Summer School: ‘New Perspectives on Socialism’ (Birmingham)
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imposs1904 wrote:"maintain purity in the political sphere" I don't mean to be rude but that's just embarrassing to come from a party member. That wording is just echoing the worst sort of caricature that has been flung against us by our political enemies for over a century. If it was meant to be provocative I'm certainly provoked. And the first part I've bolded is just empty phrasemongering.
I didn't have a problem with the wording. I'd say that the paragraph goes against the caricature of the SPGB among some other groups because it's a reminder that we agree there's more to a revolution than just capturing the state in order to dismantle it. We don't tend to discuss enough what else counts as revolutionary activity, so I'm grateful that Johnny is raising the issue. His paragraph is only an introduction to his talk, so it's not there to go into much detail.
Darren redstar wrote:Seems I am doomed to not make summer school again this year.unfortunately our present foster baby begins his handover to his new family next weekShame you can't make it, and I hope the handover goes ok.
The Summer School's literature stall has been re-stocked, thanks to a generous donation of books. Hundreds of titles on many subjects will be available.
Simon Wigley introduces his talk ‘As a Marxist, frankly, I'm skeptical’: I would like to present a fundamental rethink of our position, based on a skeptical worldview. In particular, that rather than being isolated individuals navigating a social world, each of us is a social world. The explanation should be simple. I hope that you will give it a sympathetic first hearing – and then kick it till it breaks: it may be that what I think is extraordinary, is an ordinary misunderstanding. But if it stands – then we would need to view our current activity, of working for 'socialism', whatever that is, as fundamentally navigating capitalist space – suitable for the nineteenth century when we had to ride the coattails of the radical bourgeois, but not now. Instead we should be looking at our objective as being 'after capitalism', and looking at the actual day-to-day practice of our class, and work out how to support our class in its struggles to overthrow their own versions of capitalism rather than demanding that they join us in a 'back-to-the-future' crusade, fighting the class war of the last two centuries rather than this one and, if necessary, the next.
There are now very very few places left at Summer School. So, if you haven't already booked or reserved a place, please do so soon – first come first served!
Some pics here of the weekend in Birmingham:http://www.meetup.com/The-Socialist-Party-of-Great-Britain/photos/26295435/Click on individual photos or select 'Play Slideshow'.
Thanks for the photos, they've come out really well. I enjoyed the weekend, and I hope everyone else did, too. Thanks again to everyone who came along, and especially to those who gave presentations, contributed to the publication, and who helped behind the scenes, including Ed, Darrell, Dave, Jacqueline, Rob and Vince.There was a poll taken at the event for what kinds of outreach activity we think are most valuable and worthwhile. Here are the results:joint 1st: holding public meetings, and maintaining the SPGB website2nd: using social media (facebook, twitter, blogs etc)3rd: standing in electionsjoint 4th: running literature stalls, appearing on radio / TV, and producing short films5th: producing printed literature6th: engaging with other organisations7th: participating in online discussion forums8th: attending demos
Audio recordings for Summer School 2015 -The audio files have now been uploaded to our website – click this link to the list of four talks. Simon Wigley – ‘As A Marxist, Frankly, I’m Skeptical’Brian Gardner – ‘The X Factor: Revolutionary Political Consciousness’Johnny Mercer – ‘Revolutionary Action’Steve Clayton – ‘Imagine a Boot Stamping on a Human Face… or Givin’ it Str8 on da St8’ – Socialism and the State in the 21st Century
pfbcarlisle wrote:Audio recordings for Summer School 2015 -The audio files have now been uploaded to our website – click this link to the list of four talks.Pat on the back, Rob, for the incredibly fast turnaround on these audio files. Kudos also to Vince for filming three of the talks (yours truly did the fourth) which I will be working on as soon as the Kliman video has been transferred to DVD for onward transmission to Rob for editing and uploading.And none of us are members of the AVC !
