Weekly Worker 686 Thursday August 30 2007 Subscribe to the Weekly Worker

Reflections on CU 2007

While being extremely useful, in some instances they were redundant, as the sessions held throughout the day were environments where anyone of any educational background could voice their opinion and ask their questions. Never did I feel too intimidated (well, maybe in the openings on political economy) to raise my hand and ask a question or suggest a point of view.

One other thing that spoke volumes to me was the generosity of the comrades of the Communist Party of Great Britain, without whom the event would never have gone ahead, leaving me (and I’m sure many others) that bit less informed.

Elizabeth Clements
student

No hassle

I got something out of every session, but most memorable for me were the following four. I was really struck by Hillel Ticktin’s warning that applying the Marxist method to analysing a subject requires careful research, not lazy, short-cut pronouncements. Jack Conrad’s session on the god delusion has taught me to be more tolerant of people who follow a faith unquestioningly. Sandy McBurney presenting ‘The left in Scotland after the split’ was a refreshingly honest ‘warts and all’ address and warning of some of the left’s softness about the danger of a rise in Scottish nationalism. Moshé Machover on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict caused much discussion and re-examination of the CPGB’s stance regarding a two-state solution.

Some criticisms if you want! Being a civil servant and union member for over 30 years and an activist for over 20, I was staggered to see not one session on anything to do with trade unionism - that debate was had by me in the pub afterwards! It is also disconcerting to see that sessions do not end up with any consensus, which might be taking free expression a little too far. Do we have a definite analysis of an event of do we accept infinite interpretations?

It was nice to see in person a number of regular contributors to the Weekly Worker - all of whom were approachable to talk to. No hassle or pressure to join the CPGB, though, but the door open if you wish.

A recommended event, with all allowed to speak if they wished in any of the sessions.

Dave Vincent
PCS militant

Encouraging: questioning

Eye-opener

Coming to Communist University after the Socialist Workers Party’s Marxism event is an eye-opener - from the immaculate stage-management of everything, on the one hand, to actual debates, on the other (with the CPGB majority often coming out a little bruised for it); from a deferential reliance on ‘celebrity’ guests to the open encouragement of ideological combat.

The ‘introduction’ sessions were a nice touch - the downside of taking everybody’s contributions seriously is an occasional feeling for newer comrades of being ‘in at the deep end’, and post-mortems on heavy sessions were a very good idea. The AWL’s ‘cornflake’ stunt will live long in the memory, too.

I share the criticism that there was no session on trade union struggles: at a time when the posties are intermittently on strike, a serious study on the relationship between the unions and the Marxists would have been very useful.

James Turley
student

Democratic forum

I wish to thank you for your hospitality at CU. It was much appreciated. It was overall a valuable experience and many of the sessions comrades from the Irish Socialist Network attended certainly gave us some food for thought.

CU provides a genuinely democratic forum for the exchange of ideas amongst progressive activists on the left and that fact alone is a strong recommendation. I wish CU every success in the future and hope that I can attend again.

John O’Neill
Irish Socialist Network

Music of revolution

Plenty of debate and discussion

I go to many protests and meetings planning protests in the US. But Communist University was not about protesting: it was about more fundamental things which revolutionary communists sometimes forget - ie, building the revolutionary party and the necessity that the working class take power.

We tend to forget the basics, but revolutionists are like musicians: we have to practise the scales and integrate the music of revolution into our daily work.

Earl Gilman
US communist

Opportunity

Before coming to CU I had started to do a lot of reading and internet research to educate myself, as, while sympathetic

to communism, I felt that I did not really understand the theory and its applicability to the present political situation to the level of complete confidence. This has been a solitary pursuit so far and I welcomed an opportunity to engage with comrades at CU 2007 to further my understanding of Marxist politics and the CPGB.

This was the first time I’ve attended a CPGB event and I found the week-long programme was well organised and very stimulating. I was impressed by the discussions and the friendliness of all I talked with. I also found the introductory lunchtime sessions a useful chance to ask questions and clarify ideas.

I’d like to thank everyone involved in making CU 2007 such a great week.

Li Ali
student

Conversion

Fresh-faced and idealistic, my friend and I took time out from being exploited by capitalism to be educated (and inducted?) into ‘communism’. Ripe for the picking yet poorly-read in Marxist texts, we thought CU 2007 would be an ideal opportunity to learn more about a system that claims it would relieve humanity worldwide.

Relaxing

We were half right: there was certainly a wealth of knowledge to be had, but much of it was beyond our immediate understanding. Leaping into tertiary education without having commenced primary was interesting, but perhaps not the wisest move.

My personal highlights were the lectures by Chris Knight - engaging and inspiring, they educated us on the breadth of humanity, from DNA-forming to the future of communism. My pleasure in these was almost parallel to that other essential aspect of CU: ‘merry’ evenings at the Brockley Barge. Every evening we were able to engage in the “debate and controversy” promised in the publicity - not in a staid hall with a queue to respond, but vibrant and immediate interaction (and alcohol). I found myself respecting many comrades for their obvious dedication to the cause, even if I disagreed with their principles.

It certainly motivated me to learn more - if only to argue against their points. There were clashes of opinion, and heated arguments, but it was refreshing that all comrades respected each other enough for these beliefs to continue side by side. It seems regrettable that the left has allowed these differences to instigate fragmentation; that the concept of communism is a laughable proposition for the proletariat, instead of their fighting hope.

Though the CPGB won’t be receiving my membership application for a good while, CU confirmed my conversion to the communist cause.

Jo Turner
student

Internal differences

I attended Communist University for the first time and I learned a lot during the week. The openings and the contributions in most of the sessions were of a high standard and it was refreshing to see a political organisation willing to discuss its internal differences in a public forum.

My main criticism is about the last session - 90 years after the October revolution. You had invited too many contributors, reducing the time of each to unacceptably short interventions. Also, given your involvement in Hands Off the People of Iran, I would have preferred discussing issues regarding strategy and revolutionary programme in Iran rather than troops out or the inability of the islamic regime to reform.

Maryam
Workers Left Unity Iran

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