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DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Sydney:20251119T180000
DTEND;TZID=Australia/Sydney:20251119T193000
DTSTAMP:20260410T182932
CREATED:20250724T113418Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251023T043953Z
UID:10577-1763575200-1763580600@red-spark.org
SUMMARY:Anti-imperialist Marxism Seminar Series [Melbourne]
DESCRIPTION:RSVP FOR THE NEXT SEMINAR HERE: \nhttps://events.humanitix.com/anti-imperialist-solidarity-campaigns-in-australia-indonesia-vietnam-timor-leste-and-palestine-today \n— \nAnti-imperialist Marxism Seminar Series\n\nMonthly Seminars – Wednesdays 6pm\nKathleen Syme Library\, Faraday Street Carlton\n\nRED SPARK offers this Anti-imperialist Marxism seminar series addressing key issues a revitalised Marxist movement in Australia will need to understand. \n\nSocialism will only be possible if there are revolutions inside the rich\, imperialist societies – especially the United States. Yet\, so far\, socialist revolutions have only taken power not in the imperialist countries but the Global South. To begin rebuilding the revolutionary movement in Australia we must clearly understand why that is the case.\nDespite Australia’s political backwardness Revolutionaries here have a crucial role to play in the coming clashes and battles that the global imperialist system is creating. We must understand iso that we can effectively oppose future wars and support revolutions occurring internationally. Through both active internationalism and clear headed participation in movements of working people and young people in Australia\, revolutionaries must aim to weaken the Australian state and strengthen the working class as one important factor within the global class struggle. \n \n\nAugust 20 (tenth anniversary of John Percy’s death)\nAnti-Imperialist Solidarity Campaigns in Australia: Indonesia\, Vietnam\, Timor Leste and Palestine today\nSpeaker: Max Lane \nPowerful solidarity with movements against imperialist oppression have occurred several times in post-war Australia. Between 1942-1946\, probably the largest ever mobilisation of trade unions black banned all work on Dutch ships taking soldiers\, arms and ammunition to crush the Indonesian republican movement. In the sixties and into the seventies\, unions\, churches\, students and the organised Left fought against the US and Australian war against the Vietnamese. From the mid-1970s and surging again in the 1990s\, East Timorese refugees found allies among the Australian community and the Left to build solidarity with the Timorese liberation movement and demand the end of Australian military and diplomatic support for the Suharto dictatorship in Indonesia. During the same period\, there was a campaign in solidarity with democratic movement against the dictatorship in Indonesia itself. Today there is a worldwide surge of support for the Palestinian liberation movement and demanding an end to ties with Israel. The Indonesian republicans\, the Vietnamese socialists\, the Indonesian democrats and the Timorese people all won those battles but\, we face new challenges today. The Palestinians are still fighting. What can we learn from all these experiences about Australia and the world that may help the movement today for Palestine? \n\nSeptember 24\nViva Cuba and Venezuela: end the blockades!\nSpeaker: Ria Evelyn \nCuba since 1959 and Venezuela since 1999 have stood as examples to the rest of the world. Not only as examples to oppressed countries globally that it is possible to fight imperialism and win\, but that to do so is the first step towards building socialism as an antidote to the terror\, war\, poverty and destruction imposed by capitalism. For this\, western imperialist countries led by the US have sought to punish and destroy socialist Cuba and Venezuela’s Bolivarian Revolution. Economic sabotage\, blockades\, coups\, invasions and assassination attempts are just some of the methods the US and its allies have used to try and overthrow socialism in these countries. Imperialist aggression has continually failed. The projects of building socialism in Cuba and Venezuela are surviving\, however\, they are under constant escalating attack. In this meeting we will discuss the serious challenges and threats facing Cuba and Venezuela today. \n\nOctober 22\nChina’s Challenge to the US Stranglehold\nSpeaker: Sam King\nChina’s economic advances are seriously challenging imperialism’s stranglehold over China and\, by implication\, over other parts of the Global South. The history of capitalist imperialism is a history of subjugation and exploitation primarily through monopoly dominance over production –  especially over the ability to “revolutionise” the production process – as Marx described it. Today\, China’s ability\, especially since the pandemic\, to very rapidly emulate high quality production techniques and do so on a gigantic scale seems to be fast bringing about acute crises for imperialism’s ability to keep its monopoly. \n\nNovember 19\nThe Left Can Revive: the Challenge for Youth in Imperialism’s Dead-End Era\nSpeaker: Max Lane \nThe world finds itself at the beginning of a crossroad in the evolution of the contradictions of imperialist capitalism. The capitalist system’s energy\, which came from its struggle to establish and consolidate itself globally\, has been exhausted. Politically this is expressed in degenerate\, directionless “leadership” from Trump to Biden to the Australian scene. Most glaring economically is the extreme slowness\, almost incapability\, to adopt renewable energy widely enough. The countries of the Global South\, with the partial\, extraordinary\, exception of the Peoples Republic of China\, are stagnating in low-levels of productivity\, with profound social and cultural consequences. Everywhere\, the world is entering the period where capitalist method is the fetter on its own development to a degree that is severe and even existential. \nHowever\, imperialism is able to distribute impacts of the spiralling crisis unevenly. In Australia\, like other rich-club\, imperial societies\, there are few direct stimulus to provoke the majority of people to first imagine\, and then work towards a different future. The background noise of climate dystopia and social malaise is drowned out by countless distractions. The social conditions foster sleepiness and boredom. \nAlmost everywhere\, including in Australia\, the Left also stagnates below its potential. Severe ruptures with its past hinder the left’s capacity to learn the central historical lessons. The individuals being newly radicalised by the crisis\, so far\, reside mostly online but remain unorganised: throwing them into eclecticism and confusion. \nInspiration for those remaining active on left has come from the Global South: Cuba\, Venezuela\, the heroism of the Palestinians\, and in a different way through the material achievements of China. In the Global South\, a different social scenario exists: shaping a different future remains the immediate pressing challenge for the majority of people and shapes their outlook. \nIn Australian conditions\, linking with Global South struggles must be a key in waking up\, inspiring and training a new generation of young people to fight here – ultimately\, and urgently\, against our own ruling class. The first step is to prove that a socialist perspective is interesting\, and more than a repetition of cliches or schema. It means linking with and understanding struggles internationally and grasping that another Australia is possible only in another World\, different everywhere. \n\n\n—\nABOUT THE PRESENTERS\nMax Lane is renowned internationally as a writer and translator of Pramoedya Ananta Toer – a leading Indonesian dissident intellectual during the military dictatorship. Max was a key leader of the international solidarity movement against the Indonesian dictatorship and helped unite socialist opponents from Indonesia and East Timor with those in Australia. His latest book is Indonesia Out of Exile: How Pramoedya’s Buru Quartet Killed a Dictatorship. \nRia Evelyn has travelled on Solidarity brigades to Cuba in 2019 and 2023 and written on Venezuela and Cuba for the publication Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism!\n\nSam King is the author of Imperialism and Development Myth: How rich countries dominate in the twenty-first century (Manchester\, University Press\, 2021) and Is China an Imperialist Country? (Red Spark) \n\n 
URL:https://red-spark.org/event/10577/
LOCATION:Kathleen Syme Library and Community Centre\, 251 Faraday St\, Carlton\, Victoria\, 3053\, Australia
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Sydney:20251024T183000
DTEND;TZID=Australia/Sydney:20251024T203000
DTSTAMP:20260410T182932
CREATED:20251012T041841Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251012T041957Z
UID:11660-1761330600-1761337800@red-spark.org
SUMMARY:China’s Challenge to the US Stranglehold [Sydney]
DESCRIPTION:China’s economic advances are seriously challenging imperialism’s stranglehold over China and\, by implication\, over other parts of the Global South. \nThe history of capitalist imperialism is a history of subjugation and exploitation primarily through monopoly dominance over production- especially over the ability to “revolutionise” the production process as Marx described it. \nToday\, China’s ability\, especially since the pandemic\, to very rapidly emulate high quality production techniques and do so on a gigantic scale seems to be fast bringing about acute crises for imperialism’s ability to keep its monopoly. \nSPEAKER: SAM KING \nSam is the author of Imperialism and Development Myth: How rich countries dominate in the twenty-first century (Manchester\, University Press\, 2021) and Is China an Imperialist Country? (Red Spark) \nRegister to attend: https://events.humanitix.com/china-s-challenge-to-the-us-stranglehold
URL:https://red-spark.org/event/chinas-challenge-to-the-us-stranglehold-sydney/
LOCATION:Humanist Society of NSW\, 10 Shepherd St\, Chippendale\, New South Wales\, 2008\, Australia
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Sydney:20251022T180000
