Think I'm going to go to this - looks like some good topics and some good speakers - anyone else?
Details:
Spring conference is back for its fourth year - this time to the fantastic People's History Museum on the River Irwell's Left Bank. Six panels, eighteen speakers - more details to follow soon! Our confirmed sessions are listed below.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
10am onwards: Registration
11.00am: THE LAST FIGHT LET US FACE
This year marks the eightieth anniversary of the start of the Spanish Civil War - an event which illuminated the principles of international solidarity in the labour movement. Across the world, thousands of people answered the Republic's call to fight fascism. Today, as the Kurdish people defend the egalitarian communes of Rojava from the reactionary violence of Da’esh, and radical governments in European face threats both domestic and foreign – what is the state of internationalism today? How do we arouse the passions and dedication of yesterday for similar causes today - and if we can't, why not?
Speaking,
IBRAHIM AVCIL, Hackney Refugee Forum co-ordinator
KEVIN MORGAN, author and politics lecturer at Manchester University
ALEBERTO VELAZQUEZ, Manchester PODEMOS
12.45am: RARELY TRUE AND NEVER SIMPLE: SATIRE, TRUTH & SUBVERSION
In an article accusing comedy website The Onion of being the most effective Marxist propaganda machine in America, a journalist reflected that 'from King Lear's Fool to Samuel Clemens, humor is often the cover by which the radical reaches the mainstream'. From the Chartist usage of seditious, mocking cartoons to Da'esh's bizarre Twitter trolling of the White House, satire has been long utilised as a tool to ridicule the established order. What is the state of satire in Britain today? What does the profusion of new online satirical rags from the Daily Mash to Newsthump tell us about our modern media environment? What role does Satire play today in defining the left, critiquing power and imagining tomorrow?
DAVID STUBBS, author & editor at The Daily Mash
ANGELA NAGLE, journalist and researcher
MARK FISHER, cultural critic & journalist
12.45am: GLOBALIZATION, REFUGE & THE EMERGENCE OF THE NEW FAR RIGHT
As globalization, environmental devastation and war ravage many areas of the world – the Global North is seen by many millions as a safe refuge and a plentiful land towards which to migrate. Yet across the Western world, the twin forces of recession and austerity pile pressure on domestic services, jobs and housing… neo-nazi movements such as Golden Dawn in Greece have emerged with wide popular support, the National Front has seen huge increases in support across France and the xenophobic populism of Donald Trump has galvanized many millions of Americans in support of repressive measures against migrants and refugees. How will the West cope with this influx of humanity? What is the future for Europe and America’s new far right? And what can the left do to fend off the forces of barbarity?
MARINA PRENTOULIS, UK Syriza
KENAN MALIK, cultural commentator
2.15PM - LUNCH
3.45pm: CULTURE & THE CROWD
Many cultural movements relate to the crowd - from music, to football, to theatre. Being a part of a mass is clearly an integral aspect of the cultural drive… an event witnessed alone can be quite different from the same event in isolation.The scale of audience and participation builds into what defines the moment - feeds the tension, itself it is part of the spectacle. The experience of many thousands moving together, singing together or watching silently, together - all help define our relationship with the art. What drives this desire to immerse ourselves in humanity? What is the connection between our cultural habits and the collective? What kind of culture does collectivity help to build - and why do we crave it?
ALEX NIVEN, Repeater Books editor, journalist & music critic
OWEN HATHERLEY, architectural critic, the Guardian
ABI WILKINSON, freelance journalist
3.45pm: POLITICALLY PERSONAL & PERSONALLY POLITICAL: SOCIALISM & SEXUALITY
Since 'The personal is political' became the mantra of the 1970s feminist movement, sexuality and sexual politics have been central to the development of left-wing ideology. Gay and women's liberation groups became an integral aspect of the left, informing its discourse and cultural development. Today the concept of the personal extends beyond the broad catchments of race, gender and sexuality - into mental health, weight and the many intersecting identities which make up a personal experience. How far has the personal entered left politics, and how much further does it have to go?
JOANNA WILLIAMS, author and academic, Kent University
NICOLA FIELD, writer, film-maker & artist
DAVID WILKINSON, academic and researcher, MMU
5.30pm: THE PARAMETERS OF POWER
A whole generation of left-wingers in the United Kingdom have never had to deal directly with the question of wielding political power. But following a momentous summer, shocked socialists have found themselves with a radical Labour leadership advocating a 'new politics' and espousing ambitious economic vision. Do these developments make traditional strategies of 'pushing Labour leaders left' seem... outdated? Can this seismic shift relate to ideas of challenging capitalism? And what can be imagined from 'Corbyn's Labour' - should it attempt to set parameters for an attainable social democratic government in 2020, or can it be something far beyond that?
