anniversaries, conferences…

2020 marks the centenary of the foundation of the Communist Party of Great Britain, and the bicentenary of the birth of Karl Marx’s lifelong collaborator, Friedrich Engels. And of course, anniversaries means conferences. The University of Brighton are hosting a conference on Engels in Eastbourne on 23 and 24 June 2020. Later on this year, on 18 and 19 September 2020, the People’s History Museum in Manchester is hosting a conference, in conjunction with Socialist History, Twentieth Century Communism and the CPGB Archive Trust, on Workers of the world? The Communist Party of Great Britain as a global party. A call for papers for the CPGB conference has been launched.

People’s History? conference – programme published

The People’s History? conference website has been updated with details of the programme and papers. The conference will take place at the University of East Anglia, Norwich, on Saturday 15 and Sunday 16 February. The site will be updated periodically as we get closer to the event….

Conference flyer for download

Legacy of Empire – Meeting Jan 25th

Legacy of Empire – Meeting Jan 25th

Britain, Zionism and the Creation of Israel

Socialist History Public Meeting

 

Speaker: Dr Gardner Thompson

Red Lion Hall,
Basement, Tresham House, Red Lion Square,
entrance via Lamb’s Conduit Passage by Conway Hall, Holborn, WC1R 4RE

It is now more than seventy years since the creation of the state of Israel, yet its origins and the British Empire’s historic responsibility for Palestine remain little known. Confusion persists too as to the distinction between anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism. In Legacy of Empire, Gardner Thompson offers a clear-eyed review of political Zionism and Britain’s role in shaping the history of Palestine and Israel.

Thompson explores why the British government adopted Zionism in the early twentieth century, issuing the Balfour Declaration in 1917 and then retaining it as the cornerstone of their rule in Palestine after the First World War. Despite evidence and warnings, over the next two decades Britain would facilitate the colonisation of Arab Palestine by Jewish immigrants, ultimately leading to a conflict which it could not contain. Britain’s response was to propose the partition of an ungovernable land: a ‘two-state solution’ which – though endorsed by the United Nations after the Second World War – has so far brought into being neither two states nor a solution.

Gardner Thompson is a historian of British colonialism and a fellow of the Royal Historical Society. He earned a BA in History from Cambridge University, an MA in East African History and Politics from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, and a PhD on the British Colonial Rule in Uganda from London University. Thompson taught History in Uganda, and then in London where he was Head of the History Department and the Academic Vice-Principal at Dulwich College. His other publications include Governing Uganda: British Colonial Rule and its Legacy and African Democracy: Its Origins and Development in Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania.

People’s History? Radical Historiography and the Left in the Twentieth Century – call for papers

Conference on Saturday and Sunday, 15 and 16 February 2020

Venue: School of History, University of East Anglia, Norwich, NR4 7TJ, UK

Organised and hosted by UEA School of History in conjunction with the journal Socialist History and the Institute of Working Class History, Chicago.

History has always played a crucial role in the making of the modern left, both in Britain and around the world, providing a vital tool for theoretical rationale, social critique and direct action. Whilst offering an important source of intellectual stimulus, it has equally been the cause of hot debate, controversy and division, never more so than during the twentieth century. Over the course of those ten tumultuous decades, history became the ground upon which the left struggled to define and redefine itself in response to dramatically changing times. Critique was, and continues to be, all-encompassing, from debates on historical interpretation, method, pedagogy and application, to questions addressing the very nature – or possibility – of historical knowledge itself.

This conference seeks to explore all aspects of the status and uses of history in modern left imagination.

We are seeking papers of 5000 to 10000 words to be presented at the conference. Conference themes may include, but are not limited to:

History, Marxism and international socialism
History, class and class consciousness
History, philosophy and critical theory
History, gender, race, sexuality
History and (post)colonialism
History and/as activism
History, pedagogy and empowerment
National and international histories
Party histories
History and the role of the historian as public intellectual

For further details and updates please visit the conference website on https://shspeopleshistory.wordpress.com. Proposals for papers and any enquiries should be submitted via the website or by e-mail to the organisers on shspeopleshistory@gmail.com. In view of the UCU industrial action currently underway, the deadline for submitting proposals has been extended to Monday 9 December 2019. We shall inform all applicants as to whether their proposals have been accepted as soon as possible after that date. The deadline for receiving completed papers from successful applicants will be Monday 3 February 2020. Selected papers will be published in a special issue of the journal Socialist History. Attendance at the conference for both presenters and audience will be free of charge, but we ask that anyone wishing to attend registers in advance.

