Marxism and postmodernism

What kind of "new politics"? Laurie Penny debates Workers' Liberty

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Date: 
27 January, 2011 - 19:30 - 21:30
Location: 

ULU, Malet St, London WC1E 7HY

Description: 

Facebook event here.
More info: 0779669087

The student protests have fundamentally shaken up politics in Britain. More and more people no longer believe that the Tories' cuts and attacks on the welfare state are unstoppable.

In this new period, what kind of politics does the left need? It's clear that it cannot be "business as usual" - we need to step up a gear.

Does that mean that Marxist ideas, focused on the working class and workplace/industrial struggle, are no longer relevant? What about the trade unions? Do we need political parties, or are they are a harmful distraction? Are differences on the left no longer relevant? Is the notion of socialist publications, promoting a definite program, an absurd anachronism, or more important than ever? What kind of organisations do we need to beat the Tories and overthrow their system?

* Laurie Penny is a journalist, and a feminist and anti-cuts activist in London.She has written for publications including Red Pepper, the New Statesman and the Guardian. Her article "Out with the old politics" sparked the current debate on structures and politics in the movement
www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/dec/24/student-protests-young-politics-voices

* Ed Maltby is a member of the national committee of the socialist organisation Alliance for Workers' Liberty
www.workersliberty.org/story/2011/01/03/why-revolution-will-not-be-tweeted

Read this? Or jamesmurdoch it?

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Author: 
Martin Thomas

By Martin Thomas

James Murdoch claims he didn't know about widespread phone-hacking and other dirty tricks by Murdoch journalists. Investigators have uncovered an email to him spelling out the full picture which he not only received but replied to.

New Times or class struggle: Debate between Socialist Organiser and Marxism Today

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PoMo
Author: 
Mark Perryman and Alan Johnson

Click here to download pdf.

Mark Perryman, from the editorial board of the Communist Party magazine Marxism Today, and Alan Johnson from Socialist Organiser, debated at the Workers' Liberty summer school in July 1989 on whether the watchwords for politics should be "modernising", "fragmentation", and "compromise" - or class struggle.

Why we should switch our computers off more

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Author: 
Martin Thomas

"The Shallows: how the internet is changing the way we think, read, and remember", by Nicholas Carr. Reviewed by Martin Thomas.

A friend recently told me about her 17 year old daughter's homework habits. She will habitually be watching a DVD on her computer and chatting by instant message with number of friends while simultaneously writing an essay for which she will get top marks.

Modernism and postmodernism in architecture

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Author: 
Belinda Weaver
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download article as pdf.

Some architects defend hated modern buildings by saying "The Eiffel Tower (Crystal Palace, etc.) was hated in its day!" However, many modern buildings were not hated or protested about in their "day". It's now, after years of looking at them, that the outcry has come against soulless tower blocks and ugly offices. In their day they were praised.

"Post-Fordism": collapsing into the present

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Author: 
Martin Thomas
Click here to download article as pdf.

Capitalism has changed and is changing. Vast new areas in the Third World have industrialised. The introduction of small, cheap, flexible computers is revolutionising finance, administration, retailing, manufacturing. The majority of the workforce in many capitalist countries is now "white-collar" - but white-collar work is becoming more industrial.