The first draft version of the conference programme is now online on the conference website. Registration is still open via this link.
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There is now a special WordPress site for this event: echoesofrevolution.wordpress.com, where the latest information about this event will be posted.
1917 – The Russian Revolution, Reactions and Impact
The Socialist History Society Occasional Publication No. 41
The Russian Revolution of 1917 changed the world forever. For once, it appeared that the oppressed workers were within grasp of the levers of state power and for a while the prospect of permanently ending exploitation seemed a real possibility. The revolutionary mood swept across continents and its impact was felt far beyond the parties of the left and the organised labour movement. The revolution inspired writers, poets, intellectuals and philosophers as much as it did workers and activists. With this special Occasional Publication the Socialist History Society illuminates these momentous events of one hundred years ago with a series of specially written articles that examine the reactions to the revolution in different areas.
Contents
Evaluating the lessons of October, including their British resonance
by Willie Thompson
Against ‘vacillation, lies and rottenness’: the Russian Revolution and the rift in world socialism
by Francis King
1917’s Several Lenins
by Mike Makin-Waite
‘What they can do in Russia, so can we’: the impact of the Russian Revolutions of 1917 in Germany by Helen Boak
Italy and the Russian Revolution of 1917
by Tobias Abse
Clara Zetkin on the Soviet Experiment, 1917-1934
by John S Partington
Secular Ecstasies and the Revolutionary Women Poets in 1917
by Greta Sykes
Psychoanalysis and Revolution: Sigmund Freud and his circle from fin-de-siècle Vienna to revolutionary Russia
by David Morgan
http://www.socialisthistorysociety.co.uk/
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As the old European powers approached exhaustion in the Great War, a wave of revolutionary struggles broke out across the continent, from Ireland to Russia. Mass movements articulated class, social and national aspirations as states fragmented and empires, dynasties and rulers were toppled. But relations between these movements and their component parts were anything but simple. National claimants contested for control of disputed territories in the name of self-determination. Class and social movements struggled with one another over who should rule in the successor states, and in whose interests. These struggles left a lasting legacy which helped shape European politics for decades.
As a pivotal year in European history, 1918 begs comparison with other pivotal years, in particular 1848, in which many similar social and national aspirations came to the fore. This conference will look at and compare movements for radical social and political change of those revolutionary years. We are seeking papers of 5000 to 10000 words to be presented at the conference on any aspects of revolution, nationalism and socialism anywhere around the world during, around or across the years 1848 and 1918. Selected papers will be published in a special issue of the journal Socialist History. Attendance at the conference will be free of charge, but we ask that anyone wishing to attend registers in advance. Proposals for papers and any enquiries should be submitted to Francis King. E-mail: f.king@uea.ac.uk
Dates: Saturday and Sunday, 17 and 18 February 2018
Venue: School of History, University of East Anglia, Norwich, NR4 7TJ, UK
Organised and hosted by UEA School of History in conjunction with the journal Socialist History and the Institute of Working Class History, Chicago.
Deadline for proposals for papers: 15 December 2017
BOOK NOW for a conference celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Lucas Plan!
Veteran trade unionists and younger activists see Nobel prize-nominated plan as inspiration for the future
Leading figures from the left, trade union, environmental and peace movements are coming together at a conference on November 26th with a fresh perspective on tackling current crises, using the ideas of socially useful production pioneered in the Lucas Plan. The Plan, produced by workers at the Lucas Aerospace arms company, showed how jobs could be saved by converting to make products that answer a social need, rather than weapons. To book for the conference, visit http://www.lucasplan.org.uk/tickets. See http://www.lucasplan.org.uk, or the notes below for more information on the Lucas Plan.
The conference will focus on 5 key themes:
The Lucas Plan and socially useful production.
Arms conversion and peace.
Climate change and a socially just transition to sustainability.
The threat to skills and livelihoods from automation.
Local/community economic and industrial planning.
Linking all these issues is the need to rethink how we can produce what people and society actually need and overcome corporate domination through their control of technology.
Highlights of the conference will include:
Talks by Phil Asquith, Brian Salisbury and Mick Cooney (Lucas Aerospace Shop Stewards Combine).
Screening of a new film on the Lucas Plan by Steve Sprung.
Contributions from: Chris Baugh (PCS), Suzanne Jeffery (Million Climate Jobs Campaign), Hilary Wainwright (Red Pepper), John McDonnell (tbc), Natalie Bennett and Molly Scott-Cato (Green Party), Romayne Phoenix (People’s Assembly Against Austerity), Mary Pearson (Birmingham Trades Council), Jim Wyke (Young Scots for Independence), Philippa Hands (Unison), Stuart Parkinson (Scientists for Global Responsibility), Dave Elliott (Open University), Dave King (Breaking the Frame), Tom Woolley (Rachel Bevan Architects), Simon Fairlie (The Land magazine), Karen Leach (Localise West Midlands), plus more speakers to be announced.
