'Let the ruling classes tremble at
the communist revolution'
'Let the ruling classes tremble at
the communist revolution'
15-17 November
Friends House, 173-177 Euston Road, London, NW1 2BJ
15-17 November
Friends House, 173-177 Euston Road, London, NW1 2BJ
TICKETS
TALKS &
TIMETABLE
TALKS &
TIMETABLE
A list of recommended reading for each talk can be found here.
Friday 15th November
Friday 15th November
Opening plenary session — 18:30 - 21:00
Opening plenary session
18:30 - 21:00
Horror without end: Imperialism & world
relations today
Horror without end: Imperialism & world relations today
The crisis of capitalism is resulting in is renewed tensions between the imperialist powers. They are sharpening their knives to defend the profits, markets, and spheres of influence of their multinational corporations. Defence spending is on the rise all over the world, while the masses everywhere suffer attacks on living standards to foot the war bill. This is provoking social unrest and upheaval in one country after another.
In this opening session, Alan Woods, acclaimed Marxist author and member of the International Secretariat of the Revolutionary Communist International, will discuss the perspectives for the period we are entering — one of not only war, but revolution.
Speaker: Alan Woods
Room: The Light
The crisis of capitalism is resulting in is renewed tensions between the imperialist powers. They are sharpening their knives to defend the profits, markets, and spheres of influence of their multinational corporations. Defence spending is on the rise all over the world, while the masses everywhere suffer attacks on living standards to foot the war bill. This is provoking social unrest and upheaval in one country after another.
In this opening session, Alan Woods, acclaimed Marxist author and member of the International Secretariat of the Revolutionary Communist International, will discuss the perspectives for the period we are entering — one of not only war, but revolution.
Speaker: Alan Woods
Room: The Light
Saturday 16th November
Saturday 16th November
Morning sessions — 10:30 - 12:15
Morning sessions
10:30 - 12:15
Crisis in the USA: The next chapter
This year’s election has been one of the most turbulent in US history. It comes amidst rising class contradictions and great instability on the world stage. Never before has American bourgeois democracy been so discredited, and never has it been so confronted with so many challenges to its position as the world imperialist power. While neither candidate could solve the fundamental issues of the capitalist system, the victory of Donald Trump will only add further instability to the US and world situation.
Antonio Balmer, leading member of the Revolutionary Communists of America and editor of The Communist (USA), will introduce a discussion on the next chapter of the crisis of US capitalism.
Speaker: Antonio Balmer
Room: The Light
Lenin, the First World War, and the collapse of the
Second International
Lenin, the First World War, and the collapse of the Second International
Founded on the ideas of Marx and Engels, the Second International was the first mass International of the working class. However, the majority of its leaders went on to betray the cause for socialism, supporting their imperialists in the First World War. Lenin committed himself to a ruthless theoretical struggle against these chauvinists, culminating in the collapse of the Second and formation of the new Communist International.
In this session, Fred Weston, member of the International Secretariat of the Revolutionary Communist International, will discuss Lenin, the First World War, and the collapse of the Second International.
Speaker: Fred Weston
Room: Sarah Fell
The role of British imperialism today
The last 100 years have seen British imperialism go from an empire spanning a third of the worlds surface to a second rate power, clinging onto the coat-tails of US imperialism, often against its own national interests. What, then, is the role of British imperialism today?
Ben Gliniecki, General Secretary of the RCP, will introduce a discussion on this question.
Speaker: Ben Gliniecki
Room: Waldo Williams
How to smash the state: Lenin's State and Revolution
Written by Lenin in August-September 1917, The State and Revolution provides a definitive presentation of the Marxist theory of the state. Written in Lenin’s characteristically clear and incisive style, this book is a cornerstone of revolutionary Marxism.
Grace Dowswell, Central Committee member for the RCP, will introduce a discussion on this seminal Marxist text.
Speaker: Grace Dowswell
Room: Ada Salter
Leon Trotsky's Permanent Revolution
The theory of permanent revolution, formulated by Trotsky after the 1905 revolution and adopted fully by Lenin in 1917, led to the Bolshevik victory in the October revolution and became the strategy of the Communist International for the anti-imperialist struggle of the colonial peoples. It was then abandoned by Stalin in favour of the Menshevik two-stage theory advocating the subordination of the working class to the so-called progressive bourgeoisie.
In this session, Jorge Martin, member of the International Secretariat of the RCI, will explain the origins of the theory and provide plenty of historical examples of its validity.
Speaker: Jorge Martin
Room: Benjamin Lay
Early afternoon sessions — 13:15 - 15:00
Early afternoon sessions
13:15 - 15:00
Why is there a genocide in Gaza?
