Festival of resistance

The full timetable for this summer's Marxism festival is now online.

Marxism attracts thousands of people every year, and the current economic and political crisis of capitalism - combined with the on-going disaster of US imperialism's wars and occupations - gives the event a sharper edge and an urgency like never before. There are courses on Imperialism Today, Palestine's Fight for Freedom, Islam and Islamism, Capital for Beginners, Revolution and beyond, to name just a few. I'm also pleased to see there's some great cultural events, including 'Call Mr Robeson' (I saw this in Newcastle in March - see a previous post), an evening of Palestinian music of resistance, and a tribute the late, great poet Adrian Mitchell.

It's hard to pick out likely highlights from 200 sessions, but some of the big meetings that look especially good include Gary Younge on Obama's rise to power, Socialist Worker editor Chris Bambery and academic Adam Tooze discussing 'Could Hitler have won?', Lindsey German and Haifa Zangana on 'War, the crisis and imperialism today', leading Marxist academic David Harvey exploring 'The enigma of Capital', Tariq Ali on the crisis of American empire, and a forum asking 'How can we fight for women's liberation?' with Judith Orr and Guardian columnist Zoe Williams.

There are also some less high-profile meetings that look fascinating: archaeologist Neil Faulkner on 'The rise and fall of the Roman Empire' (any parallels with America today?), James Meadway examining whether we are now seeing 'the return of the state' due to the system's crisis, Patrick Ward on 'The internet, democracy and the movement', Ghada Karmi revealing the truth about the founding of Israel in 1948, John Rees on The Levellers and the English Revolution, Sabby Sagall on how Marxists view 'human nature', and of course many more.

Check out the timetable - and if you're not already signed up, what are you waiting for?