REBUILDING ANTI-IMPERIALIST MARXISM IN AUSTRALIA

Capitalism’s global crisis is escalating as the world faces waves of chaos. The US ruling class and their Australian junior partners are starting to lose their grip on the minds of ordinary people. The billionaires cannot solve the urgent social and environmental problems they have created – but so far, no left-wing alternatives have captured public imagination. Revolutionaries need to more effectively fight the “battle of ideas” as Fidel Castro has called it. Ultimately, working people and their allies must build their own power. 

PUBLIC CONFERENCE

Saturday, July 18th, Newtown Neighbourhood Centre, Darley Street, Newtown, 12 pm – 5 pm

Building a Revolutionary Party in the United States

Joe Tache, Party for Socialism and Liberation. Joe Tache is a member of the Central Committee of the Party for Socialism and Liberation based in Boston, Massachusetts. He has helped lead the PSL’s involvement in struggles against police brutality, gentrification, imperialism, and other working-class issues. Joe is currently the PSL’s candidate for the U.S. Senate in Massachusetts in the November midterm elections.

100 Years of Fidel: Castro’s Contribution to Revolutionary Marxism

A message from the Fidel Castro Ruz Center, Havana, Cuba, and an eyewitness report.

KEYNOTE

World on Fire! Acceleration of crisis, the new radicalisation, and openings for rebuilding a revolutionary party in Australia

Max Lane, Red Spark – Dr. Max Lane works as a writer on Indonesian and Southeast Asian affairs and has been active in international solidarity and socialist politics for more than 50 years. He was a member of the Democratic Socialist Party between 1982 and 2007. He coordinated the DSP’s Asian solidarity work from the early 1990s and 2000s and was Convenor of the 1998 and 2005 Asia Pacific Solidarity Conferences and the 1996 conference, East Timor And Its Future in the Asia Pacific.  Max was a member of the DSP National Executive and Political Committee during the late 1990s and briefly served as editor of Green Left Weekly. In 2016 he was awarded the Timor Leste Medal of Honour for solidarity with both Indonesian and Timorese struggles. Having just finished writing his political memoirs, he has started work on a new book: HOW AUSTRALIA CAN GET UNSTUCK: Socialist Ideas Towards a New Future.

Cuban music – Botany View Hotel, King Street, Newtown, 6 pm – Papalote

Traditional, nueva canción, nueva trova and original music. See http://www.youtube.com/@DiazJusto

MEMBERS CONFERENCE

Think Sessions: Friday 17 July,

Radicalisation in the 21st century

This session will begin by outlining a Marxist approach to assessing the development of a revolutionary situation. With this framework, the escalating radicalisation across the political spectrum amidst the structural crisis of imperialism will be mapped, and the character of this radicalisation tied to the rise of a digital culture. The session will conclude with an examination of the “online Marxist” space and the implications this has for a Marxist party.

Re-establishing the Ideas of Women’s Liberation

Re-establishing the Ideas of Women’s Liberation: Decline of mass struggle, co-optation, encroachment of academia, and the struggle to re-formulate women’s liberation ideas under new conditions.

What Does a Leninist Party Look Like Today?

A revolutionary party, in the Leninist tradition, is not simply an electoral organisation or a loose network of activists, but the organised political expression of the most conscious and committed socialists. Its purpose is to unite Marxist theory with the practical struggles of workers and oppressed people, transforming spontaneous resistance into a coherent movement for socialism. Today, there are no Leninist parties in Australia. The existing organisations are either Third Worldist networks (inspired by thinkers like Losurdo or Rockhill), Luxemburgist (Socialist Alternative), broad left party networks (like the RCO or Socialist Alliance), or others that do not organise to unite Marxist theory with struggle. This talk will discuss why the current groups are inadequate and how Leninist groups have grown in diverse historical conditions (including the Democratic Socialist Party in Australia): the tactics needed for them to gain influence, the problems faced during a period of political downturn, and the immediate tasks for today.

Voting Sessions: Sunday 19 July.

The International and Australian Political Situation

Red Spark Tasks and Perspectives

The Revolutionary Concept of Leadership

Register for the public conference at Humanitix:
https://events.humanitix.com/world-on-fire-conference

To apply to join Red Spark or observe the full conference, email communication@red-spark.org