It's less than 2 weeks until Marxism, the biggest gathering of the year on the British left. It's organised by the Socialist Workers Party and takes place over 5 days in central London. Here is the full timetable.
You can read about the big highlights elsewhere. Here, instead, is my list of recommended sessions taken from the medium-sized and small venues. An alternative guide to Marxism, if you like...
Thursday 2 July
Anindya Bhattacharyya: Why does racism still exist?
Patrick Ward: The internet, democracy and the movement
Friday 3 July
James Meadway: Neoliberalism in crisis: the return of the state?
Sabby Sagall: Marxism and human nature
Jeremy Dear and Dave Crouch: Controlling the media in war: are governments winning the battle?
Lindsey German: Marx, Engels and the revolutionary tradition
Saturday 4 July
Chris Nineham: Anti-capitalism: ten years after Seattle
China Mieville: The politics of monsters
John Rees: Georg Lukacs on Lenin
Alan Gibbons and Michael Rosen: Campaign for the book
Sunday 5 July
Noel Douglas: Whose streets? Our streets! (An illustrated talk)
Costas Lapavitsas: A socialist response to the economic crisis
Helen Salmon: Was Lenin a democrat?
Shirley Franklin: How children learn - a socialist perspective
Monday 6 July
Anne Alexander: Islamism and the new Arab left
See you in the Institute of Education bar...
Bat is very, very good. Sabby is not prepossessing as a speaker but very intelligent.
ReplyDeleteI'd also recommend John Molyneux on a socialist society, Johnny Jones (and his massive brain) on the dialectic and Gareth Jenkins of Dickens as a wild card.
I once heard, some years ago, Gareth J talk about 'The nineteenth century novel'. It was perhaps a little ambitious, to pack an entire century of literature into just half an hour or so, but he did a great job. Evidently he's been allowed a bit more focus this time.
ReplyDeleteI chose Bat's meeting on racism partly cos it's a genuinely thought-provoking question, and I can imagine him making it concrete and contemporary (rather than simply re-stating the Marxist explanation of where racism comes from).
And of course the Battle of the Bigwigs - Zizek vs Callinicos. Shame there's no jelly!
ReplyDeleteI also recommend 'Can change come from inside Israel?' Thursday.
And, of course, the EXCLUSIVE launch of the fully edited SOAS occupation film courtesy of Reel News who followed us round all day and night!
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=96483986237 Saturday 1pm on SOAS grass (in common room if raining)