Summer School

I’m pleased to announce one of the sessions at the ‘After the Revolution: Life in a Socialist World’ Summer School, being held on 6th – 8th August at Fircroft College in Birmingham.

Paddy Shannon will speak on ‘Socialist Decision Making And The Rule Of 3’:
For a hundred years and for a dozen practical reasons, the World Socialist Movement has favoured delegate democracy as the decision-making model most likely to be adopted in a future socialist society. But that was before modern online communications made direct democracy a real possibility. But though attractive in theory, it sounds like chaos in practice. Who would get to vote on what, and on whose say-so? Would people end up in so many meetings and votes every day that nothing ever got done in reality, the ‘death-by-democracy’ scenario predicted by some opponents of socialism? One can envisage a mountain of rules and exceptions the size of Everest in order to make such a system workable, especially if practised across the globe. But actually the entire thing might be managed by the application of just three rules a small child could understand, backed by the same ethical principle that applies across every other sphere of socialist life: from each according to ability, to each according to need.

Further sessions will be announced soon! The event will also include an exhibition, exclusive publication and bookstall. Hopefully, the weekend will be able to run without any restrictions due to the pandemic, but this will depend on the situation at the time. Details of how to make a booking can be found here: http://www.worldsocialism.org/spgb/summer-school-2021/ Please note that the closing date for bookings will be 20th July, or earlier if all places are filled. If you have any questions, please email spgbschool [at] yahoo.co.uk

Another Summer School session can be confirmed!

Glenn Morris will present ‘New News From Nowhere’:
In 1890 William Morris wrote the utopian novel ’News from Nowhere’ in which a one William Guest fell asleep and awoke in a socialist society. Ignored and denounced by some Marxists as being too backward looking as it tended to shun technology over an agricultural lifestyle, it nevertheless painted a contemporary picture of a life without money, property and class. Although a huge subject to explore, were it to be covered thoroughly, Glenn will focus on a few areas of what life in a socialist society might look like today over 100 years since Morris’ novel.

For more information, visit https://www.worldsocialism.org/spgb/summer-school-2021/
Please note that the deadline for bookings is 20th July.

And here are details of the other session being held at this year’s Summer School:

Richard Field’s talk is titled ‘Socialist Recipes’
Marx was famously shy of writing recipes for future cook shops, and since no one of us is in a position to legislate for the actions of others we can appreciate his reasons. Yet is this refusal a realistic possibility for us today? Fellow workers constantly demand explanations of how a future society will work and will not be put off by a shrug of the shoulders or a few generalised remarks about common ownership. How should we answer? There is no inevitability in the matter. Humanity makes its own history, and socialists in the process of building a post-capitalist society will make choices based on what they believe to be possible and desirable. The success of the socialist project will rest in some measure on the choices made. So what arguments can we make now to ensure a positive outcome?

For more information, including how to make a booking, see earlier messages on this thread. The deadline for bookings will be on 20th July (or before if all the places go). Hopefully the event can run without any Covid-related restrictions, and I’m liaising regularly with the venue about this.