Political Education Project

[Smokeandsteam]

Launched today. An initiative to rebuild independent working class education. To re-remember our autodidact tradition. To provide a resource for every working class community and workplace.

Here is the website:Political Education Project – Understanding the World in order to change it

Here are the aims:

1. Community led self education groups in working class communities.
2. Develop, nurture, support and promote working class leadership in communities and workplaces.
3. Develop materials to spread knowledge and learning and make these freely available.
4. Help to lay the foundations for strong and vibrant independent working class organisations based in communities and workplaces.
5. Work with others involved in political education - like trade unions - to create networks and link people up.
6. Fight the far right in working class communities, creating the space for pro- working class politics.

The first initiative is a 10 week course - online, free and open to all. Local groups are being established already in Manchester and soon in Belfast and Birmingham/West Midlands.

Some of those involved are active in political organisations, some are not. But this campaign isn’t and won’t be ‘owned’ by any group or party. It’s aim is the development of independent working class organisation - of, by and for those involved in their own community or workplace.

At this point there are two asks: 1. sign up. 2.Think about starting a group where you are.

 

[Smokeandsteam]

1421 people have signed up on day one for the first 10 week course:

 

[Threshers_Flail]

Paul O'Connell is one of the people behind this and was recently a guest on Desolation Radio talking about the state of the world / the left.

 

[sleaterkinney]

Shouldn’t this be Re-Education?

 

[splonkydoo]

Sounds good, it is needed, and i'll sign up, but from their promo vid I can't help getting over the feeling of some of the same budding professional organisers popping up again and again /snark

 

[gawkrodger]

Hmm, looks interesting. Would like to hear more about the Brum/Black Country

 

[ska invita]

Good luck to this project, really good to see.
Theres also the Left Book Club out there which is doing a similiar thing, autonomous reading groups which can be based around LBC books or not, and because of Covid are also starting to do online events
Quite a lot of reading groups already around the country

Left Book Club

www.leftbookclub.com

I remember hearing that there was meant to be a programme like this started by Momentum after Corbyns Labour failed to get anything off the ground, but that didnt happen either

 

[Smokeandsteam]

Thanks for the link Threshers_Flail Paul is sound and I look forward to listening to that. sleaterkinney I’d describe it as re-remembering our traditions and recovering them. gawkrodger a meeting is being planned. I’ll make sure you get the details. splonkydoo I’ve got my own reservations about a few of those involved. But, I think two things

1. The need for this type of programme and approach is glaringly obvious. The number of sign ups has been very encouraging and indicates the potential here. I’ve got no doubt some will sign up to ‘build the party’ but they aren’t going to get traction because this is about learning, reading and discussing in a collegiate and comradely fashion. It works - see Ska above. I’ve been involved in a much smaller project that went very well.

The urgent question, after Corbyn, is what now for the left. This type of project is part of the answer in my view. Ideas travel faster than we can. Bringing people together to learn about those ideas and talk them through thereby spreading them is, of itself, really important. It recovers a tradition that those involved in pro working class politics once took as standard but which has atrophied for various reasons.

2. The aim is to build this out locally. My advice is to give it a try and then have a think about how you could do something similar locally. This can’t be top down. It’s needs to act as a primer for loads of autonomous activity popping up everywhere. If it’s not right for you start your own and do it your way. Any route that brings us together - to read, to think and discuss is a good thing. Where it can lead is potentially exciting in terms of sparking things locally, joining up and supporting struggles where you are etc. But one step at a time...

ska invita thanks. As I understand it there are loads of similar initiatives or similar springing up. I’ve been involved in one on the MEWC, I’m also aware of another one starting up on reading Marx. The left book club one looks excellent too. As you say the more the better and the more autonomous the better. The more local the better and the more people we can share knowledge and ideas with the better.

There are some momentum people involved in this not sure if they are the ones you are talking about? But there are others active in other groups and others, like me, involved in none anymore.

 

[Threshers_Flail]

Sounds good, it is needed, and i'll sign up, but from their promo vid I can't help getting over the feeling of some of the same budding professional organisers popping up again and again /snark

Maybe worth a thread? Activism as a career choice is pretty suss imho. I know of three Oxford uni grads who work for unions after doing some activism in and after uni, one of them studied PPE for fucks sake!

 

[Threshers_Flail]

Maybe worth a thread? Activism as a career choice is pretty suss imho. I know of three Oxford uni grads who work for unions after doing some activism in and after uni, one of them studied PPE for fucks sake!

Sorry this is a derail! Ignore me

 

[Smokeandsteam]

Update from the PEP. For those who have signed up newsletters are being emailed out starting from tomorrow.

 

[The39thStep]

Paul O'Connell is one of the people behind this and was recently a guest on Desolation Radio talking about the state of the world / the left.

Lives in Manchester now

 

[Smokeandsteam]

New podcast series to accompany the course is being made available: