Crisis and Resistance
Saturday, September 3, 9.30am.
RMIT University Function Room, Swanston St, City (next to CBA ATMs)
A chance to discuss some of the basic ideas of socialism and their application to the world today in workshops and plenaries.
Agenda:
9:30am. REGISTRATION
10-11:15am. FEATURE TALK. World in crisis: A socialist view. A looming environmental catastrophe, permanent war in the Third World, savage attacks on the remnants of the welfare state, deep popular cynicism about the system, a massive revolt against US-backed dictatorships in the Arab world … It all adds up to an unprecedented crisis of the world capitalist system. How can socialist and progressive forces orient themselves in this situation and help build popular resistance?
Speaker: Peter Boyle (Socialist Alliance national convenor)
11:30am-12:45pm: WORKSHOPS
(a) Marxist economics: A primer. The wealth of society comes from the labour of working people. Stolen by the bosses through their ownership of society’s means of production, it becomes capitalist profit. There may be debates among Marxists but this is the only approach that explains the basic workings of the system.
Speaker: Jeremy Smith (Sciology lecturer, Ballarat University)
(b) Racism: What it is and how to fight it. Racism has played a terrible role in modern history, justifying alike the Atlantic slave trade and the Nazi war drive. And today Islamophobia and hatred of refugees are one of the last lines of defence of the capitalist system against the struggle of the people. Racism is not going to go away any time soon.
Speaker: Sue Bull (Geelong Socialist Alliance convenor)
(c) Can socialism win mass support? Some progressive-minded people blame supposed popular apathy and stupidity for the dreadful governments we get saddled with. But is this really true? Can socialism win mass support for its radical agenda? While our rulers pump out all kinds of backward ideas, their efficacy is not guaranteed. Popular consciousness is highly variable and is also a product of the experience of struggle.
Speaker: Dave Holmes
12:45-1:45pm. LUNCH
1:45-3pm. WORKSHOPS
(a) Socialism or anarchism? At various times in modern history socialism and anarchism have contended for hegemony in the radical and working-class movement. What are the core differences? How important are they in the contemporary struggle and what are the prospects for common work?
Speaker: Sue Bolton (Socialist Alliance state convenor)
(b) National oppression, nationalism and internationalism. National oppression is endemic in the modern world. Likewise nationalism is everywhere and can mean vastly different things depending on the context. Our wretched Lib-Lab politicians drape themselves in the Australian flag; likewise the heroic Egyptian people demonstrating in Cairo’s Tahrir Square proudly display the Egyptian flag. Can socialists support nationalism and how does this square with our internationalist outlook?
Speaker: Sean Seymour-Jones
(c) Women’s oppression past and present. Women today are supposed to be equal partners in society with men. But even in First World Australia some stubborn realities give the lie to this myth, especially significant pay differentials, a still widespread sexism and endemic sexual violence. In other parts of the world, the situation is far worse. Have women always been the “second sex”? Can it ever be different?
Speaker: Bronwen Jennings (AEU activist)
3-4.15pm. FEATURE TALK. Class in Australia today. Pundits of all stripes have repeatedly announced the end of class. But despite significant economic and social change in recent decades, Australia remains a capitalist, class-divided society.
Speaker: Nick Fredman
Presented by Socialist Alliance and Resistance; sponsored by Green Left Weekly. Registration $15/$5. Meal available. For more info ph 9639 8622
