Socialism 2002

Socialism, the weekend of discussion and debate hosted by the Socialist Party, is due to be bigger and better than ever before.

Everyone wanting to discuss developments in Britain and around the world should come along. Every Socialist Party member should come, bringing the people you know who are looking for socialist ideas. As the agenda below shows – there’s something to interest everyone.


Socialism 2002

A weekend of socialist discussion and debate, hosted by the Socialist Party

Saturday 26 October/ Sunday 27 October, University of London Union, Malet Street, London WC1

Session A: 6-9pm Saturday 26 October, Session B: 10-12 noon Sunday 27 October, Session C: 1-3 pm Sunday 27 October.


Opening Rally

Saturday 26 October 3-6 pm

Workers fight back – Spain, Italy, France, Britain… Build the struggle for a 24-hour public-sector strike.

Speakers:

Billy Hayes, general secretary of the Communication Workers’ Union

Janice Godrich, president of the Public and Commercial Services union

Dave Nellist, leader of the Socialist Party group on Coventry city council

Peter Taaffe, general secretary of the Socialist Party


Closing Rally

Sunday 27 October 3-4.30 pm

Where next for the anti-war movement?

After the biggest anti-war demonstration in Britain ever- what next? Building for the 31 October day of protest and beyond.

Speakers:

George Galloway MP

Zena Awad, International Socialist Resistance

Hannah Sell, Socialist Party Campaigns Organiser


Course 1: Stop Bush and Blair’s war on Iraq.

Session A: The history of Iraq under Saddam Hussein.

Bush and Blair claim to be morally outraged by Saddam Hussein’s treatment of the Iraqi people. The real recent history of Iraq reveals a very different story.

Speaker: Lynn Walsh, editor of Socialism Today, the Socialist Party’s monthly magazine

Session B: Lessons of the Vietnam war.

Is it possible to build a movement powerful enough to stop a war? How can we do it? What lessons can we learn for today from the campaign against the Vietnam war?

Speaker: Peter Taaffe, general secretary of the Socialist Party.

Session C: Israel/Palestine.

While Bush weeps crocodile tears for the people of Iraq the US is ignoring the horrendous plight of the Palestinians. This session looks at recent development in the region and discusses how the Palestinians could win genuine national liberation. Speaker: Judy Beishon, International Executive Committee of the Committee for a Workers’ International .

Background reading:

Iraq Since 1958 by Frank et al. £14.99

The Iron Wall by Shlaim. £11.99

Rogue State by Blum. £9.99


Course 2: Building the trade unions

Session A: Perspectives for trade union and workplace struggles.

Fire-fighters, London Underground workers, local authority workers, train drivers – the number of workers in Britain fighting to improve their pay and conditions is growing day by day. Will this trend continue and can these struggles succeed? Speaker Bill Mullins Socialist Party National Industrial Organiser.

Session B: How to be a socialist shop steward.

Speaker: Mike Forster Kirklees UNISON, personal capacity.

Session C: Return to the 1970s?

The media keep comparing the current wave of industrial militancy to the mighty battles of the 1970s. What really happened and how can we learn from it 30 years on?

Speaker: Simon Donovan Socialist Party National Committee and Waltham Forest UNISON, personal capacity.

Background reading:

Resisting Capitalism – the case for a new workers’ party. £1.50

The Great Gold Rush, how to fight the privatisation bonanza. £1.50.

Teamsters Rebellion by Dobbs. £10.95


Course 3: Socialism

Session A: Would socialism achieve liberation for women?

Speaker Clare James, secretary of International Socialist Resistance.

Session B: Could Socialism prevent the destruction of the environment?

Speaker Pete Dickinson, author of Planning Green Growth – a socialist contribution to the debate on environmental sustainability (see CWI website).

Session C: Malcolm X said that you can’t have capitalism without racism. Is that true? Could socialism end racism?

Speaker: Hugo Pierre, convenor of Black and Asian Socialists.

Background reading:

Socialism in the 21st Century, by Hannah Sell. £5

Fighting for Women’s Rights and Socialism. £2.50

The Life and Legacy of Malcolm X. £1

Global Warning: Socialism and the Environment. £6.95


Course 4: World in turmoil

Session A: Latin America – an attempted coup in Venezuela, four Presidents overthrown in Argentina, economic crisis – what future for Latin America?

Speaker: Tony Saunois secretary of the Committee for a Workers’ International.

Session B: Africa.

With 20 million starving in Southern Africa – can capitalism develop the continent?

Speaker: Kevin Simpson.

Session C: World economic crisis.

As the USA’s stock markets continue to tumble, this session looks at the underlying reasons for the current economic crisis and the prospects for the future.

Speaker: Robin Clapp, secretary of the South West region of the Socialist Party.

Background reading:

Global Turmoil: Capitalist Crisis, a Socialist Alternative. The book of the Seventh World Congress of the CWI, £2.

Indonesia, an Unfinished Revolution. £1.50

Under Siege, Global Capitalism and the Socialist Alternative. £1.50

Italy: Anti-war protests fuel a new wave of class struggle. 50p

Post September 11, can US imperialism be challenged? £2

Campaigning for Socialist World, resolutions and documents from the 2002 Socialist Party congress. £1

The Tiger Strikes: South Korea. £1.50


Course 5: The lives of great revolutionaries

Session A: Che Guevara.

Thirty five years ago the Cuban revolutionary Che Guevera was murdered in the Bolivian jungle by his CIA interrogators. Today Che is still an icon of anti-capitalism. This session looks at his life.

Speaker: Naomi Byron, national secretary of Youth Against Racism in Europe.

Session B: Rosa Luxemburg.

In 1918, in the wake of the Russian revolution, a revolutionary wave swept Germany. Rosa was at its head. Tragically, she was murdered in 1919 by counter-revolutionary thugs. Today in Germany she remains a national heroine, but what did she stand for?

Speaker: Christine Thomas, Associate Editor of The Socialist.

Session C: Leon Trotsky.

Trotsky was the chairman of the first ever soviet – committee of workers’ representatives – in the first Russian revolution. In 1917 he was the organiser of the October Russian revolution, the greatest single event in human history. He then created and led the Red Army which defeated the twenty-one armies of imperialism sent to crush the revolution.

But most of all, Leon Trotsky was one of the greatest theoreticians of the workers’ movement.

Speaker: Paul Hunt, International Socialist Resistance.

Background reading:

Cuba, socialism and democracy, by Peter Taaffe, £4.99.

Che Guevara: Symbol of Struggle. £2.50.

My Life, Leon Trotsky. £17.45

Rosa Luxemburg by Paul Frolich. £12.99


Course 6: Strategies to overthrow capitalism

Session A: Marxism versus Anarchism – the debate in 2002.

Speaker: Hannah Sell, National Campaigns Organiser of the Socialist Party.

Session B: Does the Russian Revolution of 1917 have any lessons for socialists today?

Speaker: Ken Smith, Socialist Party representative on the Stop the War Coalition steering committee.

Background reading:

A History of the CWI/CIO. £1.50

Smash the IMF and World Bank, a Socialist Alternative to Global Capitalism. £1.

For a Socialist Europe: Against the Bosses’ EU (three languages). £1.

History of the Russian Revolution by Leon Trotsky £19.99

The Rise of Militant by Peter Taaffe £9.99