Itchy Chin Club

2011-12-27T15:49:00.001-08:00

The next book we are going to read is A Revolution of the Mind by
Jonathan Israel.

We will be meeting to discuss this at 7pm, usual venue (Candid Arts Cafe)
on the 18th January.

Over the last decade Israel has produced a massive three volume history of the Enlightenment which has been met with much acclaim and controversy. Broadly Israel makes the case that there was not one Enlightenment but two - a radical Enlightenment (atheist, advancing the cause of freedom of expression, democracy, separation of church and state etc) and a moderate Enlightenment (reformist, deist, relatively uncritical of existing powers etc). Israel's work focuses on tracing this distinction and defends the former, radical Enlightenment, against both
the moderate Enlightenment and its more contemporary critics (post-modernists etc). A Revolution of the Mind is a shorter work, written between the second and third volumes of Israels broader history. Produced for a general audience it summarises his main arguments.

Thursday 24th November: Ill Fares The Land by Tony Judt

2011-11-21T05:21:00.000-08:00

One off move to a Thursday evening will be the last Itchy Chin Club for 2011. We'll start up again in January 2012. Meeting will be at The Candid Arts Trust cafe as usual.

26th of October: Robert M Wallace: Hegel's Philosophy of Reality, Freedom and God

2011-09-25T01:55:00.000-07:00

The next book will be Hegel's Philosophy of Reality, Freedom and God concentrating on the Introduction, chapters 1 & 2 and the conclusion, and skimming through chapter 5.

September 21st: Why Marx Was Right

2011-08-25T04:16:00.000-07:00

We'll be reading Eagleton's Why Marx Was Right. Should make for a spirited discussion.

17th August: Civilisations and it's Disconents

2011-07-27T04:50:00.000-07:00

For the next meeting we're reading Freud's Civilisations and it's Disconents and Explaining Violence in South Africa: Some psychoanalytic considerations.

Habermas: A Very Short Introduction

2011-07-03T03:18:00.000-07:00

Next book is Habermas: A Very Short Introduction on 20th July at Candid Arts Trust Cafe in Angel.

Just to keep the blog up to date other recent books have included Sennet's The Corrosion Of Character and The Great Stagflation.

Next meeting: Wikileaks, 16th of March

2011-02-20T07:35:00.000-08:00

Thanks to everyone who put some effort into Judith Butler and participated in what turned out to be quite a spirited discussion.

For the next meeting we decided we'd like to do something a bit different and thought wikileaks would make an interesting topic.

The plan was to find a few articles around the issues of wikileaks as a current phenomena, arguments around transparency and power (one of Assange's arguments is that the more power a group wields the more transparent it needs to be) and effects the leaks are having, particularly in places like Tunisia and Egypt.

So far Zizek and Piliger have been put forward, and they'll be a some other reading selected too.

All That's Solid Melts into Air

2010-12-05T03:27:00.000-08:00

For the next meeting we agreed to read All That's Solid Melts into Air by Marshal Berman. Tha plan is to read at least the first three parts (Goethe, Marx and Baudelaire), and to meet on the 12th January. Hopefully see you there.

Wednesday the 24th November: Red Plenty

2010-10-24T06:36:00.000-07:00

Just in case it wasn't obvious, this blog is only irregularly updated - best to email and join the mailing list to keep up-to-date. After reading The Shock Doctrine, The Blank Slate and sections of The Origins Of Totalitarianism over the summer we're now starting on Francis Spufford's Red Plenty.

There's a free sample and a review by Steven Rose.

June 30: The Enigma Of Capital

2010-06-02T05:45:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lack of updates. We read The Fragile Absolute last month and this month we're reading David Harvey's The Enigma Of Capital.

31st of March: Capitalist Realism by Mark Fisher

2010-03-10T07:15:00.000-08:00

We had a quiet turn out for Amusing Ourselves To Death last month, but a good animated discussion. Next book is Capitalist Realism by Mark Fisher. Meeting details same as usual: Candid Arts Trust Cafe, 6:30pm for a 7pm start. Email chrisf@goop.org for details.

20th of January: One Dimensional Woman by Nina Power

2009-12-13T14:31:00.000-08:00

Over Christmas we'll be reading One Dimensional Woman and meeting up on the 20th of January to discuss. For more details email chrisf@goop.org.

August meetup: Democracy

2009-07-16T09:27:00.000-07:00

After reading From Marxism to Post Marxism in July, we're experimenting with an article format for August 5th on the theme of Democracy. The articles I've selected are:

Democracy and democracy-support: a new era, by Christopher Hobson and Milja Kurki

Capitalism and democracy, by Achin Vanaik

The Rise of Illiberal Democracy, by Fareed Zakaria

Is democracy possible? by Bruce Gilley

Political parties in comparative perspective, by Paul Webb

Democracy can be bad for you, by Eric Hobsbawm and Jacques Attali

Power to the People, Executive Summary and Recommendations, Power Report

If it's more convenient I've formatted the above for easy printing at.