The conference on the Lucas Plan 40th anniversary will be held at Birmingham Voluntary Service Council (138 Digbeth, Birmingham, B5 6DR) on November 26, 2016. See http://www.lucasplan.org.uk. The conference is being organised and sponsored by: former members of the Lucas Aerospace Shop Stewards Combine, Breaking the Frame, PCS, UCU, Million Climate Jobs Campaign, Green Party, Scientists for Global Responsibility, Campaign Against Arms Trade, and Red Pepper.
Tickets are £10/£5 concessions: To book for the conference, visit http://www.lucasplan.org.uk/tickets. For more information, email info@breakingtheframe.org.uk
BACKGROUND INFO: The Lucas Aerospace Shop Stewards Combine’s Alternative Corporate Plan (‘The Lucas Plan’) was launched in 1976 and became famous worldwide, sparking an international movement for socially useful production and workers’ plans. Facing the threat of redundancies, the Combine collected 150 ideas from shop floor workers about alternative socially useful products that could be produced by the company, instead of relying on military orders. Many of the innovations in the plan, such as hybrid car engines, heat pumps and wind turbines were commercially viable and are now in widespread use. Although the Alternative Plan was rejected by Lucas Aerospace managers, it was instrumental in protecting jobs at Lucas in the 1970s. The Combine was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 and Mike Cooley received the Right Livelihood Award in 1982. More information about the Plan, including the 53-page summary of the five 200 page volumes, can be found on the conference website, http://www.lucasplan.org.uk.
FIFTEENTH ESSEX CONFERENCE ON LABOUR HISTORY
The Fifteenth Essex Conference on Labour History, jointly sponsored and organised by Labour Heritage and the Essex Labour Campaign Forum will take place at The Labour Hall, Collingwood Road, Witham, CM8 2EE, (adjacent to Witham railway station), from 10.30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, 29th October, 2016.
The topics on the agenda include the historical role of Aneurin Bevan, relations with Ireland, the Poplar rates dispute and the life of a Labour activist in Essex.
The Conference is completely open and friends, relatives and acquaintances are welcome, whatever their political allegiances. Questions and other contributions will be invited from the floor, lunch will be provided by the Essex Labour Campaign Forum and the cost is included in the registration fee.
The registration fee is £8 per person (cheques payable to the Essex County Labour Party). Those not previously registered can pay at the door, provided there are places, but pre-booking is advisable – particularly for catering purposes.
CHARLES COCHRANE, Chair – Essex Labour Campaign Forum
STAN NEWENS, Chair – Labour Heritage. For details contact Stan on this e-mail address
Registration fee: £8.00 per person
PROGRAMME
10.30 – 11.00 a.m. Conference assembles (tea and coffee will be provided)
11.00 – 11.10 a.m. Chair’s opening remarks – Charles Cochrane, Chair, Essex Labour Campaign Forum
11.10 – 12.05 p.m. The Left in the mid-20th Century and the Role of Aneurin Bevan
Francis Beckett (Labour historian and author)
12.05 – 1.00 p.m. Ireland – the 1916 Rising and Social Progress
Ivan Gibbons (former Director of Irish Studies at St. Mary’s University Twickenham, and Director of the Irish Cultural Centre, Hammersmith)
1.00 – 2.00 p.m. Lunch, arranged by the Essex Labour Campaign Forum.
2.00 – 2.45 p.m. George Lansbury and the 1921 Poplar Rates Dispute
Chris Sumner (George Lansbury Memorial Trust)
2.45 – 3.30 p.m. A Life in the Labour Movement
Stan Newens (former MP, MEP and Labour historian)
3.30 – 3.55 p.m. Discussion and suggestions
3.55 – 4.00 p.m. Conclusion of the Conference
Loyalties: An Interdisciplinary Seminar on British Communism.
The question of dual or contested loyalties has been a constant theme in the history of British communism. Much of existing research has centred on the political allegiances of communists who have occupied positions of influence in the military, or have been involved in espionage. Research in this field has been enriched by the availability of MI5 files, Soviet archives and personal memoir. However, the question of the loyalties of British communists has a much wider scope and significance, encompassing the dilemmas of intellectuals, changing personal and political identities and the balance between trade union activism and political priorities. In the background have often been tensions between the freedom of the artist and writer and their political commitments, the internationalist and anti-fascist allegiances in the context of war and pacifism, and the effects of the Cold War on work and family life.
Given the breadth of the loyalties question, this one day seminar, funded by The Open University’s Centre for Citizenship, Identities and Governance, was conceived with the idea of pushing out the boundaries of research to bring together historians, political scientists, intelligence experts and those working on biographical studies and life-writing. The seminar is intended to be a starting-point for further research and will focus initially on three main areas:
War, intelligence and espionage
British communists and Spain in the 1930s
Writers, intellectuals, artists.
The emphasis will be on short 10-15 minute contributions to maximise the time available. In addition to these three themes the two plenaries at the beginning and end of the day are intended to discuss further research opportunities.
Date: Friday 18 November. 9.30-16.00
Venue, Kellogg College, 62 Banbury Road, Oxford OX2 6PN
For further details and to register please contact Dr Geoff Andrews: geoff.andrews@open.ac.uk
