Michael Copestake reports on the CPGB’s Marxist political economy weekend event
As the present crisis of capitalism rolls relentlessly into its fourth year, there is still no sign of the ostensibly revolutionary left taking political advantage of this situation. Across Europe social democratic governments have been given the electoral boot and the left has not benefited at all in terms … read this post
Education targets become ends in themselves, argues Michael Copestake
The pernicious and self-defeating influence of targets, league tables and over-examination in schools has thrust the education system once again into the media spotlight. This time outside its regular place in the annual news cycle, which, as residents of Britain at least will know, usually follows the release of exam results … read this post
CS executive member Ben Lewis was the guest on last Tuesday’s Radical Minds show on WHPK, a community radio station broadcasting in Chicago (stream after the jump). Ben was invited to discuss the tumultuous history of the German worker’s movement, and specifically his recently published translation of the speeches of Zinoviev and Martov at the 1920 Halle conference of the … read this post
The Durban conference on climate change is likely to be even more useless than its predecessors – James Turley argues it is time to serve notice on capital’s stewardship of the environment
The first casualty of war, they say, is the truth. The first casualties of an international conference of governments on climate change, on the other hand, are invariably … read this post
Callum Williamson looks forward to the biggest demonstration of working class power for decades
There are obvious reasons why students should support striking workers (many of whom work in education) this Wednesday. On the specific issue of pensions, it is clearly not in the interests of the working class majority – of which most students are a part – for … read this post
Michael Copestake has been talking to the occupiers at Sheffield Cathedral
Remarkably there are now 21 ‘Occupy’ camps dotted across the urban landscapes of Britain’s cities. The largest and most prominent is, of course, the one in London outside St Paul’s Cathedral, and one could be forgiven for not being aware of most of the others, which have not attracted … read this post
CS executive member Ben Lewis reports on some interesting exchanges at the ‘Historical Materialism’ weekend
The eighth annual Historical Materialism conference held at the School of Oriental and African Studies last weekend was a genuine success, with four days rammed full of papers, plenaries and discussions. While it is hard to tell just how many attended over the four days, … read this post
A student nurse explains how students are used to fill the gaps in the NHS
In a conversation with a friend a few weeks ago, he implied that student nurses are lucky because they don’t have to pay for their qualification, as opposed to other university students. Although he wasn’t coming from a Marxist perspective he was at least right … read this post
One year after breaking into the lobby of Tory HQ at Millbank, on November 9 students marched through London again, the central themes being tuition fees, soaring youth unemployment and the restructuring of higher education.
Attendance was around 8,000-10,000 (though police estimates put it at much less), significantly lower than last year. This should be expected with the National Union … read this post
This handy guide, first published in CS11, will help you distinguish between the various, yet on the surface almost identical student groups likely to be recruiting on your campus. Exactly why the left is so divided is dealt with in this article (link). By Harley Filben…. read this post
1. National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts
Semi-secret parent organisations: Alliance for Workers Liberty
Manchester CS public meeting
6pm, Thursday 20th October
Cameron Committee Room on 3rd floor of MMU
**Meeting postponed on 13th October**
The Middle East and North Africa have seen a wave of uprisings against decades-old dictatorships which sought to stifle all dissent. Oppression and grinding exploitation at the hands of both local tyrants and Western capital lies behind the recent … read this post
Cat Rylance on the tumultuous protests that shook British society last year
Around this time last year, school, college and university students were preparing for the opening blow of the Conservative-Liberal Democrat attacks on public services. These attacks were met with a level of resistance not seen for decades. Walkouts, occupations and mass demonstrations mobilised hundreds of thousands. The strength … read this post
For the unity of Marxists
If a group of people all wanted the same thing, one would expect them to work together in order to achieve their common goal – that is, so long as the differences that existed between them were not sufficient to jeopardise that final goal in the process. One may particularly expect this of the far-left: those revolutionaries, socialist and communists … read this post