 

more on the echoes of revolution conference

The first draft version of the conference programme is now online on the conference website. Registration is still open via this link.

Echoes of Revolution conference update

There is now a special WordPress site for this event: echoesofrevolution.wordpress.com, where the latest information about this event will be posted.

 

1917: The Russian Revolution. New SHS publication

1917 – The Russian Revolution, Reactions and Impact

The Socialist History Society Occasional Publication No. 41

The Russian Revolution of 1917 changed the world forever. For once, it appeared that the oppressed workers were within grasp of the levers of state power and for a while the prospect of permanently ending exploitation seemed a real possibility. The revolutionary mood swept across continents and its impact was felt far beyond the parties of the left and the organised labour movement. The revolution inspired writers, poets, intellectuals and philosophers as much as it did workers and activists. With this special Occasional Publication the Socialist History Society illuminates these momentous events of one hundred years ago with a series of specially written articles that examine the reactions to the revolution in different areas.

Contents 

Evaluating the lessons of October, including their British resonance

by Willie Thompson

Against ‘vacillation, lies and rottenness’: the Russian Revolution and the rift in world socialism

by Francis King

1917’s Several Lenins

by Mike Makin-Waite

‘What they can do in Russia, so can we’: the impact of the Russian Revolutions of 1917 in Germany by Helen Boak

Italy and the Russian Revolution of 1917

by Tobias Abse

Clara Zetkin on the Soviet Experiment, 1917-1934

by John S Partington

Secular Ecstasies and the Revolutionary Women Poets in 1917

by Greta Sykes

Psychoanalysis and Revolution: Sigmund Freud and his circle from fin-de-siècle Vienna to revolutionary Russia

by David Morgan

http://www.socialisthistorysociety.co.uk/

 

Call for Papers: Weekend conference – ‘Echoes of revolution 1848, 1918. Revolution, nationalism, and socialism’

As the old European powers approached exhaustion in the Great War, a wave of revolutionary struggles broke out across the continent, from Ireland to Russia. Mass movements articulated class, social and national aspirations as states fragmented and empires, dynasties and rulers were toppled. But relations between these movements and their component parts were anything but simple. National claimants contested for control of disputed territories in the name of self-determination. Class and social movements struggled with one another over who should rule in the successor states, and in whose interests. These struggles left a lasting legacy which helped shape European politics for decades.

 

As a pivotal year in European history, 1918 begs comparison with other pivotal years, in particular 1848, in which many similar social and national aspirations came to the fore. This conference will look at and compare movements for radical social and political change of those revolutionary years. We are seeking papers of 5000 to 10000 words to be presented at the conference on any aspects of revolution, nationalism and socialism anywhere around the world during, around or across the years 1848 and 1918. Selected papers will be published in a special issue of the journal Socialist History. Attendance at the conference will be free of charge, but we ask that anyone wishing to attend registers in advance. Proposals for papers and any enquiries should be submitted to Francis King. E-mail: f.king@uea.ac.uk

Dates: Saturday and Sunday, 17 and 18 February 2018

 

Venue: School of History, University of East Anglia, Norwich, NR4 7TJ, UK

 

Organised and hosted by UEA School of History in conjunction with the journal Socialist History and the Institute of Working Class History, Chicago.

 

Deadline for proposals for papers: 15 December 2017

 

40th anniversary of the Lucas Plan

BOOK NOW for a conference celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Lucas Plan!

Veteran trade unionists and younger activists see Nobel prize-nominated plan as inspiration for the future

Leading figures from the left, trade union, environmental and peace movements are coming together at a conference on November 26th with a fresh perspective on tackling current crises, using the ideas of socially useful production pioneered in the Lucas Plan. The Plan, produced by workers at the Lucas Aerospace arms company, showed how jobs could be saved by converting to make products that answer a social need, rather than weapons. To book for the conference, visit http://www.lucasplan.org.uk/tickets.  See http://www.lucasplan.org.uk, or the notes below for more information on the Lucas Plan.

The conference will focus on 5 key themes:

The Lucas Plan and socially useful production.

Arms conversion and peace.

Climate change and a socially just transition to sustainability.

The threat to skills and livelihoods from automation.

Local/community economic and industrial planning.

Linking all these issues is the need to rethink how we can produce what people and society actually need and overcome corporate domination through their control of technology.

Highlights of the conference will include:

Talks by Phil Asquith, Brian Salisbury and Mick Cooney (Lucas Aerospace Shop Stewards Combine).

Screening of a new film on the Lucas Plan by Steve Sprung.

