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#CommunismOnCampus: Thousands sign up for Marxist Student Federation

#CommunismOnCampus: Thousands sign up for Marxist Student Federation

The last few weeks have seen radicalised students arriving on campuses and signing up in droves for the Marxist Student Federation. There is an enormous thirst for revolutionary ideas. Now is the time to join the struggle for socialism.

The last few weeks have seen radicalised students arriving on campuses and signing up in droves for the Marxist Student Federation. There is an enormous thirst for revolutionary ideas. Now is the time to join the struggle for socialism.

“The young really are dangerously socialist” read one panic-stricken headline in the Telegraph newspaper. And is it any wonder?

An entire generation has been forged in conditions of increasing insecurity and instability – with young people under capitalism locked out of home ownership; besieged by economic crisis; and witnessing their futures burn for the capitalists’ profit in an ever-worsening climate crisis.

For the youth of today, it is clear that capitalism offers no future. They are increasingly attracted to the revolutionary banner of communism.

While the representatives of capital despair at the rising radicalism of the youth, the Marxists have been connecting with it, establishing a presence on campuses and in student movements internationally.

Inspiring reports, images, and videos are pouring in from all around the world, showing students enthusiastically engaging with the revolutionary ideas of Marxism, as part of the International Marxist Tendency’s #CommunismOnCampus campaign.

In Britain, the Marxist Student Federation (MSF) has seen its biggest freshers mobilisation ever, with an active presence at 50 universities this academic year – too many to list!

Overall, we have now signed up nearly 3,200 people to the Marxist societies across the country. That’s thousands of students who want to fight against capitalism, with a number of university freshers’ fairs still to go.

See below for the highlights of our activity in recent weeks; or visit our live #CommunismOnCampus blog to see the full breadth of reports and pictures from Marxist students up-and-down the UK.

Socialism in Scotland

Communism on Campus week 2 collageFirst up were the freshers in Scotland, with successful stalls and meetings at Edinburgh and Glasgow universities.

Comrades saw a lot of enthusiasm from students at the freshers’ fairs, with many reporting that they were specifically looking for Marxist theory.

In Glasgow, several people said that they have been following our Marxist society for a while, and were eager to join. Another student in Edinburgh told us that he reads our international website marxist.com every morning, and that he couldn’t wait to get involved.

In many cases, those who approached our stalls simply said: “I’m a communist! I’m a Marxist! Where do I sign?!” 

Those interested were also asking important questions such as: What would socialism look like? Was the USSR socialist? How can I help fight capitalism now? All of these questions – and more – we aim to cover over the course of our opening meetings.  

There was also a noticeable appetite for the theoretical material on offer at our stalls, including classic Marxist texts that we cover in reading groups – such as the Communist Manifesto, or Lenin’s State and Revolution. 

And both societies saw an excellent turnout at their first meetings, with over 40 people in Glasgow and over 20 in Edinburgh.

Gathering momentum

This momentum carried into the second week, with the MSF seeing a presence at 25 universities across the country, collecting over 1,700 sign-ups.

We were present at Leeds Beckett, Newcastle, Hull, Portsmouth, Suffolk Uni, UEA, KCL, Birmingham, Falmouth, Sheffield, Reading, Sussex, UEL, Manchester Uni, Westminster, LSE, Nottingham, Queen Mary, Bristol, Kent, Liverpool, London Met, Oxford Brookes, Surrey, and Goldsmiths.

There was a tangible shift in the consciousness and political level of the students we spoke to. One student at LSE, for example, told us: “Your group seems to be the most serious about revolution – and I’m glad to see it.”

KCL Marxists had a particularly great success, managing to sign over 200 people up to the Marxist society. Everyone who signed up completely agreed that we need to bring about radical change in society.

There were similarly positive responses at Birmingham and Manchester. We collected 140 sign-ups in Birmingham and 130 in Manchester. Such was the scale of our intervention at Birmingham University that we had comrades signing students up at three separate stalls across the campus.

Sussex also signed up over 100 people. And at York University we signed up another 85 people. Brand new societies at Falmouth, Hull, and Hartlepool also saw an enthusiastic response.

In Newcastle, the comrades completely sold out of papers, Revolution youth magazines, and pamphlets, showing the thirst for theory that exists among the youth.

This also translated into around 20 attendees at their first meeting. At the start, the speaker asked: “Who here is already a communist?” Everyone in the room put their hand up, indicating the growing interest in revolutionary ideas amongst young people today.

Join the revolution!

The last week of our freshers’ campaign was the biggest yet, with 25 opening meetings on ‘Why we are Communists’.

On Thursday evening alone, we held 14 meetings across the country, with hundreds of radicalised students discussing the relevance and importance of the ideas of Marxism.

At Southampton, 50 people attended the first meeting. In Leeds, around 40 people came to the opening meeting. At Sussex, there were another 30 in attendance. And at Manchester Metropolitan, Goldsmiths, and LSE, there were also around 20 people at each event. 

 
 
 
 
 
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A post shared by Leeds Marxist Society (@leedsmarxists)

At all of our freshers’ fair stalls and first meetings, we have also had posters for this year’s Revolution Festival pinned up everywhere.

This upcoming weekend of discussion on Marxist ideas has received a great deal of interest. Hundreds of Marxist students from across the country will therefore be heading to London for this one-of-a-kind event, taking place from 21-23 October.

#CommunismOnCampus is going from strength to strength. We are very excited and energised to be building the forces of Marxism, here in Britain and internationally, alongside our comrades in the IMT.

There has never been a better time to join us in this fight – the fight for revolution. So get involved in your Marxist society today!

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