It's that time of year Socialist Party comrades across the country fold up their stalls, put away their papers and descend upon London en masse. Yes, nearly a year has passed since our last annual weekend school and the behemoth that is Socialism 2008 is upon us! I particularly look forward to it because not only do I get to see all my old muckers, it gives me a few days worth of blogging material!
You can read about previous adventures at Socialism here, here, here, and here. Hopefully more of it will be filmed and put online this year too.
Looking at the agenda, there's plenty of stuff to keep us occupied. On the Saturday afternoon yours truly will probably go to 'Is China the world's new superpower?' with Peter Taaffe and Fang Guoli, or maybe Simon Kaplan's look at 'Pakistan and the permanent revolution today'. On Sunday morning there's one session all the ultra lefts will be attending: 'Building a revolutionary party in the 21st century: A debate Between Hannah Sell of the SP and a representative of the SWP'. I will be going along too. Hopefully it will be a constructive session where the differences between the two are thrashed out in a comradely manner, and I hope the SWP rep brings along some supporting speakers from the floor too (what are the chances the Sparts use the occasion to denounce the IBT?) My advice to comrades is to get to that one early. If I can't get into that session I'll be going along to hear Pete Mason speak on 'Marxism and the Big Bang'. I wonder if any Grantites will turn up for that one? And finally, my Sunday afternoon talk of choice is Niall Mulholland on the 'Fourth International and after', before heading to the closing session with speeches from Mark Serwotka of the PCS, our Hannah and Dave, and representatives from Respect and the LRC.
If you fancy spending the weekend rubbing shoulders with The Marxists, you can book here. And if you do come, I might even let you buy me a pint ;)
5 comments:
hi phil,
not sure what saturday session im going to, but like you going to the one on the swp and then the fourth international. the agenda is excellent though with plenty of other options, so should be good.
see you in the pub if not before!!
I'll prob see you in the final sunday session - although i'm tempted by the one on germany 1918 too.
Phil,
will it be videoed or the sessions recorded properly on to MP3s?
I would imagine they will be made available on MP3s, but don't quote me on it! For the last couple of years our Saturday rally has been featured on the main website (I think!) - I hope the techie comrades do the same for some of the sessions too.
In Scotland the SWP and CWI are best pals! What debate is there in England and Wales? The SWP and CWI are often seen whispering to one another and carrying banners together in Scotland - they are united together in Solidarity.
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