Socialist Appeal and the Marxist Student Federation invite our activists, supporters, and readers to Revolution 2015 – a weekend of talks, discussions, and debates about revolutionary ideas and socialist alternatives, covering Marxist theory, history, current events, and action. Hosted by the UCLU Marxist Society on the weekend of 26-28th June – book your tickets now!
Without doubt, we live in the most turbulent period in history, characterised by instability and volatility at every level: economically, politically, and socially. The global economy is in the seventh year of crisis, with no end in sight. Meanwhile, fires are burning across the world, with the imperialist powers locking horns in Ukraine, Syria, Yemen and beyond. But at the same time, mass movements and revolutionary currents are developing everywhere, most sharply in Greece and Spain with the rise of SYRIZA and Podemos.
As Leon Trotsky, the great Russian revolutionary explained, everything the ruling class does to restore economic stability – through cuts and attacks on living standards – only creates even greater instability on the political and social plane. As a result, millions of workers and youth have become radicalised, and are looking for an alternative to the years of endless austerity they have had to endure.
In Britain, the political landscape has fractured, following the earthquake of the Scottish referendum. The ground has collapsed underneath the feet of the mainstream parties, as the mood polarises and radicalises, and people move towards the “insurgents” in search of an alternative. Meanwhile, the Establishment has been shaken to the core as a result of scandal after scandal within the media, the monarchy, the police, and Parliament itself.
There is a questioning in society that did not exist before. As Karl Marx himself wrote in the Communist Manifesto: “all that is solid melts into air”. It is therefore more vital than ever that, in this epoch of uncertainty, we are armed with a clear set of ideas that can offer a way of the anarchy and chaos of capitalist crisis. The revolutionary ideas of Marxism provide such a compass.
Socialist Appeal and the Marxist Student Federation invite our activists, supporters, and readers to Revolution 2015 – a weekend of talks, discussions, and debates about revolutionary ideas and socialist alternatives, covering Marxist theory, history, current events, and action. Hosted by the UCLU Marxist Society on the weekend of 26-28th June – book your tickets now!
- 26th-28th June
- UCL, London
- £10 waged / £5 unwaged
- Food and drink on offer throughout the weekend
- Free accomodation available – please get in touch about availability
contact@marxiststudent.com for more info or to book a place. Alternatively, buy your ticket in advance below.
WEEKEND SCHEDULE
All meetings are held in UCL on Gower Street, either in the Cruicform Building (B404, Lecture Theatre 2) or the Wilkins Building (Gustave Tuck Lecture Theatre 2). See maps below for more details.
We also include links to recommended background reading for all the discussions.
Friday 26th June
1pm-4pm: Lenin Walk – join Rob Sewell, Editor of Socialist Appeal, for a free guided tour of the locations in London where Lenin and the Bolsheviks organised and socialised, ending for a drink in the pub where supporters of the 1871 Paris Commune (including Marx) met and drank.
Meet at 1pm outside Kings Cross station, at the front. Look for the big red flag! Ring 07981038708 if there are problems finding us.
5pm-6pm: Registration (Cruciform, B404 LT2)
6pm-8pm: The Political Earthquakes in Britain – Rob Sewell, Editor of Socialist Appeal, and Ben Gliniecki from the Marxist Student Federation (Cruciform, B404 LT2)
Saturday 27th June
10am-10.30am: Registration (Cruciform, B404 LT2 and Wilkins Gustave Tuck LT)
11am-1pm: The Revolution Betrayed: The Soviet Union and Stalinism – Sam Ashton (Cruciform, B404 LT2)
11am-1pm: What is Money? – Adam Booth, editor of www.socialist.net (Wilkins Gustave Tuck LT)
1pm-2pm: Break
2pm-4pm: The Rise of Podemos – Arturo Rodriguez, founder of the Oxford Podemos Circle (Cruciform, B404 LT2)
2pm-4pm: Reason in Revolt: Marxism, Philosophy, and Science – Alan Woods, author of Reason in Revolt (Wilkins Gustave Tuck LT)
4-4.30pm: Break
4.30pm-7pm: Syriza, Greece, and the Euro Crisis – Orestis Doulos (Syriza Central Committee member) and Jorge Martin of the International Marxist Tendency (Wilkins Gustave Tuck LT)
7pm-11pm: The Revolutionary Party – social (Chadwick Building, room G08)
Sunday 28th June
10am-10.30am: Registration (Cruciform, B404 LT2 and Wilkins Gustave Tuck LT)
11am-1pm: The Life and Ideas of Leon Trotsky – Alan Woods, author of Lenin and Trotsky: What They Really Stood For (Cruciform, B404 LT2)
11am-1pm: Marxism and Anarchism – Daniel Morley, Editorial Board of Socialist Appeal (Wilkins Gustave Tuck LT)
1pm-2pm: Break
2pm-4pm: The Rise of Class Society – Stella Christou, Marxist Student Federation Executive Committee and anthropologist (Cruciform, B404 LT2)
2pm-4pm: Climate change, Crisis, and Capitalism – panel discussion with Shahrar Ali, Deputy Leader of the Green Party, and Adam Booth, editor of www.socialist.net (Wilkins Gustave Tuck LT)
4-5pm: The System is Broken; We Need a Revolution! – closing remarks by Alan Woods of the International Marxist Tendency
