Socialism

@socialismsydney

Socialism is Sydney's largest annual left wing conference. It brings togethers hundreds of people to discuss socialist ideas, radical history and key questions in left wing politics. Hosted by Socialist Alternative, Australia's largest Marxist organisation.

114 posts

NOW AVAILABLE from Red Flag Books

This brand-new edition of the Communist Manifesto brings one of the most cherished books of all time to a new generation of socialists. Since its publication over 150 years ago, this call to arms for the working class has served as a valuable introduction to radical politics for countless radicals and revolutionaries.

Written by Marx and Engels as revolutions were sweeping across Europe, the Manifesto concisely explains the Marxist analysis of capitalism, and why it needs to be overthrown. This edition also includes the March Address, a speech by Marx and Engels to the Communist League in 1850, explaining an important lesson of the 1848 revolutions - that the bourgeoisie and middle classes could not be trusted, and that the working class had to organise its own emancipation.

It also includes the 2020 introduction by Sarah Ganham, detailing the continued importance of these classic works.

Get The Communist Manifesto online

Stalinism is experiencing a small revival. For now, it is greatly exaggerated online, where many of the popular socialist meme pages are as devoted to praising gulags and North Korea’s nuclear missile program as they are to denouncing capitalism.

The imagery and politics of Stalinism are rehabilitated as an edgy alternative to liberalism. But Stalinism is not a radical worldview. It is an ideology based on defending the anti-working class dictatorship established in Russia in the 1920s after the defeat of the Russian Revolution, and the countless other bureaucratic and oppressive states which followed this model.

Genuine revolutionary Marxists have always opposed Stalinism and fought for radical working class democracy against both Western liberal capitalism and Stalinist dictatorship.

Come along to this forum to find out why tankies aren’t real socialists.

***REGISTER HERE***

FB: No Tankies! The Marxist case against Stalinism

The Anti Nazi League was launched in Britain in 1977 after 5,000 local people united with 5,000 trade unionists, Black and Asian activist and community groups and Labour Party members, led by the revolutionary left, to stop the fascist thugs of the National Front from marching through Lewisham in London.

The success of the ANL in building a mass movement against racism has given confidence to subsequent movements against fascism in Britain and around the world. On this episode veteran socialist and anti-racist activist Moira Leahy discusses the important history and lessons of the ANL.

Read more on the British Anti-Nazi League: how fascists can be beaten: https://redflag.org.au/node/6669

Please support us on Patreon!

Issue 20 of the Marxist Left Review is on its way to the printers! It focuses on the contradictory role of unions in the class struggle: with pieces on the high-points of radical unionism, relations between syndicalists and the communist left, as well as the struggle against conservative officials in the NTEU led by NTEU Fightback - No Concessions

***UPDATE - WE CAN NOW SHIP TO MOST MAJOR COUNTRIES***

All subscriptions and purchases of the journal will come with a downloadable ebook in pdf and docx form. If you do not wish to receive a hard copy (or live outside Australia), please leave a note in the space provided as you pay. We cannot offer international shipping at this stage.

Subscribe here to get the journal sent to your door!

A summary of the new Hong Kong security law

Read more: https://redflag.org.au/node/7253

Why have police been sent in, rather than health workers? Why was the police presence the first thing to be announced without any mention of whether income support, job guarantees or care for the elderly residents would be provided? Would police ever be sent to the front door of every house in Toorak? You can bet the answer is no.

The recent investigation into the Victorian branches of the Australian Labour Party (ALP) revealed branch stacking and corruption at an 'industrial scale'.

In this episode we discuss the history of the ALP and analyse what has changed, and what has remained the same. Why is it that the ALP are so decrepit?

Rick Kuhn is a Marxist economist, political analyst and honorary associate professor at the Australian National University in Canberra. Rick is also the co-author of Labor’s Conflict: Big Business, Workers and the Politics of Class (2010). Kath is a rail worker and activist in the Rail Tram and Bus Union and has just been preselected as the Victorian Socialists’ candidate for Lord Mayor of Melbourne. ‘

Please support us on Patreon!

The police were never meant to protect and serve ordinary people. In this episode we discuss the history of the police and their development alongside the establishment of capitalist relations.

Why are the police so racist? What is their real role in society? Can we abolish the police? Roz is joined in discussions to address these questions and more by socialist activists Emma Norton and Luca Tavan.

Please support us on Patreon!

The popular rebellion against racism and police violence continues to unfold on a mass scale in the United States. Uprisings have emerged in every major city making this the most significant event of its kind since the urban revolts of the 1960s.

Indigenous socialist activist Gavin Stanbrook and NUS Anti-Racist Officer Vinil Kumar join the discussion on these incredible events, the political and international response, and how solidarity is the only way to build resistance to capitalism and oppression.

Please support us on Patreon!

ANTI-RACISM READING LIST

Genocide: The Australian Way by Tess Lee Ack and Sandra Bloodworth

From #BlackLivesMatter to Black liberation by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor

Black Liberation and Socialism by Ahmed Shawki

The tall man: Death and life on Palm Island by Chloe Hooper

The political economy of racism by Melvin Leiman

How capitalism underdeveloped Black America by Manning Marable

The biggest estate on earth: How Aborigines made Australia by Bill Gammage

Crime, Class & Corruption: The politics of the police by Audrey Farrell

Khury Petersen-Smith is African-American socialist from Boston. He is an activist for #blacklivesmatter and has written on, and organized around, US empire, solidarity with the Palestinian struggle, and Black liberation.

