June 28-29, Cardiff

Day 1 - Saturday June 28

Session 1 : : 11am - 1.30pm
The New American Century and its opponents
Tina Becker looks at the politics of the new American imperialism, reactionary anti-imperialism and the anti-war movement. Was it ever in the position to stop the war? What role can a united left across Europe play in this context?

Session 2 : : 2.30pm - 5pm
Lessons of the Scottish Socialist Party & the failures of the Socialist Alliance
The recent electoral success of the SSP is there for everyone to see. But what about the SA both in England and Wales? Should we fight to transform it into a democratic and effective party - or is its current manifestationas a loose electoral alliance good enough?

Session 3 : : 5.30pm - 7pm
The myth of the Celts
Scottish and Welsh nationalists find historic justification in the idea of the Celtic peoples as the dispossessed inhabitants of Britain. Is this fact or fiction? Do the Celts survive in Scotland, Wales and Ireland or was the idea of a Celtic Britain an 18th century invention?

Day 2 - Sunday June 29

Session 4 : : 11am - 1.30pm
When was Wales a nation?
Wales is often said to be an ancient nation. Plaid Cymru says it is an oppressed nation. Wales is undoubtably a geographical expression. But its people have been traditionally divided. Between north and south, between Welsh-speakers and English-speakers, between protestants and catholics, between rich and poor. Bob Paul leads the discussion.

Session 5 : : 2.30pm - 5pm
Society of the future
Karl Marx did not leave us a ready-made blueprint for a post-revolutionary world. While we cannot plan every detail of a future society, we can, however, make provisions on how to get there - and thereby influence the future. Mark Fischer looks at the debates around ‘dictatorship of the proletariat’, the question of the ‘withering away’ of the state and the role of communists to achieve this.

weekend: £20/£10

one day: £10/£5        

one session: £5/£2

Clwb Ivor Bach, Womanby Street, Cardiff (five minutes walk from Cardiff Central rail station).