Category: Marxism 2015

Marxism 2015 3: Accommodation and Day Two

A personal account of day 2 of Marxism 2015.

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to this, my third post about Marxism 2015, the five-day political festival hosted by the Socialist Workers Party at the Institute of Education in London. I hope that you will enjoy this post and be inspired to share it.

ACCOMMODATION

I was booked to stay with somebody in Walthamstow, and although their house is not close to a tube station, it would nor amlly have been easy to get there. However, the tube strike meant that we had to go by bus to Clapton and get a London Overground service to Wood Street. In the heavy traffic generated by the tube strike this took considerable time. Getting in the following morning was easier, but I failed to allow enough time (a very rare occurrence) and arrived a little late for the first meeting…

AT THE EVENT

Here is a photo of my timetable for the day in question, showing the meetings I decided to attend…

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All of these meetings were magnificent, but I am going to concentrate for photos on the first two, and for most of my text on the third.

Here then are some photos from the first meeting, and fascinating stuff it was too, with a convincing demonstration of egalitarianism in early human history…

Anatolia.
Anatolia.
Catalhoyuk
Catalhoyuk
Cayonu
Cayonu

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These reconstructions are wrong in one respect - the houses had neither windows nor doors, being approached through the roof, with most of daily life taking place on said rooftops (there being no roads).
These reconstructions are wrong in one respect – the houses had neither windows nor doors, being approached through the roof, with most of daily life taking place on said rooftops (there being no roads).

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A mother goddess from these ancient remains.
A mother goddess from these ancient remains.
A 19th century South American village on similar lines.
A 19th century South American village on similar lines.

For the second meeting I attended that day on Mental Health, photos really can tell most of the story…

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Another connection to where I grew up - Jeremy from Streatham talking about the Mental Health Charter.
Another connection to where I grew up – Jeremy from Streatham talking about the Mental Health Charter.
Jo from London tells of family memories of living near a mental hospital (When we first moved to London there was exactly such an institution within a few minutes walk of our home)
Jo from London tells of family memories of living near a mental hospital (When we first moved to London there was exactly such an institution within a few minutes walk of our home)

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This picture adorns one wall of the Elvin Hall where the meeting took place.
This picture adorns one wall of the Elvin Hall where the meeting took place.

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Susan gives her opening talk on Mental Illness: A Disorder of Capitalism.
Susan gives her opening talk on Mental Illness: A Disorder of Capitalism.
The feature image for this post.
The feature image for this post.

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A GERMAN-CENTRIC TAKE ON CLASSICAL MUSIC

Although I thoroughly enjoyed this meeting I was a little disappointed that it was so dominated by German and Austrian composers, with only brief mentions of the Italians (my favourites). Before moving any further I must pay tribute to Siobhan from East London who stepped in at the twelfth hour when the person who should have been chairing the meeting could not be located, and did an excellent job…

Siobhan from East London who stepped in as chair at the twelfth hour.
Siobhan from East London who stepped in as chair at the twelfth hour.

Although as I have said I would have preferred more credit to be given the Italian composers, I did enjoy this meeting, and overall Sabby Sagall acquitted himself well in slightly testing circumstances…

Sabby Sagall speaking about Classical Music.
Sabby Sagall speaking about Classical Music.

I will finish this post with a few pictures from later in the day…

Mark L Thomas addresses a packed house on "Are the Greens a Left Alternative?"
Mark L Thomas addresses a packed house on “Are the Greens a Left Alternative?”
Shahrar Ali, leading Green, offers constructive comment from the floor.
Shahrar Ali, leading Green, offers constructive comment from the floor.
Sarah Creagh introduces "Rosa Luxemburg and the German Revolution"
Sarah Creagh introduces “Rosa Luxemburg and the German Revolution”
A moment of whimsy -a close up shot of on of Sarah Creagh's earrings.
A moment of whimsy -a close up shot of on of Sarah Creagh’s earrings.
Blackhorse Road Station, from where a 123 bus gets to the end of the road on which I was staying, by night (definitely the best time to see it!)
Blackhorse Road Station, from where a 123 bus gets to the end of the road on which I was staying, by night (definitely the best time to see it!)

Marxism 2: Opening Rally

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to this, the second post in my series about Marxism 2015, the five day political festival currently taking place at the Institute of Education in central London. The first post can be viewed here.

LIGHTING THE RED TOUCHPAPER

The opening rally, expertly chaired by Emma Davies, was such a fantastic occasion, with so many fabulous speakers that I cannot possibly do justice to it in words, so I hope that the various photographs I use do the job for me…

Emma Davies was entrusted with the task of chairing the opening rally and did an excellent job.
Emma Davies was entrusted with the task of chairing the opening rally and did an excellent job.

On the day the London was brought to its knees by a tube strike, it was only appropriate that the first speaker should be one of the strikers. Unjum Mirza revealed a great piece of international solidarity in the form of a bilingual English/ Greek banner, and another in the form of a collection that raised over £100 for the SEK, Greek sister organsiation to the SWP who host Marxism.

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Unjum Mirza with Panos Garganos in the shot.
Unjum Mirza with Panos Garganos in the shot.
Unjum, Panas and a Unison rep diplay international solidarity, holding up the bilingual banner.
Unjum, Panas and a Unison rep diplay international solidarity, holding up the bilingual banner.

Next up were these three…

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Jenny Sutton, TUSC (Trade Union and Socialist Coalition) candidate for Tottenham (polled 1,300 votes) spoke next…

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I cannot remember all the rest of the speakers, but a group oc campaigners against the privatisation of the National Gallery were among them…

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Panos Garganos had his own moment as a member of SEK in the spotlight…

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The evening was brought to a close by event organiser Amy Leather…

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Marxism 2015 1: Getting There and The First Couple of Meetings

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to my first blog post about Marxism 2015, a five day political festival taking place in Central London. In this post I will be covering the journey down, and the very start of the event. The way the event works (at present) is that there are two sessions on the Thursday afternoon before the Opening Rally on Thursday evening (which will have a post to itself), then three full days (Fri, Sat, Sun), before two sessions on Monday morning and the final rally at 2PM on Monday.

GETTING THERE

Following the advice contained in Sutcliffe’s first law of travelling by public transport I selected the 10:56 train, which arrived at King’s Cross bang on time at 12:38, giving me oodles of time to walk to the Institute of Education (where the event is happening), deposit my larger bag in the left luggage room, eat my sandwich and locate the venue of my first meeting.

THE FIRST MEETING: GENDER AND SEXUALITY

This meeting which took place in Clarke Hall was bedevilled by technical problems but nevertheless a very fine meeting. Just some of the things covered were Istanbul Pride (over 100,000 last year, attacked by riot police this year), the votes for gay marriage in Ireland and the USA, and two high profile transgender cases, Kelly Maloney (who was formerly boxing promoter Frank Maloney) and Caitlyn Jenner (formerly 1976 Olympic gold medal decathlon winner Bruce Jenner).

It also introduced me to an acronym: TERF which stands for Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminist. The example cited was Janice Raymond.

Before moving on to the second meeting, here are some photos from these early stages of the event…

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Our main speaker at this meeting, Laura Miles.
Our main speaker at this meeting, Laura Miles.

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MEETING 2: ECONOMIC RECOVERY AND SECULAR STAGNATION

i went to this meeting after a last minute change of heart, and regretted the decision. Although there were some points of interest, it was the one meeting I have been at so far (near the end of Saturday) that I did not particularly enjoy. However, I have some photographs…

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Andrew Kliman, main speaker at the second meeting I attended.
Andrew Kliman, main speaker at the second meeting I attended.

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