Contributions from: Chris Baugh (PCS), Suzanne Jeffery (Million Climate Jobs Campaign), Hilary Wainwright (Red Pepper), John McDonnell (tbc), Natalie Bennett and Molly Scott-Cato (Green Party), Romayne Phoenix (People’s Assembly Against Austerity), Mary Pearson (Birmingham Trades Council), Jim Wyke (Young Scots for Independence), Philippa Hands (Unison), Stuart Parkinson (Scientists for Global Responsibility), Dave Elliott (Open University), Dave King (Breaking the Frame), Tom Woolley (Rachel Bevan Architects), Simon Fairlie (The Land magazine), Karen Leach (Localise West Midlands), plus more speakers to be announced.

The conference on the Lucas Plan 40th anniversary will be held at Birmingham Voluntary Service Council (138 Digbeth, Birmingham, B5 6DR) on November 26, 2016. See http://www.lucasplan.org.uk. The conference is being organised and sponsored by: former members of the Lucas Aerospace Shop Stewards Combine, Breaking the Frame, PCS, UCU, Million Climate Jobs Campaign, Green Party, Scientists for Global Responsibility, Campaign Against Arms Trade, and Red Pepper.

Tickets are £10/£5 concessions: To book for the conference, visit http://www.lucasplan.org.uk/tickets. For more information, email info@breakingtheframe.org.uk

BACKGROUND INFO: The Lucas Aerospace Shop Stewards Combine’s Alternative Corporate Plan (‘The Lucas Plan’) was launched in 1976 and became famous worldwide, sparking an international movement for socially useful production and workers’ plans. Facing the threat of redundancies, the Combine collected 150 ideas from shop floor workers about alternative socially useful products that could be produced by the company, instead of relying on military orders. Many of the innovations in the plan, such as hybrid car engines, heat pumps and wind turbines were commercially viable and are now in widespread use. Although the Alternative Plan was rejected by Lucas Aerospace managers, it was instrumental in protecting jobs at Lucas in the 1970s. The Combine was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 and Mike Cooley received the Right Livelihood Award in 1982. More information about the Plan, including the 53-page summary of the five 200 page volumes, can be found on the conference website, http://www.lucasplan.org.uk.

FIFTEENTH ESSEX CONFERENCE ON LABOUR HISTORY

FIFTEENTH ESSEX CONFERENCE ON LABOUR HISTORY

The Fifteenth Essex Conference on Labour History, jointly sponsored and organised by Labour Heritage and the Essex Labour Campaign Forum will take place at The Labour Hall, Collingwood Road, Witham, CM8 2EE, (adjacent to Witham railway station), from 10.30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, 29th October, 2016.

The topics on the agenda include the historical role of Aneurin Bevan, relations with Ireland, the Poplar rates dispute and the life of a Labour activist in Essex.

The Conference is completely open and friends, relatives and acquaintances are welcome, whatever their political allegiances.  Questions and other contributions will be invited from the floor, lunch will be provided by the Essex Labour Campaign Forum and the cost is included in the registration fee.

The registration fee is £8 per person (cheques payable to the Essex County Labour Party).  Those not previously registered can pay at the door, provided there are places, but pre-booking is advisable – particularly for catering purposes.

CHARLES COCHRANE, Chair – Essex Labour Campaign Forum

STAN NEWENS, Chair – Labour Heritage. For details contact Stan on this e-mail address

Registration fee: £8.00 per person

PROGRAMME

10.30 – 11.00 a.m.    Conference assembles (tea and coffee will be provided)
11.00 – 11.10 a.m.    Chair’s opening remarks – Charles Cochrane, Chair, Essex Labour Campaign Forum
11.10 – 12.05 p.m.    The Left in the mid-20th Century and the Role of Aneurin Bevan
Francis Beckett (Labour historian and author)
12.05 – 1.00 p.m.    Ireland – the 1916 Rising and Social Progress
Ivan Gibbons (former Director of Irish Studies at St. Mary’s University Twickenham, and Director of the Irish Cultural Centre, Hammersmith)
1.00 – 2.00 p.m.    Lunch, arranged by the Essex Labour Campaign Forum.
2.00 – 2.45 p.m.    George Lansbury and the 1921 Poplar Rates Dispute
Chris Sumner (George Lansbury Memorial Trust)
2.45 – 3.30 p.m.    A Life in the Labour Movement
Stan Newens (former MP, MEP and Labour historian)
3.30 – 3.55 p.m.    Discussion and suggestions
3.55 – 4.00 p.m.    Conclusion of the Conference