Ideas for Freedom: a weekend of socialist discussion and debate
May 18 2007
<b>Ideas for Freedom is a weekend of socialist debate and discussion hosted by the Alliance for Workers’ Liberty: from the evening of Friday 29 June through to Sunday 1 July. Resource Centre, 356 Holloway Road, London N7.</b>
Our major theme this year is what it actually means to be on the left, and to be a socialist. As much of the left, from the SWP and Respect to the Labour Party, continues to move ever further away from socialist politics and decay politically, we want to reassert the themes of human freedom, consistent democracy and working-class struggle as the basics of any socialism worthy of the name.
We will also be running a number of sessions "Introducing Marxism". Ideas for Freedom is a space in which young activists can come and learn about Marxist ideas in a friendly atmosphere where questioning and debate are encouraged.
Sessions will include:
- "Introducing Marxism", including: Are revolutionaries violent?; Why do we need political parties?; 'Working class', 'multitude' or 'people of good will'?; What does it mean to be left-wing?
- After Gordon Brown's coronation: how can workers win a voice in politics? A panel on working-class political representation including John McDonnell MP, left challenger for leader of the Labour Party
- Workers' Liberty debates Nick Cohen, Observer journalist and author of What's left? on "Does socialism have a future?"
- Anarchism and Marxism in the Spanish revolution 1936-7
- Newsnight journalist Paul Mason reads from and leads a discussion on his new book on workers' struggles across the world, Live Working or Die Fighting
- How can we get the trade unions to fight? A debate with trade union speakers and Sheila Cohen, author of Ramparts of Resistance
Debate with the Aegis Trust on Darfur and the left's attitude to humanitarian intervention
- Robin Blackburn, author of The Overthrow of Colonial Slavery, on the real history of the abolition of slavery
- Priya Gopal, author of Literary Radicalism in India: Gender, Nation and the Transition to Independence, and Camila Bassi of Workers' Liberty take part in a panel on anti-racism and multiculturalism
- Sessions on queer politics and LGBT liberation
- Understanding Marx's Grundrisse
- Do Labour councils have to make cuts? Janine Booth of Workers' Liberty speaks about the lessons of the 1921 Poplar Council struggle, and an activist talks about the current anti-cuts campaigns in Lambeth
- A film showing and speakers on women and workers' struggles in Iran
Friday 29 June: film night and social, Bread and Roses, 68 Clapham Manor Street, London SW4, from 7.30pm-late. (Clapham Common tube or Clapham High Street rail)
Saturday 30 June and Sunday 1 July: at the Resource Centre, 356 Holloway Road, London N7. (Holloway Road tube)
Saturday evening social with live music
Creche provided, free accommodation in London arranged. We may also be able to help you with transport, depending on where you are coming from.
Tickets are £25 (waged), £18 (students and low waged) and £13 (unwaged). However, they are £3 cheaper if bought in advance. One day tickets are also available.
More details about the event: email awl@workersliberty.org or phone 020 7207 3997.
Or you can register online at http://www.workersliberty.org/ideas
May 18 2007
#2
Will there be a session on whether & how a Socialist Organiser member grassed on members of the Dispatch Industry Workers Union?
Quote:
For most people this was undoubtedly their first experience of industrial action and acting collectively in the individualistic world of despatch riding. At the time West One had about seven bike channels and we managed to block six of them. We heard later, from another source, that the management went absolutely apeshit. After fifteen minutes people started drifting away, as had been agreed. A few of us went to a nearby cafe, and by chance saw a very serious looking Ritterband arriving at Red Lion Square with a car full of the ‘heavy mob’. One of our comrades went to watch what they got up to and saw Ritterband talking intimately with two riders who had remained in the square. We suspected these two were grasses. One of those riders/grasses, David Leadbetter, was involved in the Socialist Organiser group. Socialist Organiser was involved in entryist politics, trying to recruit couriers to the TGWU. To put it another way the TGWU was, unfortunately, a rival to the DIWU as mentioned previously. We now suspect that the Socialist Organiser/TGWU gave information against the DIWU in an attempt to bring about our downfall. We considered tracking down David Leadbetter with these accusations, but nothing’s come of it, yet.
binned because you ignored the posting guidelines in events forums.
Read them and reply to this thread with a corrected subject line and your post will be moved