Summer School 2026
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2026’s Summer School on the theme of Populism will be held in Worcester on 21st – 23rd August. For more information, and to make a booking, visit https://www.worldsocialism.org/spgb/summer-school-2026/ Details of the weekend’s talks will be announced in due course.
I’m pleased to announce the first of the talks at this year’s Summer School on Populism, being held in Worcester on 21st – 23rd August. Paddy Shannon will be speaking on ‘Should / Could Socialism Be Populist?’
Populism is any political message that’s popular, regardless of merit or political orientation. Ideas become popular when they resonate with how people think. And just how do they think? In Thinking, Fast and Slow (2011), psychologist and Nobel prize-winning behavioural economist Daniel Kahneman identifies two modes of thought. System 1 is fast, heuristic and emotional. System 2 is slow, effortful, logical and dispassionate.
In the whirl of everyday life, says Kahneman, people get by with System 1 thinking. But that’s highly vulnerable to manipulation by populist politicians. We generally explain the socialist case in the language of System 2 thinking, because we need people to understand it, not just react emotionally to it.
Which gives us a problem. If socialism is ever to succeed, it must first become popular, and to do that, it must contend with System 1 thinking. People won’t listen to us if we don’t speak their language. Is a populist socialist approach possible? What would it even look like?For more information, including about making a booking, visit https://www.worldsocialism.org/spgb/summer-school-2026/
Here are details of another talk at August’s Summer School on the theme of Populism. Bill Martin will be speaking on ‘Populism As A Keyword’: Words change meaning, and have contested meanings (especially political words). This talk will look at the origin of the word ‘Populism’, showing how it has roots in particular movements, moments and practices that defined it at birth and have shaped its evolution into the word we use now. This talk will range from the Wizard of Oz to the Beatles, and will then come back to try and understand what populism means today.
For more information about the event, including how to make a booking, go to https://www.worldsocialism.org/spgb/summer-school-2026/Here are details of another talk at this year’s Populism-themed Summer School. Brian Gardner will be speaking about the following:
Rage Against The Dying Of The Right
The rise of populism and fascistic politics is undeniable. But should world socialists be too pessimistic? Beneath the waves of fascistic performative politics tectonic changes in class consciousness appear to be happening. This talk will try to look at populism as an insight to what really matters: the state of global working class consciousness.
· Are we being ‘gaslit’ about the strength of populism?
· Is this really a new era? Or the same old authoritarianism of capitalism, just without the pretence?
· To what extent is the working class around the world genuinely embracing conservative or nationalistic views?
· Is the rise of the far-right actually a desperate tactic by a ruling class running out of ideas?
· Is this just a temporary tech-driven anomaly (subsidized by billionaires and driven by outraged algorithms) which humanity will soon learn to overcome?Other sessions will be announced soon. The event is being held in Worcester on 21st – 23rd August, and more information can be found here: https://www.worldsocialism.org/spgb/summer-school-2026/
Other sessions at Summer School are in the pipeline and will be announced over the coming weeks. The event will also include a second-hand bookstall, a display of Socialist Standard articles on the Populism theme and an exclusive publication. The deadline for bookings is 19th July, so only just over a month now. For more information, see https://www.worldsocialism.org/spgb/summer-school-2026/
I’m pleased to announce another talk at this year’s Summer School on the theme of Populism. Paul Bennett will go ‘In Search Of Left-Wing Populism’:
Most populist parties are right-wing (Reform UK, Fidesz in Hungary), but it has been suggested that populism could also apply to left-wing organisations (such as the Greens, maybe, or Podemos in Spain). An article in Jacobin suggested that left populists ‘have prioritized a defense of popular over national sovereignty’; this would be in contrast to national populism, an ideology which prioritizes ‘the culture and interests of the nation’ (Eatwell & Goodwin).
We will explore claims such as these and look at how standard populist positions could apply to the left, such as the division between the people and the elite, and opposition to pluralism. Is populism really such a vague notion that it can include a wide range of views?More updates are on the way. The event is being held in Worcester on 21st – 23rd August, and information – including about making a booking – can be found here: https://www.worldsocialism.org/spgb/summer-school-2026/
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