The ongoing genocide in Gaza reveals the real, brutal face of imperialism. The maniacal Netanyahu regime continues its onslaught against the Palestinian people, with the backing of US and British imperialism. But why is this genocide taking place? And how can the Palestinians, alongside the oppressed masses of the region, achieve liberation?
In this session, Khaled Malachi, Central Committee member of the RCP and regular writer on the Middle East, will put forward a revolutionary way forward for the workers and youth in the region.
Speaker: Khaled Malachi
Room: The Light
How South African apartheid was overthrown
2024 marks 30 years since the end of apartheid in South Africa. The struggle against apartheid was a revolutionary struggle that inspired people all over the world — but the truth of this struggle is buried by myths, misrepresentations, and ‘great men’ theories. In most cases, little is known about the powerful action of the working class coming into direct confrontation with the apartheid state. This session will unearth the true history of the movement, and seek to draw out the most vital lessons.
Fiona Lali, Executive Committee member of the RCP, will discuss how South African apartheid was overthrown.
Speaker: Fiona Lali
Room: Sarah Fell
How to fight imperialism: Pacifism, direct action,
and revolutionary tactics
How to fight imperialism: Pacifism, direct action, and revolutionary tactics
War is neither a result of mistake or madness — as the military tactician, Clausewitz, explained it is “the continuation of politics by other means.” Today, war is fundamentally waged by the capitalists to defend their profits, markets, and spheres of influence. As long as capitalism exists, there will be no end to war. In this session,
Lotta Angantyr, Executive Committee member of the RCP, will introduce a discussion on how to fight imperialism.
Speaker: Lotta Angantyr
Room: Waldo Williams
The history of philosophy: A Marxist perspective
The history of philosophy is not a dry retelling of past debates, or of dull ideas with little relevance to the world. Revolutionary ideas thread through this history, the great philosophers of the past, such as Socrates or Spinoza, were killed or exiled for challenging the ideas of the ruling class with their works. Marxist philosophy – dialectical materialism – is the culmination of centuries of human thought, and so we have a duty to study the great breakthroughs of the past, in order to arm ourselves for the great revolutionary struggles of today.
The subject matter of the history of philosophy is therefore not the past, but the present.
Nye Shaw, leading comrade of the Revolutionary Communist Party, will introduce this session.
Speaker: Nye Shaw
Room: Ada Salter
What is the Labour Theory of Value?
What is value? This question has perplexed the human mind for more than 2,000 years. The classical bourgeois economists grappled with the question, as did Marx.
Joe Russell, Executive Committee member of the RCP, will discuss Marx’s completion of the Labour Theory of Value, and provide a defence of his economic ideas against attacks from modern day critics.
Speaker: Joe Russell
Room: Benjamin Lay
Late afternoon sessions — 15:15 - 17:00
Late afternoon sessions
15:15 - 17:00
Bangladesh's unfinished revolution: The 1971 war
of liberation
Bangladesh's unfinished revolution: The 1971 war of liberation
Today, Bangladesh is glowing with the white heat of revolution. The masses have once more entered the arena of struggle. They are rediscovering a rich revolutionary tradition that goes back decades. Really, the tasks of this revolution are the unfinished tasks of an unfinished revolution, which began more than fifty years ago and culminated in the War of Independence against the domination of Pakistan in 1971. Learning the lessons of that period is vital to not only understanding the present, but to ensuring that the revolutionary struggle today is carried forward to victory.
Will Collins, Central Committee member of the RCP, will introduce the discussion.
Speaker: Will Collins
Room: The Light
How to fight racism: Postcolonialism vs Marxism
The ruling class all over the world has used racism to divide and conquer. They have used it as a tool to justify subjugation, slavery, war and genocide. It is whipped up by the likes of Keir Starmer, in his attempt to scapegoat migrants to blame them for the crisis of capitalism — fuelling far-right pogroms in the process. Postcolonialist academics suggest that, to fight the real, physical threat of racism, it is enough to dismantle racist language and ideas.
In this session, Nelson Wan, executive committee member of the RCP, will introduce a discussion on how to really fight racism, by the methods of class struggle.
Speaker: Nelson Wan
Room: Sarah Fell
What is dialectical materialism?
Dialectical materialism is the philosophy of Marxism. Every political movement bases itself, consciously or unconsciously, on some sort of philosophy or world outlook. Marxism is concerned with radically changing society, and therefore requires an exceptionally clear and thoroughgoing set of philosophical principles. It is not a fixed dogma but a system of tools and general principles for analysing the world materialistically and scientifically.