There's also an extended list of other interesting articles, which are optional:

No hay mujeres: Latin America women and gender equality, by Kristen Sample

Chile or Venezuela - Which is the Good Democracy?, by Rodrigo Acuña

Democracy for export: principles, practices, lessons, by Daniele Archibugi

The Defeat of Democracy in Luciano Canfora, by Dylan Riley, NLR

Canfora's scandalous history of democracy, by Adam Krzeminski

Nothing to turn back to, by Neal Lawson

California: No longer the Golden State? by Peter Aldhous

May 27th: Discipline and Punish

2009-05-04T07:14:00.000-07:00

For May we'll be reading Foucault's Discipline and Punish

April 29th: Lost History

2009-04-08T07:33:00.000-07:00

Lost History: The Enduring Legacy of Muslim Scientists, Thinkers and Artists by Michael Morgan

April 1st - The Ascent of a Money

2009-03-07T07:23:00.000-08:00

Next meeting will be the 1st of April where we will be discussing what we thought of Niall Ferguson's The Ascent of a Money (that's the book, rather than the TV programme).

February Meet Up

2009-02-05T08:31:00.000-08:00

The results from voting are in and the winner is The Future of the Image by Jacques Ranciere.

We'll be meeting on Wednesday February 25th to discuss at the usual place and time (Candid Arts Trust cafe, 6:30 for a 7PM start).

January meeting

2009-01-11T06:33:00.000-08:00

The book for January is Frantz Fanon's The Wretched of the Earth. Meetup details the same as usual: 6:30 for a 7PM start, January 28th, Candid Arts Trust cafe.

November meeting

2008-11-06T07:21:00.000-08:00

The next book is Hervé Kempf's How the Rich are Destroying the Earth. See you on Wednesday the 26th of November.

October Meeting Details

2008-10-05T02:12:00.000-07:00

The votes have been counted and Sartre and Heidegger finished first with five votes. Second place went to The Corrosion Of Character and third to Civilization and its Discontents. Both the texts we will be reading are available free online:

Existentialism is a Humanism
Jean Paul Sartre

Letter on Humanism
Martin Heidegger

The October meeting will be on Wednesday the 29th at the usual time (6:30 for 7pm start) at the usual venue (Candid Arts Trust cafe).

September Meeting Thanks

2008-10-05T02:09:00.000-07:00

Just a quick note of thanks to everyone who turned up for the September meeting. A spirited discussion about Edward W Said's Culture and Imperialism seemed to be enjoyed by all.

First meeting details and mailing list

2008-08-14T04:04:00.000-07:00

The first meeting at the Itchy Chin Club will be on Tuesday the 26th of August at the Candid Arts Trust cafe in Angel Islington. It's located on the second floor of the Candid Arts Trust studio building on Torrens Street behind Angel tube. There's sign outside the door on the street and from there you go up two flights of stairs and turn right. I plan to arrive about 6PM to grab the sofas down the back and expect people to start arriving 6:30ish and things to get going around 7PM.

The cafe does nice, veggie-friendly no frills food with mains in the £7-9 range. They only sell wine and beer with meals, but seem happy for everyone to share an open bottle.

I've also started the discussion list for deciding on the next book and making arrangements for futire meetings. If you'd like to join please send a mail with the subject subscribe to itchychinclub-request@goop.org (or to myself).

Calling all itchy chins

2008-07-18T16:56:00.000-07:00

Can't get enough Dan Brown? Then stop reading right now because this is definitely not the book group for you. Have an open minded general interest in non-fiction and a desire to read and discuss books on art, culture, politics, history and philosophy? Then itchy chin is a new central London based book group which would like to meet you.

It works something like this: we choose a new book to read every month and then meet up early evening mid week in a pub or cafe somewhere reasonably central to discuss. Decisions on what to read next will be collective, but in the interests of lively discussion I'd like to focus on books which are more speculative than factual and more on the side of challenging than accessible. Since works of fiction are already well served by other book groups, I expect we will predominantly stick with non-fiction though reading literary criticism along with the original work is definitely a possibility.

To get things started the first book will be Slavoj Žižek's In Defense of Lost Causes (reviewed here) and the proposed first meet up date is the 26th of August. I'll confirm the venue in the next week or two, but it will definitely be somewhere central in the WC1/EC1/N1 area. A possibly is the Candid Arts Trust in Angel N1.

We'll generally try to stick with inexpensive paperbacks, however Žižek's book has only recently been published so is only available in hardback. Fortunately it is available for a reasonable price from Amazon. Some possibilities for future books include:

Albert Einstein - The World as I See It
Bertrand Russell - History of Western Philosophy
E. H. Gombrich - Art and Illusion
Edward W. Said - Culture and Imperialism
Francis Wheen - How Mumbo Jumbo Conquered The World
Guy Debord - The Society of the Spectacle
Orlando Figes - A People's Tragedy: Russian Revolution, 1891-1924
Truman Capote - In Cold Blood

The aim is to appeal to non-expert audiences and by the nature of being in central London and the people already interested I would expect there would be a slight left leaning, but people of all backgrounds and persuasions are of course welcome. Especially people who think The Da Vinci Code is kind of mindless airport novel which rots the brains of honest, decent people and sets the paths of humanity back five millennia.

Intrigued? Send a mail to chrisf (at) goop.org and I'll add to you the list.