DTEND;TZID=Australia/Sydney:20251022T193000
DTSTAMP:20260410T182932
CREATED:20251008T075754Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251022T065045Z
UID:11596-1761156000-1761161400@red-spark.org
SUMMARY:[Anti-Imperialist Marxism Seminar]  China’s Challenge to the US Stranglehold [Melbourne]
DESCRIPTION:FREE EVENT\n6pm 22th October 2025\nKATHLEEN SYME LIBRARY \n\nChina’s economic advances are seriously challenging imperialism’s stranglehold over China and\, by implication\, over other parts of the Global South. The history of capitalist imperialism is a history of subjugation and exploitation primarily through monopoly dominance over production –  especially over the ability to “revolutionise” the production process – as Marx described it. Today\, China’s ability\, especially since the pandemic\, to very rapidly emulate high quality production techniques and do so on a gigantic scale seems to be fast bringing about acute crises for imperialism’s ability to keep its monopoly. \nSpeaker: Sam King\nSam is the author of Imperialism and Development Myth: How rich countries dominate in the twenty-first century (Manchester\, University Press\, 2021) and Is China an Imperialist Country? (Red Spark) \nPART OF the Anti-Imperialist Marxist Seminar Series – Monthly Aug-Nov \n\nZoom link for online attendance: \nRed Spark is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting. \nTopic: China’s Challenge to US Imperialism\nTime: Oct 22\, 2025 06:00 PM Canberra\, Melbourne\, Sydney\nJoin Zoom Meeting\nhttps://us02web.zoom.us/j/84447226127?pwd=HtDEDWONtzTbYWFUQC20GgvjbpyzTy.1 \nMeeting ID: 844 4722 6127\nPasscode: 796945 \n— \nOne tap mobile\n+13052241968\,\,84447226127#\,\,\,\,*796945# US\n+13092053325\,\,84447226127#\,\,\,\,*796945# US \nJoin instructions\nhttps://us02web.zoom.us/meetings/84447226127/invitations?signature=SaQ1iat1aViyupxDnT2m4aw_Jkep6VcKEbjCWZcf3ZQ \n 
URL:https://red-spark.org/event/anti-imperialist-marxism-seminar-chinas-challenge-to-the-us-stranglehold-melbourne/
LOCATION:Kathleen Syme Library and Community Centre\, 251 Faraday St\, Carlton\, Victoria\, 3053\, Australia
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Sydney:20251011T180000
DTEND;TZID=Australia/Sydney:20251011T230000
DTSTAMP:20260410T182933
CREATED:20250919T045551Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250919T045650Z
UID:11427-1760205600-1760223600@red-spark.org
SUMMARY:International Unity Against War and Fascism [Perth]
DESCRIPTION:“Fascism does not\, generally speaking\, believe in the possibility or utility of perpetual peace.” – Benito Mussolini. \n\nInternational Unity Against War and Fascism✊\nWar and fascism thrive on division. Our strength is in solidarity. Join us for an evening of food\, music\, and international voices standing together against imperialism and oppression. \nInternational speakers via Zoom: \n\nFranziska Kleiner (Germany) The rise of fascism in Europe\nCira Pascual Marquina (Venezuela) Protecting the Venezuelan Revolution against US invasion and internal subversion.\nStephanie Weatherbee Brito (Brazil) The US moves to develop nuclear primacy\nTings Chak (China) The Global Governance Initiative China proposed at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation meeting\n\nLive entertainment from folk singer\, Dave Johnson. \nVegan and Gluten Free options\, Bar. \n\nSaturday\, October 11. Doors open at 6:00 pm.\nBoorloo Activist Centre (near McIver Station). Entry $30.\nTickets via Humanitix: https://events.humanitix.com/international-unity-against-war-and-fascism-dinner-forum
URL:https://red-spark.org/event/international-unity-against-war-and-fascism-perth/
LOCATION:Boorloo (Perth) Activist Centre\, 15/5 Aberdeen St\, Perth\, 6000\, Australia
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Sydney:20251004T180000
DTEND;TZID=Australia/Sydney:20251004T230000
DTSTAMP:20260410T182933
CREATED:20250907T023850Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250919T044028Z
UID:11267-1759600800-1759618800@red-spark.org
SUMMARY:International Solidarity Dinner [Melbourne]
DESCRIPTION:SOLIDARITY DINNER\nInternational Solidarity to Defeat Imperialism\nIndonesia – Vietnam – Timor Leste\nFOR A FREE PALESTINE TODAY\nAn evening to commemorate past international solidarity in Australia in support of national liberation struggles as well as advocate support for solidarity to free Palestine today. Australian trade unions\, workers\, youth and other common people campaigned seriously and enthusiastically in support of Indonesian Independence between 1945-49\, and between 1965-76 in support of Vietnamese independence. This occurred again during the 1975-1998 period in support of East Timorese (Timor Leste’s) liberation. Today the Palestine Solidarity movement is growing around the world\, but much more is needed to break ties and defeat Israel. \n\nVoices from: \n\nThe Indonesian Labour Movement – a message and short documentary from the Federation of Militant Trade Unions.\n\nIn person speakers: \n\nCheago “Agus” Perez – Secretary-General of the Socialist Workers and Farmers Union and a Central Committee Member of the Socialist Party of Timor (PST)\n\nand \n\nShamikh Badra – International Committee\, Peoples Party of Palestine.\n\nAlso \n\nSolidarity Video Message from Vijay Prashad\, Director\, Tricontinental Institute.\n\n\nFull Indonesian Meal\nVegetarian/Vegan dishes available \n\nLive music\n& Time to relax and chat with speakers and participants \n\nTickets: https://events.humanitix.com/international-solidarity-dinner \nGeneral Admission – $30\nConcession – $20\nHigh school students – $15\nSolidarity price – $50 \nTo bypass booking fee\, please use direct bank transfer: \nAccount Name: Red Spark\nBSB: 923100\nAccount Number: 31645909\nDescription: *(please put your name and ‘SoliDin’ in description)* \nGroup bookings available \nFunds raised will go for food and water for children in Gaza via the Gaza Nippers Program \nADVANCE BOOKINGS WILL HELP US ORGANISE \n\nCheago “Agus” Perez has been active in the Socialist Party of Timor (PST) since before 2000. During the past 25 years\, he has played a leading role in the Socialist Union of Workers and Farmers (SUWF)\, a trade union affiliated to the PST. During the United Nations Administration (UNTAETY) up until 2002\, he was one of the union worker representatives on the committee oversighting worker affairs and conditions.\nAgus was at school during the Indonesian occupation of Timor Leste\, his family having been forcibly removed from their village to a base camp in the 1980s. His parents and brothers were all farmers and live stock herders. After the fall of Suharto in 1998\, he was in Indonesia and made contact with Timorese and Indonesian activists. He campaigned to get the Timorese diaspora in Indonesia\, especially South Kalimantan\, to vote for Independence in the 1999 Referendum. \nAfter returning to Timor Leste\, he made contact again with other activists who had returned to Timor from Indonesia. He became active in the workers sector and coopted on to the Arbitration Commission formed under the UNTAET administration as one of the representatives. He remained on the Commission until Covid\, but has since prioritised union work in his position of Secretary General of the SUWF.\nMost worker disputes in Timor are in the services and retail sector\, as Timor has almost no manufacturing. Most of the union work is representing workers in these sectors in disputes with employers\, although there have also been cases of advocacy for workers detained in protests. \nAgus is also a member of the Central Committee of the Socialist Party of Timor (PST) which is active campaigning for a cooperatives-based economy. The PST had one member of parliament during 2002-2007 but is not presently represented in parliament but has won elections at the neighbourhood and village level. \nShamikh Badra is a Palestinian researcher\, activist\, and PhD candidate at the University of Wollongong. He is a member of the International Relations Committee of the Palestinian People’s Party and is part of the elected leadership for the Middle East region in the World Federation of Democratic Youth (WFDY). Shamikh co-founded the Northern Beaches Committee for Palestine in Sydney and the Gaza Nippers program\, which introduces surf lifesaving to children in Gaza as a form of resilience and community care under siege. His research focuses on diplomatic resistance and settler colonialism in Palestine. He holds a Master’s in Peace and Conflict Studies from the University of Sydney\, and has been published in State Crime Journal and in global academic collections on state violence and crisis. His work bridges theory and practice\, from contributing to the intellectual foundations of Gaza’s Great March of Return to leading national unity efforts in Palestine. \nIlham Jimbo is Secretary of the Federation of Militant Trade Unions (SeBumi) and International Officer for the Confederation of Indonesian Workers Front (KBBI). Jimbo comes from a working-class family. He has worked for over for over twenty years as a factory worker and casual labourer. An early love for literature since childhood led him to left wing readings which ultimately deepened his understanding and class consciousness. Active involvement in the labour movement began when he organised coworkers to form a trade union in 2014. That experience became the foundation for active participation in trade unions at the federation and confederation levels up to the present. The SeBumi union has membership in 9 major cities on the island of Java. Many of the members are women working in textile\, garment and shoe sectors. \nChair: Yaye Wen \nYaye is a multidisciplinary designer\, artist\, and member of Red Spark’s Melbourne Branch Executive. Arriving in Australia from a small town in Northeast China at 17\, her journey – including Communication Design studies at Monash University and revolutionary activism – solidified her commitment to art and design as tools for revolutionary work. She is particularly interested in Global South solidarity\, China’s development\, and freedom for Palestine.
