http://marxismfestival.org.uk
http://socialistworker.co.uk/art/40917/
Marxism+
2015+reflects+new+mood+for+resistance
Over 2,700 people gathered in central
London for the Marxism 2015 festival last weekend. They included striking
workers, students, campaigners and socialists from across the globe.
Up to 900 people attended the opening rally. Amy Leather from the central committee of the
Socialist Workers
Party (
SWP) said, “The theme of Marxism is ideas for revolution—we need to make those ideas a reality.”
Events in
Greece dominated the event (see below).
Several meetings discussed struggle and austerity in
Britain.
At a meeting on class
Joseph Choonara argued that people feel more precarious than they are and that the working
class can transform society.
A debate on why there are so few strikes in Britain looked at whether there has been a structural change in the
working class. Some argued that focusing only on structural changes could miss underlying shifts in workers’ mood
to fight.
Bfawu union president Ian
Hodson spoke in one session, along with striking
Glasgow homelessness caseworkers and
two sacked porters from
Sotheby’s.
There was a live link-up with a US McDonald’s worker. Members of Glasgow socialist choir—
Unite,
Fight,
Sing—
finished the meeting with a song from the US fast food strikers’ picket lines.
The Glasgow strikers raised around £1,
000 for their strike fund over the weekend.
Racism
Fighting racism was a big theme.
Hassan Mahamdallie spoke on the frightening rise in state Islamophobia.
Veteran anti-racist
Darcus Howe launched his memoirs at the event.
Diane Abbott MP discussed how to take on
racism with Sabby Dhalu and
Weyman Bennett from
Unite Against Fascism.
It was standing room only in a meeting on how socialists should vote in the
European Union referendum.
Some argued for a
Yes vote because racists and
Ukip are likely to dominate the No campaign.
Others said socialists shouldn’t abandon
the No side to the racists—and said some on the Yes side would also use
racism.
A meeting on why
Labour lost saw a discussion on how socialists should respond to
Jeremy Corbyn’s candidacy for
Labour leader.
Other meetings debated the nature of
Zionism, women’s oppression and the
Green Party. Many service users
discussed their experiences at a meeting on Marxism and mental health.
Debated
Several meetings debated how
Marxist theory applies today. Others linked theory with struggles—such as how the
school system fails children.
Socialists and activists spoke from
Turkey,
Bahrain,
Ireland,
France,
Spain,
Germany,
Egypt,
Syria and
Ukraine.
A meeting on revolution and counter-revolution in Egypt grappled with the crushing of the hopes of
2011.
People
called for protests when
Egyptian dictator El-Sisi visits Britain.
There were a number of meetings on
Palestine, including one on the
Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (
BDS)
campaign.
Some 70 students met for a picnic on Friday afternoon.
Many were at Marxism for the first time, including
Iona from
Brighton University.
She told
Socialist Worker, “I came because I want to get more politically active. There’s no other event like
this—I love it.”
Greece—the big debate
Socialists from Greece spoke about the struggle there and debated the best way to take it forward.
Stathis Kouvelakis from the central committee of Syriza, the left party in government in Greece, debated
Alex
Callinicos on Saturday.
This followed Syriza passing an austerity deal through the
Greek parliament.
Stathis argued that there had been a “failure of political strategy” in Greece.
Alex stressed that this was not the end of the battle and said the mass mobilisation of workers pointed to the
way forward.
Panos Garganas, editor of the
Workers’ Solidarity newspaper in Greece, spoke from the floor.
He said, “The game is not over. But we have discovered the referee is against us.”
He said Syriza had made the mistake of thinking it could make the bosses see reason.
“We’ve used the ballot box,” he said.
“Now we have to use workers’ power in the workplace.”
http://marxismfestival.org.uk
http://socialistworker.co.uk/art/40917/Marxism+2015+reflects+new+mood+for+resistance
- published: 18 Aug 2015
- views: 158