Speakers,
ALEX WILLIAMS, author & researcher
KEN SPOURS, author, journalist & professor at the Institute of Education
CHARLOTTE NICHOLS, Socialist and Young Labour activist
People's History Museum,
Left Bank, Manchester,
M3 3ER
£10 standard fee, £5 concession
Details:
Spring conference is back for its fourth year - this time to the fantastic People's History Museum on the River Irwell's Left Bank. Six panels, eighteen speakers - more details to follow soon! Our confirmed sessions are listed below.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
10am onwards: Registration
11.00am: THE LAST FIGHT LET US FACE
This year marks the eightieth anniversary of the start of the Spanish Civil War - an event which illuminated the principles of international solidarity in the labour movement. Across the world, thousands of people answered the Republic's call to fight fascism. Today, as the Kurdish people defend the egalitarian communes of Rojava from the reactionary violence of Da’esh, and radical governments in European face threats both domestic and foreign – what is the state of internationalism today? How do we arouse the passions and dedication of yesterday for similar causes today - and if we can't, why not?
Speaking,
IBRAHIM AVCIL, Hackney Refugee Forum co-ordinator
KEVIN MORGAN, author and politics lecturer at Manchester University
ALEBERTO VELAZQUEZ, Manchester PODEMOS
12.45am: RARELY TRUE AND NEVER SIMPLE: SATIRE, TRUTH & SUBVERSION
In an article accusing comedy website The Onion of being the most effective Marxist propaganda machine in America, a journalist reflected that 'from King Lear's Fool to Samuel Clemens, humor is often the cover by which the radical reaches the mainstream'. From the Chartist usage of seditious, mocking cartoons to Da'esh's bizarre Twitter trolling of the White House, satire has been long utilised as a tool to ridicule the established order. What is the state of satire in Britain today? What does the profusion of new online satirical rags from the Daily Mash to Newsthump tell us about our modern media environment? What role does Satire play today in defining the left, critiquing power and imagining tomorrow?
DAVID STUBBS, author & editor at The Daily Mash
ANGELA NAGLE, journalist and researcher
MARK FISHER, cultural critic & journalist
12.45am: GLOBALIZATION, REFUGE & THE EMERGENCE OF THE NEW FAR RIGHT
As globalization, environmental devastation and war ravage many areas of the world – the Global North is seen by many millions as a safe refuge and a plentiful land towards which to migrate. Yet across the Western world, the twin forces of recession and austerity pile pressure on domestic services, jobs and housing… neo-nazi movements such as Golden Dawn in Greece have emerged with wide popular support, the National Front has seen huge increases in support across France and the xenophobic populism of Donald Trump has galvanized many millions of Americans in support of repressive measures against migrants and refugees. How will the West cope with this influx of humanity? What is the future for Europe and America’s new far right? And what can the left do to fend off the forces of barbarity?
MARINA PRENTOULIS, UK Syriza
KENAN MALIK, cultural commentator
2.15PM - LUNCH
3.45pm: CULTURE & THE CROWD
Many cultural movements relate to the crowd - from music, to football, to theatre. Being a part of a mass is clearly an integral aspect of the cultural drive… an event witnessed alone can be quite different from the same event in isolation.The scale of audience and participation builds into what defines the moment - feeds the tension, itself it is part of the spectacle. The experience of many thousands moving together, singing together or watching silently, together - all help define our relationship with the art. What drives this desire to immerse ourselves in humanity? What is the connection between our cultural habits and the collective? What kind of culture does collectivity help to build - and why do we crave it?
ALEX NIVEN, Repeater Books editor, journalist & music critic
OWEN HATHERLEY, architectural critic, the Guardian
ABI WILKINSON, freelance journalist
3.45pm: POLITICALLY PERSONAL & PERSONALLY POLITICAL: SOCIALISM & SEXUALITY
Since 'The personal is political' became the mantra of the 1970s feminist movement, sexuality and sexual politics have been central to the development of left-wing ideology. Gay and women's liberation groups became an integral aspect of the left, informing its discourse and cultural development. Today the concept of the personal extends beyond the broad catchments of race, gender and sexuality - into mental health, weight and the many intersecting identities which make up a personal experience. How far has the personal entered left politics, and how much further does it have to go?
JOANNA WILLIAMS, author and academic, Kent University
NICOLA FIELD, writer, film-maker & artist
DAVID WILKINSON, academic and researcher, MMU
5.30pm: THE PARAMETERS OF POWER
A whole generation of left-wingers in the United Kingdom have never had to deal directly with the question of wielding political power. But following a momentous summer, shocked socialists have found themselves with a radical Labour leadership advocating a 'new politics' and espousing ambitious economic vision. Do these developments make traditional strategies of 'pushing Labour leaders left' seem... outdated? Can this seismic shift relate to ideas of challenging capitalism? And what can be imagined from 'Corbyn's Labour' - should it attempt to set parameters for an attainable social democratic government in 2020, or can it be something far beyond that?
Speakers,
ALEX WILLIAMS, author & researcher
KEN SPOURS, author, journalist & professor at the Institute of Education
CHARLOTTE NICHOLS, Socialist and Young Labour activist
People's History Museum,
Left Bank, Manchester,
M3 3ER
£10 standard fee, £5 concession