URL:https://red-spark.org/event/international-solidarity-dinner/
LOCATION:Brunswick Neighbourhood House\, 43A De Carle St\, Brunswick\, Victoria\, 3056\, Australia
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/webp:https://red-spark.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Dinner_banner.webp
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Sydney:20250924T180000
DTEND;TZID=Australia/Sydney:20250924T193000
DTSTAMP:20260410T182933
CREATED:20250827T133405Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250924T001239Z
UID:11130-1758736800-1758742200@red-spark.org
SUMMARY:[Anti-Imperialist Marxism Seminar] Viva Cuba and Venezuela! End the Blockades! [Melbourne]
DESCRIPTION:PART OF Anti-Imperialist Marxist Seminar Series – Monthly Aug-Nov \nFREE EVENT \n6pm 24 Sept 2025 \nKATHLEEN SYME LIBRARY \n\nCuba since 1959 and Venezuela since 1999 have stood as examples to the rest of the world. Not only as examples to oppressed countries globally that it is possible to fight imperialism and win\, but that to do so is the first step towards building socialism as an antidote to the terror\, war\, poverty and destruction imposed by capitalism. For this\, western imperialist countries led by the US have sought to punish and destroy socialist Cuba and Venezuela’s Bolivarian Revolution. Economic sabotage\, blockades\, coups\, invasions and assassination attempts are just some of the methods the US and its allies have used to try and overthrow socialism in these countries. Imperialist aggression has continually failed. The projects of building socialism in Cuba and Venezuela are surviving\, however\, they are under constant escalating attack. In this meeting we will discuss the serious challenges and threats facing Cuba and Venezuela today. \nRSVP here: https://events.humanitix.com/anti-imeperialist-marxist-seminar-viva-cuba-and-venezuela-end-the-blockage \nZoom link for online attendance: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86546580651
URL:https://red-spark.org/event/anti-imperialist-marxist-seminarviva-cuba-and-venezuela-end-the-blockage/
LOCATION:Kathleen Syme Library and Community Centre\, 251 Faraday St\, Carlton\, Victoria\, 3053\, Australia
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/webp:https://red-spark.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/seminar-2banner.webp
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Sydney:20250919T180000
DTEND;TZID=Australia/Sydney:20250919T193000
DTSTAMP:20260410T182933
CREATED:20250908T103338Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250918T092444Z
UID:11300-1758304800-1758310200@red-spark.org
SUMMARY:Anti-Imperialist Solidarity Campaigns in Australia: Indonesia\, Vietnam\, Timor Leste and Palestine today [Sydney]
DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Dr Max Lane \n6pm\, Friday September 19\, 2025 \nNSW Teachers Federation\n23-33 Mary St\, Surry Hills \nLink for online attendance: https://uni-sydney.zoom.us/j/2386171481 \n\nIn post-war Australia\, solidarity movements have opposed imperialist oppression. From 1942-1946\, trade unions imposed a major black ban on Dutch ships to support the Indonesian republican movement. In the 1960s and 1970s\, unions\, churches\, students\, and the Left protested the US and Australian war in Vietnam. From the mid-1970s and resurging in the 1990s\, Timorese refugees and Australian allies\, including the Left\, backed the Timorese liberation movement\, opposing Australian support for Indonesia’s Suharto regime. Concurrently\, a campaign supported Indonesia’s democratic movement. Today\, global and local solidarity with the Palestinian liberation movement demands an end to military and diplomatic ties with Israel. The Indonesian\, Vietnamese\, and Timorese movements succeeded\, though new challenges persist\, while the Palestinian struggle continues. \nWhat can we learn from all these experiences about Australia and the world that may help the movement today for Palestine? \n\nMax Lane is a socialist activist and writer known for his expertise on Southeast Asian politics\, particularly Indonesia. He has been active in political solidarity with liberation movements in Indonesia\, Timor Leste and the Philippines since the 1970s. He wrote on Southeast Asian Affairs for Green Left Weekly from 1990-2007. His works include Unfinished Nation: Indonesia Before and After Suharto (2008) and Indonesia Out of Exile (2024). In 2024\, he was awarded the Timor Leste Medal of Honour for his solidarity work with Indonesia and Timor Leste. He is a member of Red Spark. \n\n 
URL:https://red-spark.org/event/anti-imperialist-solidarity-campaigns-in-australia-indonesia-vietnam-timor-leste-and-palestine-today-sydney/
LOCATION:NSW Teachers Federation Building\, 22-33 Mary St\, Surry Hills\, New South Wales\, 2010\, Australia
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://red-spark.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/antiimpsydeventbanner2.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Sydney:20250820T180000
DTEND;TZID=Australia/Sydney:20250820T200000
DTSTAMP:20260410T182933
CREATED:20250801T114943Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250819T025950Z
UID:10670-1755712800-1755720000@red-spark.org
SUMMARY:Anti-Imperialist Solidarity Campaigns in Australia: Indonesia\, Vietnam\, Timor Leste and Palestine today
DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Dr Max Lane \n6pm\, August 20\, 2025 \nKathleen Syme Library\, Carlton \n\nIn post-war Australia\, solidarity movements have opposed imperialist oppression. From 1942-1946\, trade unions imposed a major black ban on Dutch ships to support the Indonesian republican movement. In the 1960s and 1970s\, unions\, churches\, students\, and the Left protested the US and Australian war in Vietnam. From the mid-1970s and resurging in the 1990s\, Timorese refugees and Australian allies\, including the Left\, backed the Timorese liberation movement\, opposing Australian support for Indonesia’s Suharto regime. Concurrently\, a campaign supported Indonesia’s democratic movement. Today\, global and local solidarity with the Palestinian liberation movement demands an end to military and diplomatic ties with Israel. The Indonesian\, Vietnamese\, and Timorese movements succeeded\, though new challenges persist\, while the Palestinian struggle continues. \nWhat can we learn from all these experiences about Australia and the world that may help the movement today for Palestine? \n\nMax Lane is a socialist activist and writer known for his expertise on Southeast Asian politics\, particularly Indonesia. He has been active in political solidarity with liberation movements in Indonesia\, Timor Leste and the Philippines since the 1970s. He wrote on Southeast Asian Affairs for Green Left Weekly from 1990-2007. His works include Unfinished Nation: Indonesia Before and After Suharto (2008) and Indonesia Out of Exile (2024). In 2024\, he was awarded the Timor Leste Medal of Honour for his solidarity work with Indonesia and Timor Leste. He is a member of Red Spark. \n\nThis is a special seminar held in memory of John Percy. \nJohn Percy (1945–2015) passed away on August 19\, 2015. \nJohn was a socialist\, activist\, and founding member of the Socialist Workers Party (later the Democratic Socialist Party) in 1972. A lifelong Marxist\, he played a key role in far-left politics\, advocating for anti-war\, workers’ rights\, and anti-imperialist movements. John was one of the first people to ever be arrested by police for demonstrating against the Vietnam war. He was the National Secretary of the Democratic Socialist Party (DSP) during the 1990s until 2007. He authored several works on socialist theory and history\, including The Socialist Workers Party: 1960–1988. After 2007\, he was involved in establishing the Revolutionary Socialist Party\, joined Socialist Alternative and focused his energies on solidarity with Vietnam\, campaigning for US compensation for the damage caused by Agent Orange\, and with Solidarity with Cuba. \n\nJoin Zoom Meeting\nhttps://us02web.zoom.us/j/83481092208?pwd=WjSbytF6BWYDx2Dl8DTLAQnIFGtXuH.1 \nMore info about Anti-imperialism Seminar Series: https://red-spark.org/event/10577/ \n 
URL:https://red-spark.org/event/anti-imperialist-solidarity-campaigns-in-australia-indonesia-vietnam-timor-leste-and-palestine-today/
LOCATION:Kathleen Syme Library and Community Centre\, 251 Faraday St\, Carlton\, Victoria\, 3053\, Australia
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Sydney:20250607T160000
DTEND;TZID=Australia/Sydney:20250607T180000
DTSTAMP:20260410T182934
CREATED:20250521T232804Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250602T083924Z
UID:9727-1749312000-1749319200@red-spark.org
SUMMARY:Capitalism and AI: How can we turn their invention against them?