In this session, Jack Halinski-Fitzpatrick will introduce the basic tenets of dialectical materialism.
Speaker: Jack Halinski-Fitzpatrick
Room: Waldo Williams
Was the USSR communist?
For Marxists, the Russian Revolution of 1917 was the greatest event in human history. The exploited and oppressed masses, led by the Bolsheviks, abolished capitalism and took power into their hands.
Isolated and under enormous material pressures, however, by the end of the 1920s, the workers’ state had degenerated and a bureaucratic regime had usurped power. And by the early 1990s, the Soviet Union had collapsed.
In this session, Jack Tye Wilson, Central Committee member of the RCP, will provide a historical analysis of the reasons behind these developments, touching on the theoretical writings of Marx, Engels, Lenin, and Trotsky to explain why the Russian Revolution did not lead to genuine communism, but to a deformed caricature in the form of Stalinism.
Speaker: Jack Tye Wilson
Room: Ada Salter
Communism and the fight for women's emancipation
Oppressed by all forms of class society, women have played a revolutionary role throughout history; from the English Revolution, to the Great French Revolution, to the Russian revolution of 1917, all the way to the struggles of today.
In this session, Manon Powrie will explore the roots of women’s oppression, showing that the fight for women’s liberation is inseparable from the fight for communism.
Speaker: Manon Powrie
Room: Benjamin Lay
Evening plenary session — 17:15 - 19:00
Evening plenary session
17:15 - 19:00
Books Not Bombs: Rally & collection
Books Not Bombs: Rally & collection
Schools are collapsing, universities are going bankrupt, and millions of students and children are living in poverty. Teachers, professors, and support staff are seeing their wages eroded, with some forced to use food banks to keep up with the rising cost of living. All the while, our politicians fork out billions on bombs, and university bosses rake in a fortune through their ties to the Israeli war machine. We are living in an epoch of rising imperialist war, and we are expected to pay the price.
In this session, Fiona Lali, Executive Committee member of the Revolutionary Communist Party, will discuss the struggle to end imperialism through the overthrow of the capitalist system.
Speaker: Fiona Lali
Room: The Light
Schools are collapsing, universities are going bankrupt, and millions of students and children are living in poverty. Teachers, professors, and support staff are seeing their wages eroded, with some forced to use food banks to keep up with the rising cost of living. All the while, our politicians fork out billions on bombs, and university bosses rake in a fortune through their ties to the Israeli war machine. We are living in an epoch of rising imperialist war, and we are expected to pay the price.
In this session, Fiona Lali, Executive Committee member of the Revolutionary Communist Party, will discuss the struggle to end imperialism through the overthrow of the capitalist system.
Speaker: Fiona Lali
Room: The Light
Sunday 17th November
Sunday 17th November
Morning sessions — 10:30 - 12:00
Morning sessions
10:30 - 12:00
Art, culture, and revolution
Art has accompanied us throughout the history of our species. While it has its own laws of development, the history of art also reflects the fundamental, revolutionary changes that have shaped human society.
In this session, Alan Woods, renowned Marxist author and member of the International Secretariat of the Revolutionary Communist International, will examine some of the great revolutions in art and society, and the role of art in the emancipation of the working class.
Speaker: Alan Woods
Room: The Light
Lenin and the Russian Revolution of 1917
The February Revolution brought an end to the blood-soaked Tsarist Empire. For the first few months, confusion reigned in Bolshevik party, most of whom failed to understand the limits of the Provisional Government; its interests opposed to the masses that brought it to power. In his April Theses, Lenin was able to theoretically re-arm the Party to connect it to the downtrodden masses, leading them to power in October.
Olivia Rickson, Central Committee member for the RCP, will introduce this discussion on Lenin and the Russian Revolution of 1917.
Speaker: Olive Ruadh
Room: Sarah Fell
Labour in power: From 1924 to today
The Labour Party was one of the first mass parties of the trade unions and working class, formed in the heated struggles at the turn of the 20th Century. Enshrined in its early aims was the fight for common ownership of the means of production — the fight for socialism. With over a century passed since its first government, questions must be asked: Why has the Labour Party failed to achieve this goal? Did the its leadership ever really represent the interests of the working class?
With the return of a right-wing Labour government this year, James Kilby, Central Committee member of the RCP, will discuss the history of Labour in power: From 1924 to today.
