for workers' power from below
The next of The Commune’s public forums in London will be a debate on the question ‘is ecological struggle class struggle?’ The meeting takes place from 7pm on Monday 24th May at the Horse & Groom, Curtain Road, near Old Street tube.
The discussion will be led off by Rob Kirby, and members of Notes from Below. All welcome: email uncaptiveminds@gmail.com for more details.
Our next London public forum will see a debate on whether we should support candidates for Parliament. The meeting takes place three days before the general election, from 7pm on Monday 3rd May at the Artillery Arms, 102 Bunhill Row, near Old Street.
Many on the revolutionary left and labour movement are advocating the re-election of the Labour government. So should we tag along with Gordon Brown, vote for ‘socialist’ candidates, or have nothing to do with electoral politics? Join the debate. The discussion will be led off by Danny Ryan-Smith (The Commune) and Andrew Fisher (LRC). Continue reading “3rd may london forum: should we vote?”
The Commune’s next London forum is from 7pm on Monday 22nd March at the Artillery Arms, 102 Bunhill Row, near Old Street. Click here for leaflet.
The economic crisis has worsened anti-immigrant sentiment in British society. Not only has it created a breeding ground for the BNP and English Defence League to win support, but establishment racism is also on the up. Continue reading “immigration in britain today: london forum, 22nd march”
The next of The Commune’s series of London public forums will explore the themes raised by the coming general election campaign. The first such meeting will review the class struggle in the era of the New Labour government. What were the successes, what opportunities were missed, and how will we resist the post-election ruling class onslaught?
The meeting takes place from 7pm on Tuesday 2nd February at the Artillery Arms, 102 Bunhill Row, near Old Street (map below). Speakers confirmed so far include participants in last year’s Royal Mail, Visteon and Tower Hamlets College strikes. Continue reading “the state of the struggle: london forum, 2nd february”
From 7pm on Monday 4th January the London branch of The Commune will be holding a meeting to organise our forums, reading groups and activism for the early part of 2010.
We will be planning a continuation of our reading group discussion on workplace organising and trade unionism, with a look at the organisation of work today and the shape of the class society. As well as discussing activism in the capital, the meeting will also look to organising a communist theory discussion group, and forums on themes of capitalism and the working class today. Continue reading “planning london meetings and activism”
The Monday 21st December London ‘uncaptive minds’ public forum will be a review of the year’s class struggles, followed by Xmas drinks.
This open discussion meeting addressing the successes and weaknesses of our movement in 2009 will include participants involved in the Royal Mail, London Underground and Tower Hamlets College strikes as well as the Visteon occupation. Continue reading “21st december london forum: we won’t pay for their christmas”
Andrew Fisher from the Labour Representation Committee spoke at our 23rd November forum on ‘Where is the Labour Party going?’
Labour Governments do not have a good record at dealing with economic crises: in 1931, 1979 and now they have decided that it is the working class that should pay for the crisis. The electoral result in 1931 and in 1979 was to put Labour out of power for a generation.
Looked at from an historical perspective, Labour will lose the next election – it has every time it has behaved like this in an economic crisis. Even in 1931 however, Labour’s share of the vote – though reduced to just 46 MPs – did not fall below 30%. Continue reading “the future of the labour party and workers’ representation”
The next of The Commune’s London public forums is on the subject of the social role, degeneration and future course of the Labour Party. The meeting takes place from 7pm on Monday 23rd November at the Lucas Arms, Grays Inn Road, near King’s Cross.
With some on the left turning back to Labour as the 2010 general election nears, and others predicting the party will turn ‘left’ in opposition to a David Cameron administration, it is important to understand the underlying characteristics of Labour in British capitalism and challenge the arguments that the workers’ movement should try and ‘reclaim’ it or create a Labour Party mark II. Continue reading “where is the labour party going? london forum, monday 23rd”
The next of The Commune’s London public forums is on the subject of the social role, degeneration and future course of the Labour Party. The meeting takes place from 7pm on Monday 23rd November at the Lucas Arms, Grays Inn Road, near King’s Cross.