DESCRIPTION:AI is a product of capitalism—but can it be weaponised against it?\nJoin Jeff Xiong and Max Lane for a public discussion on how socialists can confront capitalist technology with revolutionary strategy. From ideological struggle to practical tools\, we ask: how do we build our own machinery to fight theirs?\n\nSPEAKERS:\n\nJEFF XIONG – How can socialists use AI to fight capitalism?\nWill comment on strategic approaches for socialists and progressives engaging with Artificial Intelligence. Beyond identifying AI’s inherent ideological leanings\, we explore the opportunity to actively reshape AI’s narrative capabilities. This involves embedding our own ideological frameworks\, such as a Marxist perspective\, to challenge dominant discourses and promote alternative viewpoints. AI emerges as a potent instrument for expanding the ideological reach of socialist movements. These strategic considerations make it necessary for the Left to critically harness AI’s power\, with further resources available for those wishing to explore practical applications.\n\nMAX LANE – “The Battle of Ideas”: fighting ideological hegemony in late capitalism\nIn the third century of capitalism and the second century of imperialism\, capitalism’s ideological hegemony has deepened but is increasingly cracking on its edifice. Capitalism’s ideological strength\, like capitalism itself\, stands on contradictions. Wifi\, the internet\, social media and even Artificial Intelligence are all tools invented under capitalism and used for strengthening capitalism. So too were newspapers\, radio and television. A lesson of the history of the socialist movement is that it must answer capitalism’s ideological hegemony with a serious battle of ideas. This means using all the tools created under capitalism to subvert its logic. A constant and systematic subversion of capitalism’s “logic”\, irrationalities and lies also helps socialists organise. The organised propaganda work can be the scaffolding of a movement. While a socialist movement’s strength comes from organisation and mobilisation\, what underpins that strengths is a shared clarity in understanding the world which also requires our own ideological machinery. But that is a big job and will require a big organisation.\n— \n\nIn person:\n4pm Saturday June 7\nRoom G01\, Alan Gilbert Building\, University of Melbourne\n161 Barry St Carlton \nOnline:\nhttps://us02web.zoom.us/j/87426577847?pwd=gKF40llauuCxJtTwZSkpLLgE2ufEpa.1\nMeeting ID: 874 2657 7847\nPasscode: 279459 \n\n—\nJeff Xiong (Xiong Jie) is a researcher at the International Communication Research Institute\, East China Normal University\, and Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research. His expertise encompasses digital transformation and international communication with a current focus on sovereign AI and the digital sovereignty of the Global South. His publications include the Chinese translation of “Cybernetic Revolutionaries” and “A History of Agile in China\,” an industrial history research of China’s ICT sector.\n\nMax Lane is a member of the RED SPARK National Executive and has been centrally involved since its initial steps in 2022. He was previously active in the Socialist Workers Party/Democratic Socialist Party (1981-2007)\, including almost 15 years full-time from 1990 to 2007. In the DSP Max headed up Asia-Pacific solidarity work and sometimes served as Editor of Green Left Weekly and of Party Campaigner. In the 1980s he was active in solidarity with the Indonesian and Philippines democracy movements and during the 1990s\, he was National Coordinator of Action in Solidarity with Indonesia and East Timor. In 2024\, in Dili\, Max was awarded the Medal of Honour of Timor Leste for these contributions. He writes for red-spark.org on Australian politics\, political theory and fighting imperialism and is author of several books on Indonesian history published by Verso\, Penguin and Seagull books.
URL:https://red-spark.org/event/capitalism-and-ai-how-can-we-turn-their-invention-against-them/
LOCATION:Alan Gilbert Building\, Rm G01 161 Barry Street Carlton\, Alan Gilbert Building\, Rm G01 161 Barry Street Carlton\, Melbourne\, Victoria\, 3053\, Australia
CATEGORIES:Unimelb Forum
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20250503T170000
DTEND;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20250503T190000
DTSTAMP:20260410T182934
CREATED:20250401T065335Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250413T090907Z
UID:8690-1746291600-1746298800@red-spark.org
SUMMARY:Women Of Steel Film Screening and Discussion (Melbourne)
DESCRIPTION:Join us May Day weekend for a powerful documentary screening and discussion on women’s liberation\, union power\, and the fight for workplace equality.\nWomen of Steel follows a group of determined working-class and migrant women in their 14-year fight for the right to work in Wollongong’s steel industry. \nLed by Robynne Murphy\, a key figure in the 1980–1994 Jobs for Women Campaign\, these women took on Australia’s most powerful company—BHP—in a groundbreaking battle for equality. When the 1983 steel slump devastated the city’s economy\, their struggle moved from the streets to the factory floor to the courtroom\, proving that persistence and solidarity can overcome even the biggest obstacles. \nSet against the backdrop of the women’s liberation movement\, anti-discrimination laws\, and shifting roles in the workforce\, this documentary is a story of perseverance\, resistance\, and camaraderie\, told with emotion and humour. It remains an inspiration for all who fight for justice\, women’s liberation and workers’ rights today. \nEvent Details\nWhen: Saturday\, 3rd May 2025\nWhere: Kathleen Syme Library and Community Centre\, Multipurpose Room 1\n251 Faraday Street\, Carlton VIC 3053\nFilm Screening – 5:00 pm to 6:00 pm\nDiscussion with Robynne Murphy – 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm\n[Note: Original fim-discussion order has been switched]\nCost – Free\nTickets via Humanitix \nCome celebrate May Day with Red Spark and be inspired by the story of working-class women who changed Australian history.
URL:https://red-spark.org/event/women-of-steel-film-screening-melbourne/
LOCATION:Kathleen Syme Library and Community Centre\, 251 Faraday St\, Carlton\, Victoria\, 3053\, Australia
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Sydney:20250501T173000
DTEND;TZID=Australia/Sydney:20250501T190000
DTSTAMP:20260410T182934
CREATED:20250421T123146Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250423T140403Z
UID:8957-1746120600-1746126000@red-spark.org
SUMMARY:May 1 Rally (Melbourne)
DESCRIPTION:REBUILD A FIGHTING UNION MOVEMENT!\nREBUILD A FIGHTING MAY DAY!\nWe will mark International Workers Day with a rally at the steps of the State Library and then march to the 8 Hours Monument. \nMay 1\nThursday\, 5:30pm\nVic State Library steps\nSpeakers to be announced. \nTo endorse or for further details:\nKieran – 0430509913\nBrun – 0412092166 \nworkerseducation@pm.me \nOrganised by rank and file trade union members. \nEndorsed by:\nArc Up Anarchist Communists\nAustralia Asia Worker Links\nBlack Peoples Union\nFree Palestine Coalition Narrm\nLatin America Solidarity Network\nMelbourne Anarchist Communist Group\nPhilippine Caucus for Peace\nRed Spark\nRenters and Housing Union RAHU\nRetail and Fast Food Workers Union (RAFFWU)\nRevolutionary Communist Organisation
URL:https://red-spark.org/event/may-1-rally-melbourne/
LOCATION:Victoria
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Sydney:20250425T170000
DTEND;TZID=Australia/Sydney:20250425T210000
DTSTAMP:20260410T182934
CREATED:20250410T100415Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250410T121941Z
UID:8847-1745600400-1745614800@red-spark.org
SUMMARY:ANZAC Day Sunset Peace Commemoration (Perth)
DESCRIPTION:  \nANZAC Day Sunset Peace Commemoration\nApril 25 – from 5:30pm – Hamilton Hill – $20 donation – Tickets via Humanitix\nLet’s unite and raise our voices for world peace! \nDitch AUKUS! No nuclear submarines! No war on China!\nEnd the national genocide of Palestinians!\nEnd the genocide of First Nations Australians! \nThe ANZAC Day sunset commemoration draws together those who yearn for world peace.\nThe intention is not to conflict with the Dawn Service\, but to expressly oppose militarism. \nBring your music\, songs\, poems or your thoughts on peace to share. \nFood will be available (vegan and gluten-free options)\, BYO drinks. \nSPECIAL GUEST: Vijay Prashad is trying to organise his schedule so that he can join us via Zoom.