Speaker: James Kilby
Room: Hilda Clarke
The 'golden age of capitalism’? The post-war boom
and the crisis of 1973-75
The 'golden age of capitalism’? The post-war boom and the crisis of 1973-75
50 years ago, after the long post-war boom, the world economy experienced its first truly global crisis. Falling output and spiralling inflation combined to devastate the working class. Today, capitalism faces similar turmoil. It must be overthrown.
In this session, Adam Booth, Executive Committee member of the RCP, will provide a Marxist analysis of the post-war boom and the crisis of 1973-75, highlighting the lessons for revolutionaries in the fight to overthrow capitalism today.
Speaker: Adam Booth
Room: Ada Salter
How did Lenin build the Bolshevik party?
The Bolshevik party was the first revolutionary party worth the name, basing itself on the granite foundation of Marxist theory. The history of the Bolsheviks – particularly the life and ideas of Vladimir Lenin – contains essential lessons to guide us in the struggle for revolution today.
In this session, Rob Sewell, author of In Defence of Lenin and member of the Executive Committee of the RCP, will discuss how Lenin built the Bolshevik party.
Speaker: Rob Sewell
Room: Benjamin Lay
Early afternoon sessions — 12:45 - 14:15
Early afternoon sessions
12:45 - 14:15
Artificial Intelligence and human consciousness
The question of human consciousness has become increasingly relevant with the rise of artificial intelligence. Modern technological advances have raised the idea of creating machines capable of thinking for themselves. This has generated hopes — and fears — that the next generation of robots will be able to display signs of consciousness. But is all this just the stuff of science fiction?
Daniel Morley, Executive Committee member of the RCP, will answer these questions using the method of dialectical materialism — the philosophy of Marxism.
Speaker: Daniel Morley
Room: The Light
Can we really learn anything from history?
Most ‘mainstream’ historians tend to reject the Marxist view that the course of historical development has been fundamentally determined by laws that we can grasp scientifically. Many also reject the idea of progress as a whole as merely a ‘point of view’. To them, history is little more than a series of accidents, or the choices of great individuals. But if this is the case, then why can we recognise so many common processes across human history, in which similar institutions, events and even characters arise independently of one another all over the world? And has there really been no progress at all between stone tools and spacecraft?
Josh Holroyd, leading member of the Revolutionary Communist International and editor of the In Defence of Marxism magazine, will introduce a discussion on this topic.
Speaker: Josh Holroyd
Room: Sarah Fell
Science, society, and revolution
Science, society, and revolution
Throughout history, mankind’s ability to develop knowledge and advance our understanding of nature has been shaped by material conditions and social forces. It is not simply individual geniuses that have helped science to take leaps forward, but revolutionary changes within society.
Today, far from fuelling scientific progress, the profit motive and capitalist competition have become an enormous barrier to human knowledge. Only socialist planning can free science from these chains.
In this talk, Ben Curry, leading member of the Revolutionary Communist International and editor of the In Defence of Marxism website, will discuss the crisis in modern science, and why socialist revolution is needed in order that a new epoch of scientific revolution can flourish.
Speaker: Ben Curry
Room: Hilda Clarke
Fires, floods, and finance: How capitalism is killing
the planet
Fires, floods, and finance: How capitalism is killing the planet
Major floods, hurricanes, and wildfires are now commonplace across the globe, resulting in death and forced migration. In 2022, a wildfire even spread through Wennington in East London. It is clear that capitalism, with its insatiable pursuit of profit, is responsible not only for the destruction of millions of lives through exploitation and war, but the destruction of the planet itself.
In this session, Sarah Vedrovich, Central Committee member for the RCP, will discuss how capitalism is killing the planet, and why we need a revolutionary party capable of leading the charge for its overthrow.
Speaker: Sarah Vedrovich
Room: Ada Salter
Fascism: What it is and how to fight it
Capitalism is in a global economic crisis. The working class everywhere are experiencing falling living standards, and have been for at least a decade. This inevitably has huge political and social effects. There is a bitter anger brewing deep in society, and these are exploding to the surface in many ways, including in the far-right riots across Britain, and the rise of far-right parties across Europe.
The political polarization is reminiscent of the interwar period of the 1920s and 1930s, where fascism came into existence and even came to power in several instances. In this session, Joe Russell, Executive Committee member of the RCP, will introduce the discussion to examine the similarities, the differences, and the perspectives in front of us. What we can we learn from history and how do we fight fascism today?
Speaker: Joe Russell
Room: Benjamin Lay
Late afternoon sessions — 14:30 - 16:00
Late afternoon sessions
14:30 - 16:00
Capitalism today: Debt, inequality, and trade wars
Ever since 2008, capitalism has been stuck in an epoch of instability and stagnation. And the contradictions and tensions within the system continue to mount, preparing the way for a new wave of crisis and class struggle.
