Newsletter No. 61

C U H K NEWSLETTER WEILUNLECTURESBY ANALYTICAL MARXIST Is Marxism dead? Or could this century-old ideology be applicable in this day and age? What has remained of Marxism after the fall of communism in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union? Prof. Jon Elster, a well-known analytical Marxist from the University of Chicago, delivered two public lectures titled 'Marxism Today' and ' The Constitution-Making Process' to address these questions on 15th and 17th November during his visit to the University as Wei Lun Visiting Professor. 'The flaws of communism were visible and massively denounced by many Marxists, including myself, long before 1989,' said Prof. Elster. However, the historical and theoretical links between Marxism and communism are so tenuous and complicated that the moral and scientific failure of the latter does not have clear-cut implications for the former. Prof. Elster argued that the fall of communism should not be taken to mean Marxism having been discredited as a philosophical, economic, and historical theory. While some Marxist concepts such as scientific socialism, dialectical materialism, and the theory of productive forces and relations of production are dead, he said, other theories such as alienation, exploitation, and technical change are alive and will continue to influence the intellectual present. Prof. Elster is an internationally recognized expert in rational choice and decision-making theory and one of the founding scholars of the School of Analytical Marxism. He is currently Edward L. Ryerson Distinguished Service Professor of Political Science and Philosophy at the University of Chicago. He is best known for his unique multi-disciplinary perspective and his unusual breadth of knowledge, which spans the fields of philosophy, political science, history, technical economics, sociology, and law. CHINESE AND AMERICANEXPERIENCESOF VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN An international conference on violence against women was held f r om 16th to 19th November in the Cho Y iu Conference Hall. The Hon. Anna Wu, legislative councillor, officiated at the opening ceremony. Jointly organized by The Hong Kong-America Center, the Gender Research Programme of The Hong Kong Institute of Asia Pacific Studies at CUHK, and the David C. Lam Institute for East West Studies of Hong Kong Baptist College, the function was attended by over 100 participants from Hong Kong, China, Taiwan and the United States. They exchanged research and work experience concerning various f o r m s of violence against women in Chinese and American communities, including marital violence, rape, and sexual harassment. Discussion sessions and workshops were held to generate theoretical perspectives for the understanding of violence against women in the wider context of gender relationships and equality. NO.61 DECEMBER 1994 4