URL:https://red-spark.org/event/anzac-day-sunset-peace-commemoration-perth/
LOCATION:Victoria
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Sydney:20250424T170000
DTEND;TZID=Australia/Sydney:20250424T200000
DTSTAMP:20260410T182934
CREATED:20250410T095101Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250410T095101Z
UID:8838-1745514000-1745524800@red-spark.org
SUMMARY:Women Of Steel Film Screening and Discussion (Brisbane)
DESCRIPTION:Brisbane comrades – Join us for a powerful screening of “Women of Steel”\, a documentary by Robynne Murphy!🔥 \n24/04/2025 | Entry at 5PM/Movie Start at 6PM\nGriffith University\, South Bank – Webb Centre\, Seminar Room S02_6.38 \nAfter the film\, we’ll host a Q&A discussion panel with:\n▪️ Lana Woolf (Red Spark activist)\n▪️ Adela Brent (ASLA representative)\n▪️ Robynne Murphy (Director) \nEntry by donation – All funds raised will support the documentary’s costs.
URL:https://red-spark.org/event/women-of-steel-film-screening-and-discussion-brisbane/
LOCATION:Webb Centre\, Griffith University\, 226 Grey St\, South Bank\, Brisbane\, 4101\, Australia
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Sydney:20250405T183000
DTEND;TZID=Australia/Sydney:20250405T203000
DTSTAMP:20260410T182934
CREATED:20250401T070430Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250401T093330Z
UID:8743-1743877800-1743885000@red-spark.org
SUMMARY:AUKUS\, Trump & the Indo-Pacific\, with Vijay Prashad
DESCRIPTION:Sydney comrades – join us for this exciting event with Vijay Prashad! \nAUKUS\, TRUMP & THE INDO-PACIFIC\nSaturday April 5th – 6:30pm\nNSW Teachers Federation Building\n22-33 Mary St\, Surry Hills\nEntry by donation \nVijay Prashad is an Indian historian\, editor\, and journalist. He is a writing fellow and chief correspondent at Globetrotter. He is chief editor of LeftWord Books\, director of the Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research\, and a senior non-resident fellow at Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies\, Renmin University of China. \nVijay has written more than 20 books\, including The Darker Nations: A People’s History of the Third World\, The Poorer Nations: A Possible History of the Global South and Washington Bullets. His latest books are Struggle Makes Us Human: Learning from Movements for Socialism\, On Cuba: Reflections on 70 Years of Revolution and Struggle (with Noam Chomsky) and The Withdrawal: Iraq\, Libya\, Afghanistan\, and the Fragility of U.S. Power (with Noam Chomsky). \n– \nA combined project by the Communist Party of Australia and Red Spark.
URL:https://red-spark.org/event/aukus-trump-the-indo-pacific-with-vijay-prashad/
LOCATION:NSW Teachers Federation Building\, 22-33 Mary St\, Surry Hills\, New South Wales\, 2010\, Australia
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Sydney:20241207T000000
DTEND;TZID=Australia/Sydney:20241209T235959
DTSTAMP:20260410T182935
CREATED:20241023T025545Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241130T045547Z
UID:6265-1733529600-1733788799@red-spark.org
SUMMARY:Red Ant National Conference 2024: Socialism - Anti-Imperialism - Liberation
DESCRIPTION:Capitalism has created a world of staggering inequality\, of wars and genocide\, of looming environmental catastrophe. Only a fundamental change of that system can address these global threats. \nJoin Red Ant for our 2024 conference to discuss capitalism’s exploitation of the Global South and working people\, its military conflicts and genocide\, its racial and gendered oppression\, its ecological devastation\, its unparalleled divide between the rich and poor\, and lessons from the history of resistance to these horrors. \nThis conference will focus on the problem of socialist organisation. What sort of forms of collective organisation are needed TODAY to fight oppression and destruction and how do we build them? \nRegister (free): https://events.humanitix.com/red-ant-national-conference-2024 \n  \nProgram at a glance: \n SATURDAY DECEMBER 7 \n11:00 am Climate Crisis and the Capitalist System of Profit\n1:40 pm The Womens’ Movement in Australia Today\n3:40 pm Social Movements and the “Mass Action Strategy”: from Anti Vietnam War to Palestine Solidarity\n6:30 pm What Was It Like When Australia Had a Revolutionary Party??\n \n \n SUNDAY DECEMBER 8\n11:00 am What is a Leninist Revolutionary Strategy?\n1:40 pm Australian Imperialism\, AUKUS and Anti-China Panic\n3:40 pm The Australian Political Situation and the Next Steps for Revolutionary Organising\n6:15 pm Building Revolutionary Parties Inside Imperialist Societies: Practices from Australia\, the U.S.A and Belgium \n  \n Detailed Program:\n \nSATURDAY DECEMBER 7 \n11:00 am \nClimate Crisis and the Capitalist System of Profit \nAndrew Martin and George Kanjere \nThe capitalist system can’t stop destroying the environment. Capitalist production is for private profit\, where businesses and countries compete against one another for their own survival. There is no prospect of ending environmental destruction within this competitive system\, which resembles a war zone. Revolutionaries argue that if we are serious about saving the planet we have to be serious about replacing the system of capitalist production for private profit with a society that puts people and the environment first — socialism. For this to occur\, we must build a powerful mass-based movement to replace the international and Australian governments with ones that can lead the transition to renewable energy\, to environmental repair\, and to the eradication of global inequality and injustice. \n1:40 pm \nThe Womens’ Movement in Australia Today \nAna Cavalcante & Nandini Shah \nWhen asked about the feminist movement in Australia today\, many would find it difficult to explain exactly what it looks like. The movement exists in the form of neoliberal feminism\, NGO feminism\, and recent reactive campaigns to the realities of oppression – regression in reproductive rights and healthcare\, alarming rates of feminicide\, sexual violence and family and domestic violence. Why are these forms of feminism unable to change the overall position of women in society? Why does womens’ oppression continue? We need to have this conversation and reflect on the history of the womens’ movement in order to understand the challenges which exist and propose key strategies for overcoming these. \n—Lunch Break— \n3:40 pm \nSocial Movements and the “Mass Action Strategy”: from Anti Vietnam War to Palestine Solidarity \nHarley R.\, Hugo M. & Rjurik Davidson \nHistory shows that social change occurs through mass action\, in which people take their lives into their own hands and organise together. This democratic strategy can be contrasted to two other approaches: the reformist strategy which focuses on winning positions of power and the ultra-left strategy of direct action by a minority. This panel examines why mass action is the most effective strategy\, using the historical example of the Vietnam war and the current-day campaign for Palestinian liberation. It discusses the mass action approach\, the role of the united-front tactic\, direct action\, election to positions\, mass organisations and institutions – and all the components of winning permanent social change. \n6:30 pm \nWhat Was It Like When Australia Had a Revolutionary Party? \nMax Lane and Barry Healy \nSince the decline of the Communist Party of Australia and the demise of the Democratic Socialist Party in the 2000s\, there has been no revolutionary party in Australia. During this period\, class and social struggles\, where they did occur\, have been spontaneous\, small in scale\, fleeting\, and often directionless. \nThis panel will offer reflections on the experience of being in a revolutionary party\, on what a revolutionary party was able to achieve when one existed\, and on the lessons to be learned from this legacy\, both positive and negative. Its aim\, above all\, is to make the history of revolutionary organising in this country more well-known and usable for us in the present. \n  \nSUNDAY DECEMBER 8 \n11:00 am \nWhat is a Leninist Revolutionary Strategy? \nNandini Shah\, Brendan Duncan-Shah and Sam Coleman \nThe class interests of working people lie in the complete abolition of the capitalist mode of production and the regimes of