Monthly libertarian socialist discussion meetings in Leicester

Here's the schedule of libertarian socialist discussion meetings for the first quarter of 2017. These are open discussion meetings, organised by the Leicester group of the Anarchist Federation.

CWO members and sympathisers are very welcome to attend.

The meetings take place at 7pm on the last Wednesdays of the month at the Regent Sports & Social Club, 102 Regent Road, Leicester LE1 7DA (a short walk from Leicester train station).

25th January 2017 – Is the working class movement dead?

What is the role of pro-revolutionaries in the current social, political and economic climate?

22nd February – 100th anniversary of the Russian revolution

What can we learn from it? What has been its effect on the workers’ movement between 1917 and the present day?

29th March – How could a libertarian communist society meet people’s needs and desires?

What are the objections to a communist/anarchist/socialist society and how can they be responded to?

Forum: 

Quick reminder, our 100th anniversay of the Russian revolution meeting is next Wednesday 22nd Feb, same time and venue.

Also, from our previous meeting, here's an article based on the notes for my introductory talk:

libcom.org

Report back on Leicester Russian revolution meeting

Though attendance was a little smaller than last month due to an unfortunate clash with a Leicester Social Forum event at the same time, the meeting nevertheless went well. The discussion was led off by a left communist friend of the local AF, who gave a solid background to the 1917 events in Russia. Key points in the ensuing discussion were:

  • 1917 was a seminal moment in world revolutionary proletarian history
  • it is perhaps mistaken to think of it as the "Russian revolution" as it was a catalyst for uprisings, mutinies and revolutions in many other places (e.g. Germany, Hungary, Italian factory councils, etc.)
  • its failure, and the subsequent failure of revolutionary movements elsewhere were ultimately a failure of "socialism in one country" (or more accurately, state capitalism in one geographical location)
  • the workers councils (soviets) were a major contribution to revolutionary movements (although to be fair, the councils go back to 1905)
  • the taming of the soviets by the bolsheviks, the repression of Kronstadt and the makhnovschina were all mentioned

The massive influence of the Russian revolution on the years between 1917 and now are unquestionable. It led to:

  • the bolshevisation or leninisation of the more revolutionary wing of the international workers' movement
  • this bolshevisation/leninisation included revolutionary groups and movements of various tendencies (including anarchists)
  • the dominance of the Comintern and Stalinist tyranny, etc, led to the deformation of revolutionary politics and has left concepts such as socialism or communism as tainted, damaged
  • pro-revolutionary ideas, groups and movements are still recovering from this
  • the apparent death of class consciousness, the general lack of collective working class awareness and the dwindling of revolutionary groups and ideas is a probable repercussion of the failure of 1917 and after
  • the dire state of the world we see today is ultimately evidence of the failure of 1917