Following on from the successful meetings of the ULU Marxist
society at the beginning of this year, this term members were eager to take the
ideas of Marxism to universities beyond the centre of London. Last week this
began at Queen Mary’s University in East London. Over the course of the
Fresher’s Fair members of the Marxist Society manned a stall on campus,
attracting 54 students to sign up to be members. 16 copies of the Socialist
Appeal were sold, plus many books, DVD’s and pamphlets. For the first time this
term the Marxist Society was giving away free CD recordings of some of the
meetings we have had, as part of membership. Topics included ‘What is
Capitalism? What is Socialism?’, ‘Marxism and the Black Struggle’, ‘Terrorism
and Communism’ and ‘Marxism and Art’.
Over the 2 days it was clear to see that the impact of the
credit crunch and the news of the collapse of major investment banks in the US
has had an effect on young people. Capitalism stands discredited in the eyes of
many, especially among the youth who are looking for an answer and an
alternative. As always people were keen to hear more about what is going on in
Venezuela, which offers a positive alternative to the disasters in the Middle
East and the chaos in the city of London. We leafleted for the upcoming launch
of Alan Woods’ new book ‘Reformism and Revolution’, which is addressed to the
workers of Venezuela, and for our own meeting this Thursday – ‘1929 World Crash
– Can it happen again?’ Where Socialist
Appeal editor Mick Brooks will speak on the current financial crisis at the
first Marxist Society meeting of the new term.
On Monday night the Marxist Society at Queen Mary’s had its
first informal get together to discuss how we can go about building and
developing the society over the autumn. The aim now is to register as an
official society as soon as we can, and hold an official meeting on campus.
This should be easily achievable and lay the basis for spreading the ideas of
genuine Marxism within the student movement.
Contact the Marxist Society at Queen Mary’s:
Nadia Mirza, email: fa07082@qmul.ac.uk, Tel: 07886258318