With some on the left turning back to Labour as the 2010 general election nears, and others predicting the party will turn ‘left’ in opposition to a David Cameron administration, it is important to understand the underlying characteristics of Labour in British capitalism and challenge the arguments that the workers’ movement should try and ‘reclaim’ it or create a Labour Party mark II. Continue reading “where is the labour party going? 23rd november london forum”
Videos of the presentations at our recent London forum on modern imperialism are now available at The Commune’s YouTube channel. The speakers at the event were Latin American solidarity activist Andy Higginbottom and Ukrainian Marxist Marko Bojcun. Click here for other videos by The Commune. Continue reading “imperialism and the world today – watch online”
‘uncaptive minds’ public meeting hosted by The Commune
The next of our London forums will be looking at modern imperialism. The coming to power of the Obama administration in the United States has led many people to believe that there will be a change in American foreign policy: yet the western military presence in Central Asia and Latin America is set to increase; the Eastern European nuclear defence shield has been abandoned with the aim of securing Russian support against Iran; and the war in Afghanistan continues unabated.
What is the strategy of imperialist domination today? With the rise of China and India, are there one, two or many imperialisms? What forces really challenge imperialism? Join the debate with speakers:
Andy Higginbottom
Latin America solidarity activist
Marko Bojcun
Ukrainian Marxist and writer on Eastern Europe
From 7pm on Monday 19th October at the Lucas Arms, Grays Inn Road, near King’s Cross. See below for map, or email uncaptiveminds@gmail.com for more details. Continue reading “imperialism and the world today: 19th october london forum”
‘uncaptive minds’ public meeting hosted by The Commune
The next of our London forums will be looking at modern imperialism. The coming to power of the Obama administration in the United States has led many people to believe that there will be a change in American foreign policy: yet the western military presence in Central Asia and Latin America is set to increase; the Eastern European nuclear defence shield has been abandoned with the aim of securing Russian support against Iran; and the war in Afghanistan continues unabated.
What is the strategy of imperialist domination today? With the rise of China and India, are there one, two or many imperialisms? What forces really challenge imperialism? Join the debate with speakers:
Andy Higginbottom
Latin America solidarity activist
Marko Bojcun
Ukrainian Marxist and writer on Eastern Europe
From 7pm on Monday 19th October at the Lucas Arms, Grays Inn Road, near King’s Cross. See below for map, or email uncaptiveminds@gmail.com for more details. Continue reading “imperialism and the world today: 19th october london forum”
21st September London ‘uncaptive minds’ forum
Polls put the Tories ahead of Labour by 17% and heading for a 100 seat majority at the coming general election. All indications are that we are heading for a Tory government by next summer.
When the Tories were last in power, Thatcher and Major led a vicious 18-year capitalist offensive against the working class, and the anti-union laws they introduced remain to this day under Gordon Brown. They restructured industry, created mass unemployment, scapegoated the poor and casualised labour.
We have every reason to worry: but what is the Tory agenda today? Are we ready for the challenge? The Commune is hosting a public forum to discuss these questions, and all are welcome. Continue reading “the tories: what are they planning, and are we ready for them?”
Andrew Kliman, author of ‘Reclaiming Marx’s Capital’, will be giving a talk in London on Wednesday 8th on ’causes and implications of the capitalist crisis’. The meeting takes place from 8pm at the Lucas Arms, Grays Inn Road, near King’s Cross.
Kliman, a member of the USA’s Marxist-Humanist Initiative, has argued that we have to see the current crisis as part of a wider structural crisis of capital, and moreover has argued that statist and Keynesian solutions to the crisis are a dead end for the working class. See our October interview with him here.
The meeting is being jointly hosted by The Commune and The Hobgoblin group.
All welcome. Plenty of time for discussion. Email uncaptiveminds@gmail.com for more info: map of the venue appears below. Continue reading “july 8th london forum: kliman speaks on the capitalist crisis”
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