Summer School report 2015 The SPGB’s 2015 Summer School was held over the long weekend 24th – 26th July at Fircroft College in Birmingham. The theme was ‘New Perspectives On Socialism’, taking a fresh approach to socialist theory, practice and activity. This was an amalgamation of several people’s ideas for a theme, from when views were canvassed after last year’s event. The following sessions were held:As A Marxist, Frankly, I’m Skeptical – a talk by Simon WigleyThe X Factor: Revolutionary Political Consciousness – a talk by Brian GardnerThe Argument Clinic: Logical Fallacies and Cognitive Biases. How thinking about thinking can help give new perspectives to old arguments – a workshop with Darren PoyntonRevolutionary Action – a talk by Johnny MercerGaming the Revolution – a game run by Bill MartinImagine a Boot Stamping on a Human Face, or Givin’ it Str8 on da St8: Socialism and the State in the 21st Century – a talk by Steve ClaytonAll the talks were video recorded, and audio files are already accessible through the party website. There were also showings of the short films Policy Beta and Street Politics 101. Between the sessions, and over meals and drinks, there was plenty of time for informal chats and discussions. Unlike the two previous years, evening socials were held on site with a self-service bar. This year’s exclusive publication was a glossy magazine-style collection of nine essays on the Summer School’s theme, with two articles accompanying sessions at the event. There was also a display stand to gauge attendees’ views on Socialist Party activity. 19 people voted for the three types of activity they considered most worthwhile. The results are below (in order of preference):joint 1st maintaining the SPGB website, and holding public talks and meetings2nd using social media (twitter, facebook, blogs etc)3rd standing in electionsjoint 4th running literature stalls, appearing on radio / TV, and producing short films5th producing printed literature6th engaging with other organisations7th participating in online discussion forums8th attending demos Feedback forms were available, although only one response was received. This said that the sessions had been enjoyable, and suggested changing the format so attendees spend less time sitting down. There were a couple of complaints about the beds. There were 43 residential attendees in all, ten more than last year (and more than since at least 2008). Around 12 of the attendees were not party members, a higher proportion than in recent years. There were no day-only visitors, and this number has been in decline for some time. The continued generous subsidy from central funds must have made the event affordable for more people. This means that almost enough people attended to fill the venue (with 47 being the maximum). Booking the entire venue means that Fircroft will allow alcohol on site for the evening socials. As in previous years, batches of flyers advertising the event were sent to the dozen-or-so radical bookshops in the country, although no known bookings have ever resulted from this. Most of this year’s attendees either came along in previous years or heard about the event by word-of-mouth, especially thanks to Kent and Sussex branch. Figures for income and expenditure are below: income expenditure * bookings 2760.00 venue 6952.00 bar sales 283.00 bar costs 264.75 literature sales 215.30 literature costs 40.00 printing 390.00 stationery 28.77 postage 68.46 speaker’s travel 62.30 TOTAL 3258.30 TOTAL 7806.28 TOTAL DEFICIT ** 4547.98 * receipts have been submitted to the treasurer** the maximum potential subsidy as agreed by the EC was £4730 (i.e. £110 maximum subsidy x 43 attendees) Thanks go to those who ran sessions at the event, which also greatly benefited from help from Eddie Craggs (bookings), Dave Chesham (promotion), Rob Whitfield, Dave Chesham and Vince Otter (recordings), Callum McConnell and Sam Shaw (graphics), Darrell Whitehead (programme and films), Darren Poynton (website), James Barwell (printing) and Robert Morrell for a generous donation of books. Mike Foster14th August 2015
Another video from 2015’s Summer School is now onsite here…’Revolutionary Action’ – Johnny MercerPart Onehttp://www.worldsocialism.org/spgb/video/revolutionary-action-pt1Part Twohttp://www.worldsocialism.org/spgb/video/revolutionary-action-pt2And on youtube -Part Onehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9-F4_fswW4Part Twohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MkdZbAXxAs
The video file of one of the 2015 Summer School talks has now been uploaded to the party's website.'Socialism and The State in the 21st Century' – Steve ClaytonPart One http://www.worldsocialism.org/spgb/video/socialism-and-state-21st-century-0Part Twohttp://www.worldsocialism.org/spgb/video/socialism-and-state-21st-centuryAnd on youtube -Part One:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClOx9kwVxKQPart Two:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqR3C_HRkac
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