Given the backwardness of Russian capitalism, the exploitation of the working class and the global rise of proletarian consciousness, revolution was inevitable . . .
Or was it?
Had the Provisional Government held elections earlier, or had Kerensky reached an accord with the moderate socialists, the Bolsheviks might never have seized power . . .
Conservative counterfactualism has long pitted itself against Marxist determinism. But could a counterfactual imagination emerging from the left offer new ways of resisting the stranglehold of global capitalism?
In today’s world, the divide between the Global North and Global South is increasingly a class divide. Neoliberalism, argues Crystal Bartolovich, has led to the petty-bourgeoisification of the entire Global North. In such a landscape, can a critical counterfactualism serve as a bridge between the oppressed in both hemispheres? Could it be the spell that breaks the jinx—and opens space for imagining the International anew?
What might such a radical pedagogy look like?
Dr. Crystal Bartolovich, associate professor of English at Syracuse University and author of the essay ‘History after the End of History: Critical Counterfactualism and Revolution’, will join us to explore these questions. She will also present new, unpublished work on critical counterfactualism and the North American Indigenous struggle.
Fact or Value 