Rosa Luxemburg
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Socialist women: Looking at the past to take action today
The Socialist Women weekend school, held in London on 29-30 November, started with a discussion on the Great Depression and a comparison to today's crisis.
Sarah Wrack, Brighton Socialist Party
It was recognised that despite the US government's attempts to introduce reforms in the 1930s, this had very little impact on the suffering of ordinary people, giving a glimpse of the short-term future difficulties now facing working-class people regardless of New Labour's turn towards neo-Keynesianism.
We later talked about the ways in which women will be hit particularly harshly by the recession as they are often in part-time or temporary work and are therefore likely to be among the first to lose their jobs.
Women will also be expected to pick up the slack as public services, particularly in childcare and health, are cut. It was agreed that these issues should be discussed in Socialist Party branches and with new people we meet who may be radicalised by such attacks.
However, it should also be recognised that these problems create yet more barriers to women getting involved in the fightback. Therefore, it is important to think carefully about the format and timing of meetings aimed at women who may have other commitments and to be patient if those who seem interested in the Socialist Party's work don't jump straight into regular activity.
Rosa Luxemburg meetings
Other sessions included 'women at work' and an update on the Abortion Rights Campaign. We also had a talk on Rosa Luxemburg and the leading role she played in the 1918 German revolution. A recommendation was made that all branches try to hold a meeting on Rosa's life in January, the 90th anniversary of her murder.
The weekend was a relaxed and informative chance to look at the progress of the Socialist Party's women's work and at opportunities for its development as a new layer of young women, angry at the failures of the capitalist system, turn towards socialist ideas as an alternative.
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The coronavirus crisis has laid bare the class character of society in numerous ways. It is making clear to many that it is the working class that keeps society running, not the CEOs of major corporations.
The results of austerity have been graphically demonstrated as public services strain to cope with the crisis.
The government has now ripped up its 'austerity' mantra and turned to policies that not long ago were denounced as socialist. But after the corona crisis, it will try to make the working class pay for it, by trying to claw back what has been given.
- The Socialist Party's material is more vital than ever, so we can continue to report from workers who are fighting for better health and safety measures, against layoffs, for adequate staffing levels, etc.
- When the health crisis subsides, we must be ready for the stormy events ahead and the need to arm workers' movements with a socialist programme - one which puts the health and needs of humanity before the profits of a few.
Inevitably, during the crisis we have not been able to sell the Socialist and raise funds in the ways we normally would.
We therefore urgently appeal to all our viewers to donate to our Fighting Fund.
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