Marxist Winter School 2013: the 130th anniversary of Karl Marx’s death
UCLU Marxist Society in London
On February 15th to 17th, members of the International Marxist Tendency met for the annual Marxist Winter School at the UCLU Marxist Society in London. This year’s school was dedicated to the 130th anniversary of Karl Marx’s death and participants discussed the important contributions that Marx made toward the worlds of politics, economics, history, and philosophy. More than 80 comrades attended and participated in the discussions and talks.
All participants had an excellent tour of central London to visit the places where Marx studied, lived, and helped to organize the international socialist movement on the afternoon of February 15th. In the evening, the school officially opened a talk by Alan Woods, the author of Bolshevism: the road to revolution and Reformism or Revolution, on the relevance of Marxism today. In his speech, Alan introduced how the current crisis had lead to a general questioning within society, whereby even the most serious representatives of capitalism were being forced to ask “was Marx right?”
Sessions on Marxist philosophy, historical materialism, and the Marxist theory of economic crisis ran throughout February 16th. Sessions on other aspects of Marxist theory and practice were very successful as well. For instance, a history of the First International by Fred Weston, the editor of the IMT website “In Defense of Marxism,” was a valuable lesson on how revolutionaries can and should intervene in the movement today. Moreover, attendees watched the film From Tsar to Lenin, a documentary from 1937 containing incredible footage from the era of the Russian Revolution. The film described how the importance of Lenin and Trostky during the revolution and in the years of civil war when Bolshevik Russia was invaded by the forces of 14 imperialist armies seeking to overturn the gains of the revolution. In addition, the film showed the founding congress of the Communist International and the inspirational impact that this had on the world working class movement.
Furthermore, Jorge Martin, international secretary of the Hands Off Venezuela campaign and editor of America Socialista, held the final session, during which he spoke about the history of revolutionary internationalism and the need for an international Marxist organization today. He discussed the mass struggles taking place today, and emphasized the vital missing factor in all of these: the presence of a revolutionary leadership to provide a socialist alternative to the crisis, austerity, and anarchy of capitalism. Additionally, Alan Woods concluded the winter school with an inspiring speech about the need to study Marx’s ideas and to help build the forces of Marxism in Britain, in Europe, and internationally.
(resource: socialist.net)
Edited by Zhang Mengying
PRINT
CLOSE