gender and racial oppression that support it and are supported by it. Lenin defined ‘socialist consciousness’ as consciousness of this fact: of the irreconcilable nature of the interests of working class people and the capitalist system as a whole. \nBut how does the consciousness of working people become socialist consciousness\, consciousness of the antagonism between their own interests and the system? If it doesn’t arise spontaneously\, then how does it arise? How do people come to the conviction that the whole system needs to be abolished\, and not merely reformed? \nLenin’s theory of revolutionary strategy proposes an answer to this problem\, and proposes an organisational form suited to solve it in practice: a party of a particular type. Against those who would say the party form is in some way outdated—a moribund form of political organisation only suited to the early twentieth century\, if ever—this panel will outline the specific meaning of Lenin’s concept of the party and make the case for its continued relevance and\, indeed\, necessity. \n  \n1:40 pm \nAustralian Imperialism\, AUKUS and Anti-China Panic \nDaehan Song (South Korea)\, Virginia Suarez (the Philippines) and Nick D. \nAustralian foreign policy has always been determined by its membership within a small club of imperialist powers that dominate the world economy\, as well as by its ‘junior’ status within this club. Although a ‘junior partner’ of the larger imperialist powers like the US\, Australia remains a powerful and constant source of imperialist oppression over non-imperialist nations in Asia and the Pacific. \nAfter years of escalating hostility\, anti-China hysteria is now peaking. The resulting cold war atmosphere is being used to justify massive military spending and silence dissent. In a context of the Australian ruling class taking us down a path that could easily lead to war\, how should anti-imperialists work to oppose Australia’s war-mongering? How can we build regional solidarity to fight the US-led imperialist bloc and their aggression against China? \n—Lunch Break— \n3:40 pm \nBuilding Revolutionary Parties Inside Imperialist Societies: Practices from the USA\, Belgium and Australia \nParty for Socialism and Liberation\, Workers Party of Belgium\, and Max Lane (Red Ant) \nIn 1920 Lenin wrote of ‘the very gist\, the living soul\, of Marxism [is] a concrete analysis of concrete conditions.’ Only on the basis of an analysis of this kind\, he argued\, can revolutionary activity succeed. But a concrete analysis of Australian society today must surely reckon with Australia’s position as a rich\, exploiter country in the context of world capitalism—for this fact influences every aspect of Australian society and economy. Accordingly\, if revolutionary organising is to succeed in Australia\, it must be attentive to this: Australia’s imperialist nature. \nThis panel considers the practice of building revolutionary socialist parties in imperialist societies like Australia\, the United States and Belgium. We will hear from leaders of important revolutionary projects inside imperialist countries. The Party for Socialism and Liberation (formed in 2004) is already the most important revolutionary group in the USA\, while the Workers Party of Belgium has long been exceptional in the imperialist world in that it remained a large and powerful party through an epoch of widespread retreat and decline. Max Lane was a founding member of Red Ant collective. These are very different projects\, each from different historical traditions that exist in very different situations. They are united by a struggle to build up revolutionary consciousness and struggle behind enemy lines – inside the imperialist core countries. The discussion will examine key experience and lessons for revolutionaries operating in this context and help to bring our struggles closer together. \n6:15 pm \nThe Australian Political Situation and the Next Steps for Revolutionary Organising \nSam King \nAustralia is among the most politically stable imperialist countries. Yet even here large numbers of people – especially young people – are questioning or rejecting the Australian contribution to genocide in Palestine and increasing economic insecurity at home. These issues are accelerating the longer term trend of eroding support for both major parties and increasing political openings for struggle and opposition. Left social-democratic projects like the Greens and revolutionary socialist groups are growing in this context. To organise effective interventions that can force open the situation further\, socialists need to have a clear picture of the national political situation and work out strategies and tactics on that basis. \n\nSPEAKERS \nAna Cavalcante is a Brazilian-Australian activist working mainly in the area of Violence Against Women. She was a member of the Socialist Democracy (DS) group in the Brazilian Worker’s party (Partido dos Trabalhadores – PT) and an organiser in its youth group (Kizomba) in projects such as the World Social Forum. In Australia\, Ana has been involved in Pro-choice and Anti-violence Against Women campaigns and work\, particularly in the struggle for the rights of survivors of violence on uncertain visa status. \nAndrew Martin is a rank-and-file union militant with two decades of industrial experience in four Australian states. He has held delegate positions in the AMWU and MUA. He fought to initiate the industrial action against the sell-off of Queensland Rail in 2009. Andrew was the key leader of strike actions against 12-hour night shifts at the Port of Melbourne in 2018. He joined the socialist movement before the Iraq war in 2003 and has also been active in the refugee rights campaign in Western Australia. \nBarry Healy is a life-long socialist activist\, beginning with involvement in the Vietnam Moratorium Movement as a teenager. He has been active in many tumultuous struggles\, such as the fight for civil liberties against the repressive Bjelke-Petersen Queensland government\, anti-uranium mining and other environmental movements. Currently Barry is active in community projects against climate change. \nBrian Becker is the National Coordinator of the ANSWER Coalition. He is a founder of and a central organiser for the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL). \nDae-Han Song is in charge of the Contents Team at the South Korea based International Strategy Center International. He is the author of the Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research’s May 2024 dossier The New Cold War Is Sending Tremors through Northeast Asia. \nGeorge Kanjere is a union organiser and has been involved in the campaign to save Preston Market from demolition. \nHarley R is a Melbourne based communist primarily involved in trade union solidarity\, anti-racist and LGBTQ+ activist campaigns. \nMax Lane is renowned internationally as a writer and translator of Pramoedya Ananta Toer – a leading Indonesian dissident intellectual during the military dictatorship. Max was a key leader of the international solidarity movement against the Indonesian dictatorship and helped unite socialist opponents from Indonesia and East Timor with those in Australia. His latest book is Indonesia Out of Exile: How Pramoedya’s Buru Quartet Killed a Dictatorship. He is a founding editor of red-ant.org and has been a socialist activist since 1981. He is a Fellow of the Tricontinental Institute for Social Research. See maxlaneonline.com \nNick D is an Asia Pacific solidarity activist and Indonesian language speaker currently working as a writer and translator. He has been involved in Cuba solidarity and climate justice movements in Sydney as well as campaigning to link left and socialist groups in the region. \nRjurik Davidson is a novelist\, editor and literary and film critic. His two acclaimed novels are Unwrapped Sky and the Stars Askew. He is winner of the Ditmar Award as Best New Talent and the Aurealis Award for his short fiction. \nSam King is a founding member of the Red Ant Collective and the author of the Marxist theoretical work Imperialism and the development myth: How rich countries dominate in the twenty-first century (Manchester University Press\, 2021)\, Is China Imperialist (Red Ant Publications) and other works.