Tune in at 1pm AEST TODAY to hear from Khury on the American uprising and the New Black resistance

A multiracial uprising against racist police murders of Black people has exploded onto the streets of cities across America. We’ve seen mass invasions of police stations, some of them burnt to the ground. We’ve seen curfews imposed on almost every major city, with police storming through suburbs beating and arresting those who try to defend their democratic rights. And we’ve seen a far right President repeating the words of a segregationist from the 1960s, threatening to shoot demonstrators. The trigger for this incredible rebellion was the killing of Floyd George; murdered by a racist cop, his slow death caught on 8 excruciating minutes of footage destined to go viral. But the root causes run much deeper. The movement reflects decades of oppression of Black communities, enormous social and economic suffering, and long traditions of resistance. In many ways, the slogans echo the influential Black Lives Matter movement of the Obama years. But coming in the midst of the most severe economic crisis in a century, and the biggest health crisis since 1918, the situation is even more explosive. Through their negligence and prioritisation of corporate profits, the US establishment have allowed more than 100,000 people to be killed by the coronavirus. The victims are disproportionately Black and Latino, and everyone knows it. While white collar workers have been able to ride out the crisis by working from home, while blue collar and service workers have lost their jobs in enormous numbers, or put themselves at risk. Black people are far more likely to be in the latter categories. Black rebellions in America have inspired multiple generations of activists, both in that country and around the world. With large demonstrations planned in most Australian cities, there has never been a more urgent time to look at the context and significance of this new Black uprising.

Join this special livestream event on Sunday the 7th of June at 2PM AEST

The vicious murder of George Floyd has sparked heroic uprisings across the US. The movement has unleashed the built-up anger at a system that murders black and working people in cold blood. Black, brown and other working-class people are fighting back against a system that doesn’t care whether they live or die, forcing the White House to go into lockdown and bridges in Chicago to be raised. This is colossal moment in history.

This panel was hosted by Socialist Alternative, Australia’s biggest socialist organisation.

Next livestream panel: “Eyewitness to an American uprising” with Chicago-based anti-racist organiser Todd St Hill, Sunday the 7th of June at 2PM AEST

Details of upcoming Black Lives Matter solidarity protests in Australia

UPDATED Black Lives Matter solidarity actions in Australia - PLEASE SHARE

Friday 5 June

Canberra (10:30AM Garema Place, Civic) https://www.facebook.com/events/626687628190453/

Saturday 6 June

Sydney (3PM 20 Lee Street, Sydeny CBD) https://www.facebook.com/events/246881229969044/

Melbourne (2PM Parliament House) https://www.facebook.com/events/2523873747926996/

Brisbane (1PM King George Square) https://www.facebook.com/events/648549595874359/

Adelaide (12PM Tarndanyangga) https://www.facebook.com/events/252815505938946/

Newcastle (2PM Civic Park) https://www.facebook.com/events/249335203063836/

Canberra (3PM US Embassy) https://www.facebook.com/events/186057409364649/

Sunday 7 June

Wollongong (2PM Crown St Mall Amphitheatre) https://www.facebook.com/events/2651315805127698/

TODAY! Webinar: Dan La Botz on the state of class struggle in America

There has been a noticeable uptick in the number of strikes happening across the US in recent years. It started with a number of impressive strikes by teachers in 2018, many of which took place in states typically dismissed as conservative bastions. Since then there has been a spate of actions and organising based in Amazon warehouses, university campuses, and more. Now, confronted with the pandemic, workers have responded by organising a number of wildcat strikes to shut down unnecessary industries, and to improve the conditions of those that remain open. Where has this spike in working class activity come from? What are its strengths and limitations? To what extent can we speak of a labour revival? What sort of politics informs its militants and organisations? And how do these struggles map onto the horrific realities of racial and gender oppression? Veteran socialist organiser and analyst Dan La Botz will be addressing all these questions and more! Dan is a prominent American labor union activist, academic, journalist, and author. He was a co-founder of Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU), and has written extensively on worker rights in the United States and Mexico. He is editor of New Politics magazine, and a member of the Democratic Socialists of America.

We're pleased to announce that over 30 conference talks from Socialism 2019 are now available to listen online via MarxTalks.com at: https://marxtalks.com.au/event/socialism2019 Be sure to check out the rest of the MarxTalks.com catalogue which features hundreds of left wing talks spanning a decade and Donate to support the project at https://marxtalks.com.au/donate

#auspol #socialism #marxism #communism

The superpower is in crisis. Thousands of daily deaths from the pandemic, tens of millions jobless, and a maniacal President encouraging armed anti-lockdown protests. How did the most powerful capitalist state that has ever existed sink this low, and what will it mean for American and global politics?

This panel was hosted by Socialist Alternative, Australia’s biggest socialist organisation.

Interested in getting involved with us? Fill in your info here! If you want to take part in our online intro-to-Marxism course, check it out here!

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