It's been a couple of weeks since my last post. Have been busy sorting out some life stuff, manic university business, and have started work with the Workers Party. Anyways, I'm back now with some more posts.
Top: Me on my way to Marxism 2025. Bottom: the festival.
Yesterday, I paid a visit to London to attend the Marxism 2025 festival. Set in a Shoreditch studio featuring a pop-up socialist bookshop and talks by a variety of prominent and well-renowned speakers including Jeremy Corbyn, Yanis Varoufakis, and Rima Hassan, the current and ever-changing influence of socialist ideas on society globally, as well as the vast array of forms they exist in in day to day life could be brought to life and celebrated. From technological feudalism and capitalism within AI, to the legacy of global imperial influence on the cultural and economic factors influencing revolutionary ideals within Iran and Palestine, the extent to which we live in a capitalist society, as well as the importance of us as individuals on a community level, be that through membership to trades unions, publicly protesting, or changing consumer habits in acting on these issues.
The opening talk by Anne Alexander regarding the UK and the US's colonial influence on the Middle East and the competition economically between these Middle Eastern nations, and the exploitative and capitalist, technologically driven Israel, provided an interesting and analytical take on the matter, as well as allowing for questions as to what developed such a revolutionary culture and the extent to which the need to resist imperialism and Western influences assisted this. This was then followed by several trade union activists from Unite presenting on the importance of unions, the working and student populations, and grassroots projects aimed at improving the socioeconomic situation and promoting the welfare of the people. A very successful midday rally, featuring Jeremy Corbyn, was followed by much applause, as was Rima Hassan, who had arrived from France to speak of European support for Palestine and the flaws and lack of transparency within the EU in responding to the conflicts taking place within the Middle East. Yanis Varoufakis (who joined virtually from Greece) in his reflection on the link between technological development and feudal capitalism, and the relative influence of AI on capitalist societies, proved to present the contexts by which the principles devised by Marx can remain ever important in today's society, and provides contexts to which these principles would not have occurred to many to have applied.
Events like this prove to be important in further celebrating our individuality and significance within the closely knit and highly diverse Marxist community, as well as in society as a whole. The considerable diversity of ages, cultures, and demographics that attended this festival was also pleasing to see, and it appeared to present a warm and positive atmosphere, reflecting the left-wing community within the UK. I also enjoyed seeing the many Palestinian keffiyehs of various colours and designs (I was wearing a pink and black one that day) that the attendees were wearing, as well as being impressed by the vast array of books on ideology and global politics, and on international development within the global south (very much my field of interest and helpful for my studies). I bought a few of these.
I would highly recommend this festival to all socialists, whether new to or highly knowledgeable about the principles of Marxism, and I will certainly be returning next year.
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