URL:https://red-spark.org/event/red-ant-national-conference-2024-socialism-anti-imperialism-liberation/
LOCATION:Market Hall (Building 189)\, Melbourne University\, BUILDING 189\, Parkville VIC 3010\, Australia\, 761 Swanston St\, Parkville VIC 3052\, Melbourne\, Victoria\, Australia
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Perth:20241106T180000
DTEND;TZID=Australia/Perth:20241106T190000
DTSTAMP:20260410T182935
CREATED:20240902T012619Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241001T080400Z
UID:5515-1730916000-1730919600@red-spark.org
SUMMARY:There Will Be No Modi 3.0 in India (Perth) - Vijay Prashad Tour
DESCRIPTION:The Indian election of 2024 reveals two distinct and seemingly contradictory processes: the rise of an electorate angered by the rising inflation and the increasing social inequality\, and the entrenchment of the BJP as the embodiment of national destiny. These two contradictory processes are at play beneath the surface and are much more important than the public relations buzz around the term Modi 3.0. In fact\, there is no Modi 3.0. There are merely these\, and other\, social processes. \nIn this talk\, Vijay Prashad will assess the 2024 election in line with a sense of the political economy of India today. \nRegister (free): https://events.humanitix.com/there-will-be-no-modi-3-0-in-india-perth-vijay-prashad-australia-tour
URL:https://red-spark.org/event/modi-3-in-india-perth/
LOCATION:Herbert Smith Freehills Lecture Theatre\, Law Building (Building 465)\, Murdoch University\, Perth\, Western Australia
CATEGORIES:Vijay Prashad Tour
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Sydney:20241106T130000
DTEND;TZID=Australia/Sydney:20241106T150000
DTSTAMP:20260410T182935
CREATED:20241001T080046Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241026T081234Z
UID:6014-1730898000-1730905200@red-spark.org
SUMMARY:Palestine: Hyper-Imperialism and the Global South
DESCRIPTION:In the current phase of global politics\, two distinct trends have emerged in relation to imperialism. On one hand\, the consolidation of U.S. hegemony has fostered a deepening of Western dominance in global affairs\, with economic\, political\, and military power being concentrated in the hands of a few elite nations. This has resulted in a form of geopolitical stratification that has been described as hyper-imperialism. \nHowever\, resistance to this hyper-imperialism has also emerged in regions such as Palestine and China\, where struggles for sovereignty and autonomy have taken root. In Palestine\, this has manifested through a long-standing fight against occupation\, while in China\, it has taken the form of resistance against Western attempts to limit its rise as a global power. \nIn this talk\, Vijay Prashad considers the sense in which these two strands\, though different in context and form\, are part of a broader global challenge to hyper-imperialism. \nThis event is jointly hosted with the University of Western Australia Student Guild and the University of Western Australia Palestinian Cultural Society. \nRegister here (free): https://events.humanitix.com/palestine-hyper-imperialism-and-the-global-south
URL:https://red-spark.org/event/palestine-hyper-imperialism-and-the-global-south/
LOCATION:Boorloo (Perth) Activist Centre\, 15/5 Aberdeen St\, Perth\, 6000\, Australia
CATEGORIES:Vijay Prashad Tour
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Sydney:20241102T100000
DTEND;TZID=Australia/Sydney:20241102T180000
DTSTAMP:20260410T182935
CREATED:20240902T010810Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241031T061813Z
UID:5511-1730541600-1730570400@red-spark.org
SUMMARY:Teach-In: Socialism and Anti-Imperialism - Vijay Prashad Tour
DESCRIPTION:Vijay Prashad will host an all day public teach-in. This will be an opportunity to engage in in-person political discussion with Prashad. \nRegister (free): https://events.humanitix.com/teach-in-socialism-and-anti-imperialism-vijay-prashad-australia-tour \nThe program for the teach-in is as follows: \n  \n10:00 am – 11:40 am \nThe Crisis of Capitalist Legitimacy and the New Right \nVijay Prashad and Rjurik Davidson \nRecent events have seen the rise of new Right movements and figures from outside the traditional political establishment – Trump\, Le Pen\, Farage and the Brexiteers\, the Brothers of Italy\, Alternative for Germany\, and Bolsonaro. What lies behind their successes\, and what are the implications for socialists? \n  \n12:00 pm – 1:30 pm \nGetting Organised to Wage the “Battle of Ideas” \nVijay Prashad and Max Lane \nMuch was written by Marx and Lenin on the need for a party of professional revolutionaries guided by Marxist theory to lead a revolution in capitalist countries. While the study of the writings and praxis of these great revolutionaries will surely enrich our work\, it is also possible to think about this question using basic common sense if based upon a Marxist analysis of our current situation in Australia. We are at a low ebb in class and social struggles and the almost total absence of a revolutionary party based on a Marxist analysis of Australia in the imperialist order. At the same time there is a small but important upturn in consciousness among sections of the population related to some of the worst abuses and oppressions of the capitalist order. What does common sense tell us about what are our urgent tasks? \n  \n—Lunch Break— \n  \n2:15 pm – 3:40 pm \nGlobal Social Apartheid\, Imperialist Exploitation\, and the Imperialist Nations’ Support for Israel’s Genocide \nNandini Shah and Brendan Duncan-Shah \nThe dominant discourse in countries like Australia is that poverty is natural\, that scarcity of resources\, mass hunger\, gruelling labour and housing precarity are the normal states of humankind\, and that capitalism should be lauded for raising humanity\, for the first time in its history\, out of its debased condition. According to this line of thought\, if poor countries remain poor\, this is because they have not committed themselves to capitalist development enough. The solution it proposes is therefore simple: more capitalism\, not less. \nFlying in the face of this framework is the reality: that poor countries are not developing\, but are in fact getting poorer\, despite their increasing and unrestricted integration into the capitalist world economy. If current trends continue\, the answer to the question\, “when will the poor countries of the global south catch up to the rich countries of the global north\,” is: NEVER. \nThis talk proposes an alternative explanation for this state of affairs. It argues that the inequality between countries is actually a structural feature of the world economy\, that poor countries are integrated into global capitalism unequally and are subject to mechanisms of economic coercion\, expropriation and value transfer that keep them poor. Moreover\, it argues that this economic reality explains the political and military balance of forces on a world scale—why\, for instance\, all the rich countries of the global north\, including Australia\, line up so quickly behind Israel. \nIf\, as Lenin wrote\, it is the ‘division of nations into oppressor and oppressed which forms the essence of imperialism\,’ then\, we argue\, our age is just as imperialist as his. \n  \n4:00 pm – 5:30 pm \nAustralia in Today’s Imperialist World: Alliance with the U.S. in the Asia Pacific \nVijay Prashad Keynote address
URL:https://red-spark.org/event/red-ant-teach-in/
LOCATION:Kathleen Fitzpatrick Theatre\, Arts West (Building 148)\, University of Melbourne\, Parkville\, Melbourne\, Victoria\, Australia
CATEGORIES:Vijay Prashad Tour
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Sydney:20241101T150000
DTEND;TZID=Australia/Sydney:20241101T170000
DTSTAMP:20260410T182935
CREATED:20240902T005810Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240912T023431Z
UID:5503-1730473200-1730480400@red-spark.org
SUMMARY:National Liberation Marxism & Western Marxism - Vijay Prashad Tour
DESCRIPTION:In the aftermath of the October Revolution of 1917\, two distinct trends opened up in the world communist movement. The defeat of the German Revolution in 1918 set in motion a break between the Marxist intelligentsia and the working-class movement. This break proceeded to develop a philosophical Marxism that remained outside the ranks of the workers’ movement. This has been called Western Marxism. However\, Marxism entered the colonised parts of the world through the experience of anti-colonialism. This experience produced variants of National Liberation Marxism. \nIn this talk\, Vijay Prashad will elaborate on this form of Marxism\, and the relevance of this approach today. \nThis event is jointly hosted with the Critical Research Association Melbourne. \nRegister (free): https://events.humanitix.com/national-liberation-marxism-and-western-marxism-vijay-prashad-tour
URL:https://red-spark.org/event/national-liberation-marxism/
LOCATION:William Macmahon Ball Theatre\, Level 1\, Old Arts Building (Building 149)\, University of Melbourne\, Parkville\, Victoria
CATEGORIES:Vijay Prashad Tour
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Sydney:20241101T120000
DTEND;TZID=Australia/Sydney:20241101T133000
DTSTAMP:20260410T182935
CREATED:20240901T124938Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240912T030111Z
UID:5493-1730462400-1730467800@red-spark.org
SUMMARY:There Will Be No Modi 3.0 in India (Melbourne) - Vijay Prashad Tour
DESCRIPTION:The Indian election of 2024 reveals two distinct and seemingly contradictory processes: the rise of an electorate angered by the rising inflation and the increasing social inequality\, and the entrenchment of the BJP as the embodiment of national destiny. These two contradictory processes are at play beneath the surface and are much more important than the public relations buzz around the term Modi 3.0. In fact\, there is no Modi 3.0. There are merely these\, and other\, social processes. \nIn this talk\, Vijay Prashad will assess the 2024 election in line with a sense of the political economy of India today. \nThis event is hosted by Red Ant Collective\, the Melbourne South Asian Studies Group and the University of Melbourne Asia Institute. \nRegister (free): https://events.humanitix.com/there-will-be-no-modi-3-0-in-india-melbourne-vijay-prashad-australia-tour
