A whole generation of young people have known nothing but crisis. They have grown up in a world full of instability, war, austerity, and climate catastrophe.
What was once considered normal is being stripped away. Capitalism in crisis cannot afford to provide everyone with decent housing, a good job, and a comfortable life. For many, this is a far-fetched fantasy.
Education is a microcosm of this process. Schools, stuffed with asbestos in the walls, are literally crumbling. Conditions for students and staff are deteriorating.
In recent years, teachers have gone on strike over pay and conditions, with more action likely to take place this year. School students are now learning about class struggle from as early as primary school.
Those that go onto university will find similar conditions. Currently, 44 institutions have planned redundancies, including Sheffield Hallam, UEA, Kent, and Goldsmiths.
This will directly impact course options, and of course the quality of education on offer, as work is spread over a reduced workforce.
To make matters worse, rents are skyrocketing, with a 9% increase in just the past 12 months. This applies to student housing, as well as renting in general.
For most students and young workers, there are little to no prospects of getting on the housing market without divine intervention – or the bank of a well to-do mum or dad!
In fact, as of last year, the majority of students now work part-time alongside their degrees – no doubt to compensate for their meagre student loans which in many cases barely cover the cost of rent.
This is all a recipe for an intensification of explosive anger and struggle on campuses across the country.
Revolutionary theory
Young people, and students in particular, have always been a barometer for the mood in society. Unhindered by the defeats of the past, they are wide open to radical ideas.It is precisely for this reason that we decided to focus on the youth, when we launched the Marxist Student Federation around ten years ago.
Beginning with three societies, we now have a presence at over 50 universities. Today, more and more students are coming to us already calling themselves communists.
Given the objective conditions, it’s no surprise that young people are not only questioning the system, but are decisively turning towards revolution and communism as the alternative. This shows how rapidly consciousness is developing under the hammerblow of events.
We aren’t interested in just building an amalgamation of student societies. We are building branches of the Revolutionary Communist Party on campus.
The communists can be found organising stalls, door knocking, holding public meetings, doing lecture shout-outs, and making speeches. Through all of this activity, our main aim is to discuss with as many students as possible about Marxist ideas and getting organised.
The main thing that sets us apart from other student groups, and the reason we have been able to establish a strong presence, is our serious approach to studying genuine Marxist theory. This is not out of academic interest, but as a guide to action.
As Lenin famously remarked in What is to be Done?: “Without revolutionary theory, there can be no revolutionary movement”.
This is especially relevant at universities, which are filled to the brim with academic ideas that try to slander and distort Marxism in defence of the rotten status quo.
Our campus branches, therefore, form our first line of attack in our war against the ideas of the ruling class.
Class struggle
Recent years have seen students taking action against the marketisation of education, and in solidarity with the people of Gaza.
In many places, we have led the charge: calling Palestine solidarity rallies, and putting forward motions calling for ‘intifada until victory!’ in student union meetings.
On the basis of our bold approach and revolutionary demands, we have recruited and organised scores of new students.
But students alone can only do so much. Only the working class has the power to overthrow capitalism. Nonetheless, students can play an important auxiliary role in the class struggle, as seen with struggles like May ‘68 in France.
Our comrades have been heavily involved in supporting the UCU strikes: attending picket lines, organising student solidarity actions, and fundraising to support the striking staff.
In the past year, communist students have also supported action by the NEU (teachers’ union), RMT (rail workers’ union), and BMA (doctors’ union).
Most recently, we have been active in Swansea and Cardiff, organising students to support the workers fighting the closure of Port Talbot steelworks.
We need to be prepared for titanic events coming our way. Only the communists have the clear, revolutionary ideas and programme capable of leading the movement.
The faster we can build the RCP, the more we will be able to lead a united struggle of students and workers.
We know that the only way to save our education is to kick capitalism off campus, as part of a revolutionary fight to overthrow the system entirely.
If you agree, then join the communists on your campus!
Cardiff Communists organise to kick Jacob Rees-Mogg off campus
Cardiff Communists
Cardiff University’s Conservative Society has invited Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg to give a talk to students on Friday 26 April.
In response, the Cardiff University Communists are organising a rally against his visit, at 17:30 outside Cardiff University Students’ Union.
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There is a deep anger amongst students about this visit, due to the rabid, reactionary politics that Rees-Mogg represents.
Last November, students overwhelmingly passed a motion to cut ties with Israeli interests and for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
The Conservative Society, meanwhile, invited Tory politician Natasha Asghar to give a talk, just days after she voted against a ceasefire in the Senedd.
Students were similarly angry at this provocation, but there was no medium to voice this and unite the struggle against imperialism on campus
So this time, the Cardiff Communists are taking action. We are calling out the situation for what it is: another example of university bosses turning a blind eye to imperialism and genocide.
We have spent the past few weeks mobilising our forces alongside other groups, with postering, leafleting, lecture shout-outs, and, most importantly, political discussions on the way forward.
We are striving to unite the anti-imperialist and pro-Palestine forces on campus. In doing so, we will raise the banner of the RCP, and connect the struggle against imperialism with the need for revolution.
We call upon the students’ union to stand up and join us!
- Tories not welcome!
- Kick imperialism off campus!
- Down with warmonger politicians!
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No budget, no staff, no students: Lincoln uni begins to crumble
Staff member, University of Lincoln
It’s no secret that universities are under threat in the UK, facing mass budget cuts and job losses, and with the enrolment of international students nose-diving.
At the beginning of the year, it was announced that Lincoln University must save 20% of its budget – a whopping £20 million in the 2023/24 academic year, with a further £10 million of cuts in 2024/25 – to stay afloat.
There is an atmosphere of unrest amongst staff, with day-to-day stretched smiles, tired eyes, and an acknowledgement that we might all lose our livelihoods within the coming months.
The story coming from university management is ever-changing. We know we are not being told the full picture.
Earlier this month, we found that the bosses have quietly slashed budgets that they previously agreed to keep intact.
While telling us we need to ‘stick together’, we are being blackmailed with warnings that criticising the institution could further harm student enrolment.
And when we asked, at an all-staff meeting, why management is still looking to open a London campus, the question was brushed aside.
Lincoln is not the only university facing hard times. 40% of UK universities are forecasting a budget deficit in 2024/25.
Fewer international students are applying to study in the UK than ever. And who can blame them? If the sky-high tuition fees weren’t enough to put them off, the immigration restrictions imposed by the tyrants in Parliament are nailing the coffin shut.
The education sector is under threat. And the workers and students in these institutions are suffering at the hands of profiteering villains. It is safe to presume that, without decisive action, we will see more universities going under, and more workers kicked to the curb.
We need a mass campaign of staff and students, aimed at reversing marketisation, and kicking capitalism out of education for good!
Glasgow Uni bosses attack pro-Palestine Rector
Glasgow Communists
Students at the University of Glasgow rallied on 17 April to demand that the uni administration speak out in defence of Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah, the democratically-elected pro-Palestine Rector.
Instead, the bosses are “investigating” Ghassan, and disavowing his radical speeches. This is a direct concession to the anti-Palestine agenda emanating from the Tories and the ruling class.
Dr Abu-Sittah stood on a platform of divestment from arms companies and the fossil fuel industry, funding the reconstruction of academic institutions in Gaza, combating gender-based violence on campus, and fighting student poverty.
The struggle to defend Abu-Sittah could kickstart a broader student campaign in solidarity with Palestine, which could unite with university staff who are demanding the same things.
Ultimately this attack raises the question of who should run our universities: students and workers, or the millionaire bosses and corporate shareholders?
