Workers' Liberty

This is the speech I gave proposing the resolution on Solidarity With Israeli And Palestinian Workers at RMT's Annual General Meeting 2008 - followed by my reply to points made in the debate.

When introducing a discussion at our AWL branch meeting on the first and second Labour governments, I found it useful to tell the story, then ask people to discuss some questions.

I’m going to give a quick definition and overview of Islamic feminism in this lead off (which hopefully the reading should already have given you.)

Notes from AWL dayschool on socialist feminism, April 2007

What is socialist-feminism?

The basic and defining arguments of socialist-feminism are:

There was a discussion at Workers' Liberty's 'Ideas for Freedom' discussion weekend about 'The Left and Cultural Relativism'. The two speakers were Janine Booth and Peter Tatchell. These are the notes from Janine's contribution.

By Paul Hampton

1) The AWL

Socialism is the self-emancipation of the working class

Our conception of socialism is a thoroughgoing democracy – at work, in communities, self-rule by organisations

Notes from a discussion at a North London AWL branch meeting, introduced by Jean Lane.

What are the reasons for the growth in the movement for single-faith schools?

Notes from a talk by Clive Bradley at North London AWL branch, 14 December 2004

The disaster took place on the night of 2-3 December 1984. Just after midnight, poison gas leaked from a chemical factory, which killed up to 8,000 people immediately, and between 16,000 and 30,000 people over time. It was a terrible atrocity, which symbolises global inequality and the reality of capitalism to people in the 'third world'.

Notes from a talk by Dan Nichols to our AWL branch meeting in August

Notes of a talk given by Michael Kyriazopoulos at our AWL branch meeting in August

by Janine Booth
These notes are based on a speech I gave at the Workers' Liberty London Forum on Thursday 24 June.

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The fascist British National Party is fundamentally an anti-working-class, anti-democratic party:

About 35 people attended the AWL London forum on "Capitalism, socialism and Islam" at University of London Union last night. The other speaker was Shahed Salim from Just Peace - a loose network of activists formed during the 2001 Afghan war to provide a "Muslim voice" within the Stop the War Coalition. Just Peace seems to concentrate its activism on international Muslim "hot spots" such as Iraq and Palestine, plus domestic offshoots of the war on terror such as attacks on civil liberties; but it also has an ambition to help develop a wider "Muslim voice in politics".

At our meeting on 3 March, Haringey & Hackney AWL branch discussed Islamism in Egypt.

Clive Bradley gave a talk about the issue: this is a summary of what he said.

Egypt is one of the birthplaces of modern Islamism - that is, of political movements based on Islam that take the form of a modern political party. In 1928, the Muslim Brotherhood was formed in Egypt.

At our meeting on 22 October, Haringey & Hackney AWL branch discussed the myth of Peron, and working-class politics in Argentina. This was the third in our series of meetings about 'the politics behind the shows', following on from discussions on Vietnam (Miss Saigon) and the French revolution (Les Miserables).

Paul Hampton gave a talk about the issue: this is a summary of what he said.

by Mickey Conn

Origins

The first Trotskyist groups had emerged in the mid-1920s as Communist Party
members grew interested in Trotsky's work. With little contact between
groups, and divisions on factional lines, various small groups grew and
split. By 1937, there were three British Trotskyist groups: the small,
Scottish Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP), the Revolutionary Socialist
League (RSL) and Militant.

Class and sexuality

• homophobic abuse can be directed at any LGB person, but class does affect experience of homophobia
  eg. escaping homophobic environment more difficult for young unemployed person living at home than for successful business entrepreneur
  
  

The Stonewall Riot - 28 June 1969

• gay bar in New York, raided by police, customers rioted, Tactical Police Force called in, confrontation continued for the next few nights

• marks the birth of the modern lesbian/gay movement