16.08.2019

A week of heightened brain activity

Communist university 2019

Communist University is the annual summer school of the Communist Party of Great Britain and is jointly sponsored by Labour Party Marxists. This year’s event will take place from August 17-24 at Goldsmiths University, Loring Hall, St James’s, London SE14 6NW. Just follow the signs to Communist University 2019.

CU is different from the run-of-the-mill schools put on by other left groups, in that plenty of time is allocated to contributions from the floor. Controversial debate is positively welcomed and, needless to say, there are no one-minute time limits. Moreover, critical thinking is encouraged, as can be seen by our impressive list of speakers.

These include Moshé Machover, a co-founder of the Israeli socialist organisation, Matzpen, and Tony Greenstein - like comrade Machover a Jewish anti-Zionist. Their debate on the existence or otherwise of a Hebrew nation promises to be very interesting.

Then there are Hillel Ticktin, who has edited the Critique journal for 35 years, and author and anthropologist Chris Knight, who has developed a ground-breaking theory relating to the origins of human culture. Like Marxist economist Michael Roberts, they have been regulars at CU over the years.

Graham Bash of the Labour RA week of heightened brain activityepresentation Committee will be focussing on the fight to transform Labour, while Lawrence Parker will be looking at Labour’s historical relation to Marxism.

We have three first-time speakers in the shape of Ian Wright, US author on ‘social architecture’, Pauline Hadaway, a founder of the Liverpool Salon forum for leftwing debate, and Ed Griffiths, an author on conspiracy theories. Finally there are prominent members of the CPGB and LPM - all playing their part in what ought to be a fascinating week of debate.

At the same time, the collective aspect of CU is very important to us: everybody helps out with preparing food and organising the event. And in the evenings, we chill out together, often carrying on discussing some of the things we learned during the day. It is, without a doubt, the highlight of our political year. Be part of it!

For a flavour of last year’s event, check out the videos on the CPGB website: www.cpgb.org.uk.

David Shearer

Please note the meeting room has limited capacity , please email us if you intend to come for one session or one day 

Full week, including accommodation in en suite single rooms - £250 (£150 unwaged). Solidarity price: £300.

First/final weekend, including one night’s accommodation: £60 (£30).

Day: £10 (£5). Single session: £5 (£3). Reservation: £30.

PayPal: Go to the CPGB website: www.cpgb.org.uk.

Nearest stations:
New Cross and New Cross Gate