Capitalism across the world is in crisis. The ongoing spectre of wars, environmental destruction and poverty is all too apparent. This crisis is not simply down to the greed or corruption of individuals but is endemic to a capitalist system in decline. The need for a higher form of society based upon the principle of human need as opposed to the needs of capital is more obvious than ever. Communist Students believes that Marxism is the best way of understanding the world and changing it. Communist Students exists to promote Marxism on our campuses, campaign for democracy in all spheres of life, and fight to…  continue reading

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The CPGB’s annual school - the Communist University - is different. It features sharp clashes of opinion on the revolutionary left, not dull lectures by left ‘professors’. This educates the audience and the speakers. And who can doubt that the entire left needs some serious re-thinking?

Global economic crisis and Marx back in the mainstream press. Huge nationalisations and bailouts for the financial system. Millions in Europe and the US face layoffs, repossessions and poverty. Countries like Pakistan face total societal breakdown. Whatever the immediate dynamics of the global economic crisis, the type of capitalism we will face when the dust settles will be very different. Revolutionaries need to both think afresh as well as rediscover the healthy traditions of our movement. That’s what Communist University 2009 is all about - big answers for the big questions. Confirmed speakers thus far include:

• Lars T Lih - Author of the excellent Lenin Rediscovered: What is to be done? in context
• Hillel Ticktin - Editor of Critique
• Boris Kargalitsky - Russian Marxist, author of Empire of the periphery: Russia and the world system
• Moshe Machover - Israeli anti-Zionist and Matzpen founder
• Lionel Sims - Author and member of the Radical Anthropology Group
• Yassamine Mather - CPGB, exiled Iranian revolutionary
• Mike Macnair - CPGB, author of Revolutionary Strategy
• Jack Conrad - CPGB, author of Fantastic Reality: Marxism and the politics of religion
• Jean-Michel Edwin - Marxist involved in the NPA in France

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Communist Students decided unanimously to support and mobilise for this event at our conference.

Featured news:

Students need Marxism- report of CS conference 2009

On April 26 members of Communist Students gathered in central London to thrash out our perspectives for the coming period and to look critically at our work over the last year. In spite of numerous apologies because of exams, essays and poor options for Sunday travel, over 20 comrades attended. Conference was opened by outgoing executive member Nick Jones, who reported on our activity over the past 12 months - not least the inspiring pro-Gaza occupations that spread across the UK. Comrade Jones also looked at various CS interventions within the student movement and our impact on the organised left, where we have consistently posed the need for Marxism in opposition to broad movementism. Although we are not exactly popular with the left groups, we have made modest progress in terms of influence and support over the last year. Comrade Jones also discussed our weaknesses, referring to our “sloppiness” in relation to NUS work, and called for a more systematic approach. Article continued here: http://communiststudents.org.uk/2009/04/students-need-marxism-cs-conference-09/

Organising school students video

Students and Staff: Shoulder to Shoulder!

On Thursday May 7 Communist Students were up at the crack of dawn to attend the picket lines at London Metropolitan University, showing our support for the strike action against outrageous cuts proposals following severe mismanagement and bureaucracy. The pickets were quite well attended and there was  a positive mood amongst the strikers. Students largely stayed away from university, and those who did turn up on the day were more than willing to listen to the arguments around the strike, put their names to the UCU petition and then either go home or stay on the pickets for a while. CS distributed a leaflet and received a warm response from UCU members. Article continued here: http://communiststudents.org.uk/2009/05/students-and-staff-shoulder-to-shoulder-ucu/

Communist Students UCU Leaflet

Marxism and women’s liberation

The emancipation of women has long been of importance and controversy for Marxists. It is necessary to critically examine those attempts on the left to champion an ‘anti-capitalist feminism’ as the solution to this form of oppression, as expressed most recently by the Alliance for Workers’ Liberty’s front organisation, Feminist Fightback.

It is crucial for us to oppose the suggestion that feminism is able to adequately provide a solution to the root causes of women’s oppression, as well as the claim that feminism - even that of a ‘socialist’ stripe - is able to adequately explain its origins. We must first, however, briefly examine what is meant by the term ‘feminism’, particularly given the wide range of meanings that have been attributed to it… read on

Free education demo: Educate, Agitate, Organise!

Around 600 students gathered at SOAS University to demand free education and a living grant for all. Although numbers were slightly lower than had been initially expected, it was very encouraging to see students turn out in such numbers in an action that was organised completely independently of the National Union of Students – the first time since the late 1990s. It may also underline the fluidity of the current period we are entering into against the backdrop of the greatest crisis of capitalism since the 1930s. Article continued here: http://communiststudents.org.uk/2009/02/educate-agitate-organise/

Down with bureaucratic banality! Fight for Marxism!

Laurie McCauley, Communist Students candidate for President of Sheffield University Student’s Union, reports on the elections now the results are in

This year’s election yielded few surprises. The campaigns of the right wing and the genuinely apolitical have consisted of the usual mixture of uncontroversial, token policies, appalling slogans and embarrassing gimmicks. Article continued here: http://communiststudents.org.uk/2009/03/down-with-bureaucratic-banality-fight-for-marxism/

Obama: world’s no.1 terrorist

As George Bush hands over the reins of power, James Turley looks at what to expect from the new man … The charismatic Democratic candidate, Barack Obama, rode anti-war and, above all, anti-Bush sentiment to become America’s president-elect. The atmosphere following the victory was electrifying and, while communists opposed a vote for Obama, we recognised that the victory pointed to the weakness of the most vulgar and open pro-imperialist ideas that have so dominated American politics at least since the 9/11 attacks. We shared the people’s sigh of relief, if not their optimism about the next four years… read on