URL:https://red-spark.org/event/modis-india/
LOCATION:Yasuko Hiraoka Myer Room\, Sidney Myer Asia Centre (Building 158)\, The University of Melbourne\, Parkville\, Victoria
CATEGORIES:Vijay Prashad Tour
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Sydney:20241031T180000
DTEND;TZID=Australia/Sydney:20241031T200000
DTSTAMP:20260410T182935
CREATED:20240914T111740Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241004T061712Z
UID:5759-1730397600-1730404800@red-spark.org
SUMMARY:Cuba and Imperialism: Past and Present – Vijay Prashad Tour
DESCRIPTION:Cuba has always occupied an outsized role in international affairs. An outpost of socialism in the backyard of the U.S.\, Cuba has stood as an example for revolutionary movements the world over. But for this reason Cuba has also been subject to unabated attacks from the forces of imperialism: interventions\, infiltrations\, a U.S. embargo that continues to this day—all of these have been more or less permanent fixtures of Cuban political reality. \nIn this talk\, Vijay Prashad offers some reflections on the Cuban project\, now 70 years deep\, and takes contemporary Cuba as a locus through which to analyse the dynamics of today’s imperialism. If it is true that world capitalism has entered a new stage of hyperimperialism\, then what are the consequences of this\, not only for Cuba\, but for all revolutionary movements across the Global South? \nThis is a joint event with the Australia Cuba Friendship Society and the Cuban Embassy in Australia. \nRegister (free): https://events.humanitix.com/cuba-and-imperialism-past-and-present-vijay-prashad-australia-tour
URL:https://red-spark.org/event/cuba-and-imperialism-past-and-present-vijay-prashad-tour/
LOCATION:Coombs Lecture Theatre (Building 8A)\, Australian National University\, Fellows Rd.\, Acton\, Canberra\, Australia
CATEGORIES:Vijay Prashad Tour
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Sydney:20241029T190000
DTEND;TZID=Australia/Sydney:20241029T210000
DTSTAMP:20260410T182935
CREATED:20240901T124110Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240911T082515Z
UID:5484-1730228400-1730235600@red-spark.org
SUMMARY:On Cuba: Reflections on 70 Years of Revolution and Struggle - Vijay Prashad Tour
DESCRIPTION:Vijay Prashad will be presenting on his latest book\, On Cuba: Reflections on 70 Years of Revolution and Struggle\, written with Noam Chomsky and with a foreword by Miguel Díaz-Canel and an introduction by Manolo De Los Santos. \nThis event is hosted in partnership with the Australia Cuba Friendship Society. \nRegister (free): https://events.humanitix.com/on-cuba-reflections-on-70-years-of-revolution-and-struggle-vijay-prashad-tour \nBlurb for On Cuba \n\n\n\nAn audacious revolutionary experiment in the backyard of empire\, Cuba has occupied a vexed role in the international order for decades. Though its doctors (and fighters)—and the outsized influence of its example—have traversed the globe\, from Venezuela to Angola\, its political and economic future remain uncertain as the Castro era comes to a close and the U.S. embargo proceeds unabated. \nThrough an intimate conversation between two of the country’s most astute observers of international politics\, Noam Chomsky and Vijay Prashad\, On Cuba traces Cuban history from the early days of the 1950s revolution to the present\, interrogating U.S. interventions and extracting lessons on U.S. power and influence in the Western Hemisphere along the way. Neither a jingoistic condemnation nor an uncritical celebration\, Chomsky’s heterodox approach to world affairs is on full display as he and Prashad grapple with Cuba’s unique place on the international scene. \nIn a media landscape saturated with half-truths and fake news\, Chomsky and Prashad—“our own Frantz Fanon . . . [whose] writing of protest is always tinged with the beauty of hope” (Amitava Kumar\, author of Immigrant\, Montana)—seek to shed light on the truth of a complex and perennially controversial nation\, while examining the limits of mainstream media discourse.
URL:https://red-spark.org/event/on-cuba/
LOCATION:NSW Teachers Federation Conference Auditorium\, 37 Reservoir St\, Surry Hills\, New South Wales\, Australia
CATEGORIES:Vijay Prashad Tour
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Sydney:20241029T120000
DTEND;TZID=Australia/Sydney:20241029T140000
DTSTAMP:20260410T182935
CREATED:20240902T132045Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240912T030138Z
UID:5604-1730203200-1730210400@red-spark.org
SUMMARY:On the Far Right of a Special Type – Vijay Prashad Tour
DESCRIPTION:Recent years have seen the emergence of strongmen as serious political forces in liberal democracies the world over: Narendra Modi in India\, Donald Trump in the United States\, Viktor Orbán in Hungary\, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Turkey\, Rodrigo Duterte in the Philippines\, and perhaps now Prabowo Subianto in Indonesia\, despite the latter’s attempt to project a gentler public image. These figures represent the ascendance of a new kind of right wing\, one that operates not only through elections but by exerting dominance in the arenas of culture\, society\, ideology\, and the economy. This new right is not necessarily concerned with overthrowing the norms of liberal democracy\, but in many cases with making use of them. “Fascism” is therefore an insufficient term to describe the new right wing\, for it denies what has been called by Aijaz Ahmad ‘the intimate embrace between liberalism and the far right.’ \nIn this talk\, Vijay Prashad argues that the formulation of this ‘intimate embrace’ allows us to understand that there is no necessary contradiction between liberalism and the far right\, and indeed that liberalism is not even a shield against the far right\, let alone its antidote. \nThis talk develops themes from Prashad’s recent article with the Tricontinental. \nRegister (free): https://events.humanitix.com/far-right-of-a-special-type \nThis is hybrid event. Join online: \nZoom: 863 764 5831 Passcode: 345711
URL:https://red-spark.org/event/the-far-right-of-a-special-type-vijay-prashad-tour/
LOCATION:Room 580 Level 5\, Building 10\, University of Technology Sydney\, New South Wales
CATEGORIES:Vijay Prashad Tour
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Sydney:20241029T080000
DTEND;TZID=Australia/Sydney:20241107T170000
DTSTAMP:20260410T182935
CREATED:20240902T084708Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240908T091705Z
UID:5562-1730188800-1730998800@red-spark.org
SUMMARY:Introducing the Vijay Prashad Australia Tour
DESCRIPTION:Red Ant is excited to announce that from late October 2024 Australia will be visited by historian\, journalist and Marxist thinker Vijay Prashad. \nPrashad is the author of forty books\, including Washington Bullets\, Red Star Over the Third World\, The Darker Nations: A People’s History of the Third World and The Poorer Nations: A Possible History of the Global South. His latest book\, On Cuba Reflections on 70 Years of Revolution and Struggle (published July 2024)\, was written with Noam Chomsky. Prashad is Executive Director of The Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research and Chief Correspondent for Globetrotter Media. \nBetween October 29 and November 7 Prashad will deliver public lectures\, host workshops and teach-ins\, and engage in political discussions at various venues in Sydney\, Canberra\, Melbourne and Perth. View the full calendar of Prashad’s tour here. \nMore events to be announced soon.
URL:https://red-spark.org/event/introducing-the-vijay-prashad-tour/
LOCATION:Victoria
CATEGORIES:Vijay Prashad Tour
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20240921T110000
DTEND;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20240921T120000
DTSTAMP:20260410T182935
CREATED:20240903T114808Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240908T002632Z
UID:5656-1726916400-1726920000@red-spark.org
SUMMARY:Claudia-Karina 2024: Socialist campaign for US President
DESCRIPTION:Join the discussion with Claudia De La Cruz\, Presidential candidate for the Party for Socialism and Liberation \nBoth US major parties support genocide in Palestine\, war in Ukraine and oppose the interests of US working people – paving the way for a far right\, Trump Victory. \nAs the Democrats implode\, the PSL’s Claudia-Karina 2024 campaign is gaining massive momentum. It’s putting socialism on the map as millions of working people look for an alternative to government-for-the-rich. \n  \nJoin Zoom Meeting: \nhttps://us02web.zoom.us/j/81752918901?pwd=Cs8iS1LxIsGCaWGpG5ac3T66LD99zz.1
URL:https://red-spark.org/event/claudia-karina-2024-socialist-campaign-for-us-president/
LOCATION:Online
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Sydney:20240913T130000
DTEND;TZID=Australia/Sydney:20240913T143000
DTSTAMP:20260410T182935
CREATED:20240902T120421Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240908T003046Z
UID:5585-1726232400-1726237800@red-spark.org
SUMMARY:Palestine and the Deep Links Between Academia and Imperialism
DESCRIPTION:Join us for the discussion of the University of Melbourne’s disclosure defence of its weapons ties. \nSuggested reading: “Melbourne University Palestine encampment highlights deep links between academia and imperialism\,” by Alex Morgan\, July 15th 2024.
URL:https://red-spark.org/event/palestine-and-the-deep-links-between-academia-and-imperialism/
LOCATION:Student Pavilion Room 205\, The University of Melbourne\, Victoria
CATEGORIES:Unimelb Forum
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