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Marx Talks
Revolution and civil war in Syria - Oula Shihan
The Syrian revolution was part of the Arab Spring, a revolutionary wave across North Africa and the Middle East in 2011. The revolution began with demonstrations demanding the overthrow of the Assad regime. Self-organisation flourished in local coordinating committees and Friday protests. Assad’s regime unleashed brutal repression: sarin gas, barrel bombs, and widespread arrests and torture of political prisoners. This prompted the movement to arm itself in self-defence and form the Free Syrian Army. The brutal violence of the Assad regime and its use of sectarianism also assisted the growth of Islamist militias. Despite this, aspirations of the revolution lived on and sections of the movement continued to call for the overthrow of the regime, and for a Free Syria. These aspirations have re-emerged in anti-regime protests in September 2023. This session will outline why the leftists must support the Syrian revolution and how Syrians resisted the brutal Assad regime.
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When renters fought back: the anti-eviction struggles of the 1930s - Lucas Brunning-Halsall
32:48|At the height of the Great Depression, eviction was a constant threat for working-class people. By 1932 the unemployment rate had reached 29 percent, with no sign of economic recovery on the horizon. Abandoned by the system, workers organised to resist eviction and fight for tenant protection. The Communist Party-led Unemployed Workers' Movement showed the way, organising direct militant direct action to keep working class people in their homes, and eventually won a moratorium on evictions in NSW. This talk will explore the relevant lessons of this struggle as we face a new housing crisis.
How the Bolsheviks built a mass working-class party - Diane Fieldes
34:59|In 1917, the Russian Bolshevik Party led millions of workers and peasants in overthrowing the capitalist state and establishing soviet power. This session will explore how a party which had the politics, experience and organisation necessary to argue to and win the leadership of a revolutionary working-class movement was built.
A Marxist critique of intersectionality - Monica Sesito
27:56|First articulated in the 1980s, intersectionality has its origins in legal theory. It has since been taken up by progressives and others, ostensibly as a way to integrate different forms of oppression into political theory and practice. But like most buzzwords, intersectionality means different things to different people. This session will look at whether it adds anything new to the fight against oppression and the system that causes it.
Germany 1900–1918: the radical left and the founding of the Communist Party - Oscar Sterner
39:56|At the turn of the 20th century, Germany was one of the world's most advanced capitalist countries, yet also one of the youngest. Economic and military competition between Germany and the established empires of Britain and France helped to foster a crisis in the global system which would eventually break out into WWI. It also drove the organisation and radicalisation of the German working class, who would eventually end the war by overthrowing their old rulers in the November Revolution of 1918. This session will discuss the experience of revolutionary socialists in Germany as they attempted to clarify their tasks and strategies at a time of unprecedented turmoil.
Is revolution possible in the West? - Liz Walsh
40:45|Is it even possible to overthrow capitalism today? It’s often argued that workers are too apathetic or disorganised, that the capitalist state is too powerful, the media too influential. Revolutions might happen in countries with extreme poverty and repressive governments, but wealthy liberal democracies like the US and Australia are too stable to be challenged. Accepting arguments like these means accepting that change is only possible within the existing system, if at all. Fortunately, the Marxist theory of revolution helps us to understand that even long periods of stability can only ever be temporary for capitalism. Economic, political and social crises will always threaten a system based on competitive profit-seeking. This session will explore how this can shake up the status quo and compel workers to fight back, as well as the crucial role of revolutionary politics and organisation.
Workers under attack from ALP and capital - Eleanor Morley
36:11|From below-inflation wage 'rises' to the end of progressive income tax, from privatisation of public housing to further restrictions on the right to strike- the ALP and the Australian capitalist class today in lock-step attacking workers. How do we explain Labor's appalling record, and what can activists and workers do to build resistance to a right wing Labor government?