This lecture is part of a three-part educational series entitled 'What is Socialism?', hosted by the International Youth And Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) at UM.

The first lecture, titled “The Materialist Conception of History”, will review the development of historical materialism with an emphasis on its contemporary relevance.

Topics covered in this lecture:

• What is historical materialism
• Materialism vs. Idealism
• From Kant to Hegel to Marx
• The post-modernist attack on materialism

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What is Socialism? – IYSSE 2018 Lecture Series:

This year marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Karl Marx, the originator of the materialist conception of history, the author of Das Kapital and, with Friedrich Engels, the founder of the modern revolutionary socialist movement.

Two hundred years after Marx’s birth, there is growing interest in socialism all over the world. Workers and young people confront unprecedented levels of social inequality, unending war and the threat of dictatorship. Millions are looking for an alternative and are asking the question: What is socialism?

This series of lectures will review the theory of Karl Marx and its enduring contemporary relevance.