The Communists are going from strength to strength on campus.
In the past year, the RCP has more than doubled the number of student members across 58 universities, with nearly 40 officially-registered Marxist and Communist societies, including new ones in Preston and Leicester.
In this period of deep capitalist crisis – with trade wars, militarism, and austerity on the order of the day – any idea of a stable future has been completely shattered.
Meanwhile, trust in establishment politicians, mainstream media, and even the very concept of parliamentary democracy is at an all-time low – especially amongst young people, 47 percent of whom are in favour of revolution!
Pillars of Communism
We have now rounded off our ‘Pillars of Communism’ tour, and it’s been a huge success. Having leading party members travel to different cities and campuses has been instrumental in laying down strong foundations for our student work throughout the organisation.
Across the country, societies and branches organised well-attended public meetings on the fundamentals of Marxist theory, organised weekly stalls on campus, reading groups, and in some places, we even ran in student union elections.
The ‘Pillars of Communism’ tour was above all, about waging a struggle for ideological clarity.
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Topics that we’ve covered are: Marxist philosophy, how to fight for women’s liberation, why capitalism goes into crisis, the state, and imperialism.
The questions we were asked during those meetings reveal a search for ideas: “Why do people like Corbyn and Sanders think it’s possible to reform the system?”, “What do communists think of identity politics?”, “How are the capitalists able to accumulate all this wealth?” and so on.
Communist students have taken a serious approach to educating themselves in the fundamentals of Marxism to run these meetings across the country.
Crisis in higher education
While there’s been a surge in student activism in the past year with the inspiring Palestine solidarity encampments, the energy is now ebbing.
The winding-down of encampments has invited vicious repression from uni bosses, with suspensions and legal charges levelled against leading student activists.
Many students are extremely angry at the government, but also at their universities’ complicity in the genocide. Whilst universities are clamping down on pro-Palestine activism, they dare to strike deals with armed companies behind doors.
On top of this, a tsunami of sackings is on its way, as the bosses claim that there is no money for courses and staff.
Over 10,000 job losses are expected to be lost this year. UCU strikes have already been called in places like UEA, Newcastle, and Sheffield, with many more branches currently balloting.
Successive governments have ripped open higher education – along with the rest of the public sector – to the claws of profiteering private companies. This ‘marketisation’ is wreaking havoc on all fronts, including the NHS.
Determined activism alone is not enough, however. Many students are beginning to understand this, and are searching for in-depth answers to this crisis.
Our Communist and Marxist Societies are therefore focusing on answering these serious questions. It is on the basis of our Marxist theory and clear perspectives that many students decide to join our ranks.
In Bristol, nine people joined the Party over a month of us running regular events, leading to the creation of a new RCP branch in the city.
In Cardiff, Edinburgh, Leeds, and York we have recruited between six and twelve new student members each.
Student Union elections
We have also decided to put Marxist ideas into practice by campaigning in the SU elections in Leeds, Sheffield, Lancaster, and Cardiff.
Our candidates stood in the elections as proud revolutionary communists. We spoke against the university cuts, spoke out against the genocide in Palestine, and put forward demands that no other candidates were raising.
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We ran with bold demands to abolish tuition fees, introduce full maintenance grants and free housing, and kick arms companies off campus.
This was extremely successful as we’ve reached over 1,800 votes in total, despite being barred from running in Leeds for political reasons. There is clearly an appetite for revolutionary ideas and radical solutions!
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The crisis of capitalism is affecting students in every aspect of their lives, from their experiences of working, living, and studying. Students are looking for answers on how they can fight back.
This is what the RCP has been trying to provide. Through the ‘Pillars of Communism’ meetings and stalls, and through the student union campaigns, we are taking up this battle for communist ideas.
The academic term might be over, but the Communists aren’t going anywhere! Over the coming weeks and months, we’ll be continuing our public meetings and discussions, and launching a new recruitment drive, aimed towards the youth.
There is a political vacuum on campuses and in society at large. We need to urgently build a revolutionary party of thousands, so that we can begin to fill it.
We call on all students and young people who are looking to organise and fight for their futures: Join the Communists today!
