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(Provisional programme, January 2004) |
| Friday
Evening The individual in the capitalist world: Speaker: Clifford Slapper Saturday Morning Personal relations in an exploitative society: Speaker: Paddy Shannon Saturday Afternoon Capitalism’s threats: Speaker: Richard Headicar Saturday Evening Which way C21st capitalism? “…if you slam Marxism and techno-futurism together you get a shower of interesting sparks.” Speaker: Ken MacLeod Sunday Morning Capitalism’s crumbling ideology: Speaker: Andy Davies Sunday Afternoon Afterthoughts: A workshop session exploring socialists’ options in the face of the capitalist offensive. Convenor: Stan Parker The Socialist Party of Great Britain In other words, the Party has been active for virtually the whole of the Twentieth Century. And it has been an extremely turbulent and destructive century, with capitalism throwing off, one after another, the restraints of religion, morals and even simple human kindness in the pursuit of power and profit. Progress in science, technology and industry has been staggering. The production of human misery and death in the world has been appalling. Hardly anyone greeted the dawn of the third millennium with the expectation of a better future for the human race in the years to come, and the destruction of the World Trade Centre in New York followed by the announcement of the War on Terrorism by the government of the USA seemed to confirm George Orwell's fictional forecast of a world perpetually at war. What do socialists make of this? What are our fears, hopes and expectations for the hundred year span which lies ahead? Each of our speakers in this weekend summer school will address a particular aspect of society in an attempt to discern which way it is likely to develop and how socialists should respond to it. |