Youth School 2007 / 18 – 30 August

Programme and Reading Materials

1.     Sa 18 August Arrivals, welcome, introduction

Basic Marxism (always linked to concrete examples and actuality)

2.     Su 19 August Principles of Marxism, Marxist economy, contemporary class structure, Murray Smith

2.0  Outline

2.1  Marx and Engels, 1948. Communist Manifesto,

                                                            a.      Part 1, “Bourgeois and proletarians

                                                           b.      Part 2, “Proletarians and communists

                                                           c.      Part 4, “Position of the communists in relation to the various existing opposition parties

2.2  Marx, 1859 Preface to the “Critique of Political Economy

2.3  Engels, 1880. Socialism Utopian and Scientific, last part “Historical Materialism

2.4  Lenin, 1913. The Three Sources and Three Component Parts of Marxism

2.5  Mandel, 1977. From Class Society to Communism, chapter 5, “The Capitalist Economy”

3.     Mo 20 August Historical materialism and Permanent revolution (exemplified with Africa), Jean Nanga

3.0  Outline

Actual challenges

4.     Tu 21 August Europe, Understanding and resisting the neoliberal EU, Patrick Tamerlan

4.0  Outline

4.1  Leon Trotsky, 'The United States of Europe' (translated from Pravda, 30 June 1923)

4.2  Excerpts from François Vercammen, 'Pseudo-debates, capitalist offensive' (IVP no. 333, July 2001)

4.3  Leon Trotsky, 'On the united front' (2 March 1922):

4.4  Excerpts from 14th FI World Congress, 'The political situation in imperialist Europe' (1995) (IVP special issue, spring 1996)

4.5  Excerpt from FI 15th World Congress, 'Role and tasks of the Fourth International' (2003) (IVP no. 351/2, summer 2003)

4.6  François Vercammen, 'Europe: preparing for battle' (IVP no. 356, Feb. 2004)

4.7  FI International Committee, 'The present moment of the movement in Europe' (IVP no. 357, Mar. 2004)

5.     We 22 August Women's movement, Feminism and Islam, Eva Ferraren and Özlem Barın

5.0  Outline

5.1  1979 11th  World Congress of the Fourth International: Socialist Revolution and the Struggle for Women's Liberation

5.2  1991 13th World Congress Resolution on Women in West Europe/North: “Changing forms of the struggle for women’s liberation

5.3  1991 13th World Congress Resolution of women in Latin America: “The women’s movement and feminism in Latin America

5.4  Sitti Djalia Turabin-Hataman. 2005. “Defining Justice

5.5  Sitti Djalia Turabin-Hataman. 2005. “Finding Peace

5.6  Gilbert Achcar. 1981. “Eleven Theses on the Resurgence of Islamic Fundamentalism”.

5.7  Salma Yaqoob. 2005. “Islam and the left”.

5.8  2005. “Islam and the Left - a reply to Salma Yaqoob

5.9  Alex Cowper. 2005. “Why we should defend Secularism”.

5.10                    Tariq Ali. 2006. The Anti-Imperialist Left Confronted with Islam.

5.11                    Suggested Further Readings on Women and Islam

6.     Th 23 August Environment / climate change, Daniel Tanuro

6.0  Outline

6.1  Daniel Tanuro. 2007. “Post-Kyoto is likely to be very liberal...” http://www.europe-solidaire.org/spip.php?article5496

6.2  Daniel Tanuro. 2007. “The devil makes the saucepans, but not the lids”: Defence of the climate and anti-capitalism http://www.europe-solidaire.org/spip.php?article5442

6.3  Michael Löwy. 2007; “Ecosocialism, democracy and planificationhttp://www.europe-solidaire.org/spip.php?article4635

6.4  World Congress Text. 2003. Ecology and Socialism http://www.internationalviewpoint.org/spip.php?article178

6.5  Benny Peiser.2005. “From Genocide to Ecocide: The Rape of Rapa Nui”. Energy & Environment, Vol. 16 No. 3&4

7.     Fr 24 August Day off

8.     Sa 25 August Imperialism / globalisation (War on terror, US hegemony with examples from Middle East), Peter Drucker

8.0  Outline

8.1 V.I. Lenin, Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism (A Popular Outline) (1916) (excerpts)

8.2  Claudio Katz, ‘Economy: Imperialism in the 21st century’ (International Viewpoint no. 345, November 2002) (excerpts)

8.3  Gilbert Achcar, ‘Seven theses on the current period, the war and the anti-war movement’ (August 2004)

9.     Su 26 August Sexual liberation, Paul Mepschen

9.0  Outline

9.1  John D'Emilio, “Capitalism and gay identity”, from Ann Snitow et al. eds., Powers of Desire (1983)

9.2  Richard Goldstein, 2002, “Fighting the Gay Right”, The Nation, July http://www.thenation.com/doc/20020701/goldstein

9.3  Richard Goldstein, 2002, “Queering the pitch”  http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/5-14-2002-18464.asp

9.4  

Changing the world / Our tasks

10.                         Mo 27 August Role of the youth, Thomas Eisler

10.0                    Outline

10.1                    Excerpt from Karl Marx, Capital, Volume I, Chapter 6: The Buying and Selling of Labour Power.

11.                         Tu 28 August Strategies for taking power (Latin America), Willem Bos

11.0                    Outline

12.                        We 29 August Our Conception of the Fourth International, Penelope Duggan

12.0                    Outline

12.1                    Excerpts from Daniel Bensaïd, The Formative Years of the Fourth International (1933-1938), Amsterdam: IIRE

12.2                    Excerpt from Ernest Mandel, The Leninist Theory of Organization, London, 1972

12.3                    Excerpt from Jo Freeman, 'The tyranny of structurelessness' (Ms. Magazine, 1973)

12.4                    Excerpt from the ICS (FI Indian section) 'Code of Conduct'

12.5                    Excerpt from FI 12th World Congress, 'Dictatorship of the proletariat and socialist democracy' (IVP, 1985)

12.6                    Excerpt from FI 15th World Congress, 'Role and tasks of the Fourth International' (IVP no. 351/2, summer 2003):

12.7                     Section 1 of Statutes of the Fourth International (1974) and Preamble to Statutes of the Fourth International (2003)

12.8                     Excerpt from FI IEC, 'Building revolutionary youth organisations in the imperialist countries' (May 1982)

12.9                    Excerpts from Gabriel, 'Report on the balance sheet and problems of building our youth organisations in Europe' (March 1988)

Reference texts

12.10                FI 14th World Congress, 'Building the International today' (IVP, spring 1996)

12.11                Penny Duggan, The Feminist Challenge to Traditional Political Organizing, IIRE Working Paper, Jan. 1997

12.12                Time Chart of World Events and Revolutionary Movements

13.                         Th 30 August Evaluation, cleaning, departure