs. education for societal innovation
• 04:28–05:16: Organic intellectuals and bottom-up intellectual formation
• 05:34–06:12: Contradictions in the encouragement of innovation across disciplines
• 06:40–07:26: Target audience and the community-building aspect
• 07:45–08:16: Plans for online and in-person education
• 08:30–09:35: Historical urgency in founding the Left University
• 09:35–10:28: Necessity for institutional alternatives
• 11:07–12:06: Parallels with the labor movement and dangers of institutional decline
• 12:09–12:30: Labor’s and education's shared existential crisis

Tone & Takeaways

The discussion is urgent, intellectually engaged, and critical yet hopeful. Pelias and Aronowitz argue passionately for reclaiming universities as spaces of deep inquiry and social transformation, rooted in community and open to all. They view the new Left University as both a practical response to crisis and a bold intellectual experiment, aiming to rejuvenate the radical, emancipatory potential of higher education.