Trade wars between the US, China, and the EU are back on the agenda, as shrinking markets send globalisation into reverse. The combined impact of the war, the pandemic, and inflation, on top of decades of imperialist exploitation, has left the world’s poorest nations buried in debt. All the while, the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. This is sowing the seeds for revolutionary explosions in one country after another.
In this session, Niklas Albin Svensson, member of the International Secretariat of the RCI, will provide the global economic perspectives for capitalism, and the revolutionary implications that flow from this.
Speaker: Niklas Svensson
Room: The Light
Slaves in revolt: The Haitian Revolution
After 12 years of upheavals, war, carnage and betrayals, the Haitian revolution of 1791 finally succeeded in abolishing slavery and achieved independence. It was the consequence and the prolongation of the French Revolution.
In this session, Keelan Kellegher, Central Committee member of the RCP, will introduce a discussion on the Haitian revolution and draw the lessons for revolutionaries today.
Speaker: Keelan Kellegher
Room: Sarah Fell
Marxism vs anarchism
While anarchism understands power in an idealist, abstract way, Marxism looks for a material understanding of where it comes from and how it is maintained, based on a concrete study of history.
In this talk Ellen Morton, Central Committee member of the RCP, will discuss the differences between anarchism and Marxism, and how we can fight against our common enemy: capitalism and the bourgeois state.
Speaker: Ellen Morton
Room: Hilda Clarke
The legacy of British imperialism in Ireland
As British capitalism’s first colony, imperialism cut its teeth in Ireland. The domination of Ireland by British capitalists, landlords, and financiers resulted in untold horrors; from the artificial famine of the 1840s and 50s, to the war for national liberation, through to the murder of unarmed civilians on Bloody Sunday.
In this session, Shaun Morris, Executive Committee member of the RCP, will discuss the cruel legacy of British imperialism in Ireland.
Speaker: Shaun Morris
Room: Ada Salter
Lessons from the 2011 Arab Revolutions
13 years ago, without any organisation, programme, plan or preparation, the Arab masses, in the words of Marx, ‘stormed heaven’. In a matter of weeks they brought down regimes that decades of petitioning by NGO’s and academic do-gooders could not budge an inch. The colossal state-apparatus, employing hundreds of thousands of spies, police officers, and army personnel, could only watch as the masses took over the streets.
In the context of rising tensions across the Arab world, Lubna Badi, leading comrade of the Revolutionary Communist Party, will discuss the lessons from this exciting period of class struggle.
Speaker: Lubna Badi
Room: Benjamin Lay
Closing remarks — 16:15 - 17:00
Closing remarks
16:15 - 17:00
Join the fight for revolution, build the RCP!
Join the fight for revolution, build the RCP!
Marx and Engels always stressed that theory is not a dogma, but a guide to action. We are entering into a period of heightened tension, war, and revolution. The objective conditions for the overthrow of capitalism already exist, and have for some time. What has been missing is a subjective factor — a revolutionary party. That needs to be built, there is work to be done.
Rob Sewell will close the Congress with remarks about the weekend’s events, and the tasks for the Revolutionary Communist Party ahead.
Marx and Engels always stressed that theory is not a dogma, but a guide to action. We are entering into a period of heightened tension, war, and revolution. The objective conditions for the overthrow of capitalism already exist, and have for some time. What has been missing is a subjective factor — a revolutionary party. That needs to be built, there is work to be done.
Rob Sewell will close the Congress with remarks about the weekend’s events, and the tasks for the Revolutionary Communist Party ahead.
"Without revolutionary theory, there can be no revolutionary movement"
—V.I. Lenin
JOIN THE RCP!
The RCP, the British section of the Revolutionary Communist International, is working to establish a fighting, revolutionary party in Britain, as part of the struggle of the world working class, and we need your help!
There are tens of thousands of workers and youth who want to see an end to capitalism. They see that the world is on fire and are ready to fight to transform it.
The bankers, bosses, and politicians, on the other hand, are willing to sacrifice our health, housing, happiness, jobs, and the planet, just to protect their profits.
This has to end.
Those that claim revolution cannot happen today are thoroughly mistaken. The past few years alone prove how rapidly things can change. Climate crisis, pandemic, the cost of living, and now rising militarism and war has revealed the ugly face of capitalism: profits come before all else, including life itself.
Just as the imperialists sharpen their knives, we must sharpen our revolutionary theory — with this we can connect the anger in society to the task of overthrowing capitalism, and of building a society free poverty, exploitation, and war.
