Exhibition – Socialist Opposition to the First World War
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I understand that Head Office has received no invite to this event. Hopefully some of the London members will take a look and check that the SPGB is a prominent feature…
"The Marx Memorial Library and Workers' School is pleased to announce the launch of our Heritage Lottery Fund supported exhibition Socialist Opposition to the First World War at 11.00 am. The launch will commence at Marx Memorial Library on Sunday 8th November 2015 where it will remain for six weeks. Thereafter it will move to other locations inside and outside London. It will run until the end of March 2016."Well worth pointing this out to the organisers that the only currently existing organisation that consistently oppoesed the war has been ignored and its contribution neglected.Tomorrow's EC could firs off a critical letter to them.
ComradesDoes anyone have any evidence that the Party has been "ignored… and neglected" by the MML?Unless we have asked the organisers what content there is on the SPGB, I don't think we can actually complain, until someone has seen the exhibition.Just complaining about not being invited to the launch event would be taking it a bit far, as its been advertised several times in the Morning Star and with no entry criteria.YFS
Good point. We should see the exhibition first and not shoot from the hip. The good news is that Comrade Scholey, of the Archives Committee, will be going there on Sunday to see and report back.Interesting that it's funded by the Heritage Fund. I don't suppose we'd have accepted money from it (the State) for our exhibition even if we'd thought of applying, would we?
I admire the sentiments of thinking the best of our political enemies and perhaps it will be justified. But as the only surviving socialist organisation from that period which unqualified opposed the war, the SLP, BSP and the ILP now being defunct, you would imagine if the organisers were sincere they would have already approached the Party even if only to request any material which we may have at hand. By all means, hold your fire until you are sure we have not been neglected but please consider what we should do if we have been ignored.Wouldn't a picket and protest, banners and all, of the exhibition be in order? And, of course, a press-release explaining the reason for our displeasure at the omission. Nor should it consist of a token one-off demonstration but a continual one until our own World War One display is included in the exhibition. I don't think even the most stongly worded letter of complaint to the organisers is suffice, considering the personal sacrifice and suffering of our members for their principled stand against the war. Lest we forget them and to ensure their memory continues and to commemorate their commitment to socialism, we should not take this slight so lightly. We should make our anger very explicit in the clearest and most direct way we can and if we cannot get today's members to to turn up to honour the members of yester-year, then i'm afraid they fall in my estimation of them. I consider this as a priority and not a side-issue or of minor concern. We have a responsibility to our past comrades that they are not forgotten.
Howdy!Yes. Well. Pickets. Press releases. My word!There were less than twenty people at the launch, all appeared to be well known to the organisers. I would say like our display it was primarily aimed at members (or whatever the MML has). Although they intend to move the display round the country, I would say it requires a certain degree of understanding of the period. Not sure how it would go down with the kiddies. Some one brought this up at launch.Subject matter was mainly labour movement" (activism including trade union) rather than specifically 'socialist', with few references to political parties (those to the BSP largely inaccurate – surprising given that the writer of the text is actually a professor of labour history: academics? meh!) . About one each to Lenin and the Bolshies (some sort of pop group?) and maybe a couple to the CP. All offhand. So the omission of ourselves was certainly not out of order.12 panels: 1. Timeline. 2/3. General about war. 4-6. Red Clydeside and the shop stewards movement. 7-11. Women activists (Mary Macarthur, Sylvia Pankhurst, Helen Crawfurd, Mary Barbour). 12. Anti-war movements.Very slick appearance. Although they had lottery funding (!) it came out fairly cheap. Big seven foot printed panels which rolled up into cannisters. £60 a go. Worth considering for our use – but since permanent would have to be general. Geezer used photoshop to do the layout.Datzboutit.KAZ
But to once more to address the issue….The title of the exhibition is the "SOCIALIST OPPOSITION to the First World War" and we do not feature in it. That is inexcusable. Our omission is most certainly out of order and should not be so easily overlooked because of any inadequencies of the exhibition itself. Some may consider the situation lightly, deserving of only a Socialist Standard review. I do not and i hope other members take my view. Once more i reiterate that we owe our comrades of that period a responsibility to not let their contribution be forgotten. I stand by my call for a picket and a demonstration. I will consider it shameful that we do not physically express our dispeasure and protest. And if it is too late for the EC to make a call for action then i expect the local London branches to do so on their own initiative. But if some think we should exercise restraint and understanding then by all means we can politely apply for our own display to be included as part of the exhibition and see what the response is.
Howdy! Please get this matter in proportion. It's difficult enough to get folk out for a sensible demonstration against the real enemy – capitalism and its wretched old Etonian reps. A demo against this would be one tiny group of old folks shaking their fists at another tiny group of old folks, cussing each other out about collectivisation and a hundred other things that happened before anyone was born. Youngies looking on with a wtf. As I have said their emphasis is on activism (rent strikes, trade union struggles) rather than party politics. Do you not like activism? (It's no socialism – but…). Any response other than a fairly polite review would be entirely inappropriate. – KAZ
On this occasion, i fully endorse the existence of our hostility clause. I'm not quite as ageist as some that i grant exceptions to people because of their age and suppose younger people would not understand why we have cause to complain. I have sent two very reasonable and polite letters of complaint to MML (suppressing the indignation i display on this thread) and have received not even an acknowledgement. No, i will say it one more time, a exhibition purporting to be a history of the socialist opposition to WW1 that ignores our own members is an insult to them and any casual attitude by ourselves in permitting such an affront to their memory without protest is shameful.
alanjjohnstone wrote:But to once more to address the issue….The title of the exhibition is the "SOCIALIST OPPOSITION to the First World War" and we do not feature in it. That is inexcusable. Our omission is most certainly out of order and should not be so easily overlooked because of any inadequencies of the exhibition itself. Some may consider the situation lightly, deserving of only a Socialist Standard review. I do not and i hope other members take my view. Once more i reiterate that we owe our comrades of that period a responsibility to not let their contribution be forgotten. I stand by my call for a picket and a demonstration. I will consider it shameful that we do not physically express our dispeasure and protest. And if it is too late for the EC to make a call for action then i expect the local London branches to do so on their own initiative. But if some think we should exercise restraint and understanding then by all means we can politely apply for our own display to be included as part of the exhibition and see what the response is.Judging from the minutes of November EC, I take it this was not discussed.
Thanks to jondwhite for his post [#14]. I took the minutes and omitted to include this item. I thought I had forgotten something.Yes this was discussed at the EC meeting. In fact I raised it, so should have remembered!I have drafted this amendment to the November EC minutes [they are not official until adopted]:OTHER BUSINESS. Exhibition: ‘Socialist Opposition to the First World War’ (Marx Memorial Library). The Acting General Secretary had confirmed no invite has been received for the launch event, advertised for 08/11/2015. It was suggested that the EC authorise a complaint if it is found the SPGB is not covered appropriately. Another suggested that given the allegiances of the organisers, no coverage was likely. Cde Scholey to attend and report back on the content of the exhibition.YFS
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