Theory and analysis

Macron: Jupiter-like president or fumbling Eurocrat?

“The election of France’s youngest-ever president at 39 years of age, by an overwhelming majority, marked a new chapter in France’s history.” The words of Stephane Legrand’s article for a Warwick University publication (the Boar) are an enthusiastic voice for the liberal leader Emmanuel Macron; a voice that is poorly echoed within the French population. Legrand quotes a number of Macron enthusiasts from his British university, but for the rest of French Read more…

By Marxist Student, ago

Conservatives in Cambridge celebrate white supremacism

In a remarkably honest admission on part of the Conservatives, they revealed their deep-rooted racism with the Cambridge University Conservative Association (CUCA) hosting the white supremacist, Denis Walker on 25 April. Walker was Minister for Education in Ian Smith’s white minority government in what was then Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), a role in which he propagated a racially segregated education system not dissimilar to the Bantustan system in South Africa. This system was Read more…

By Marxist Student, ago

Can Tories fight for LGBT liberation? A reply to right-wing attacks at Warwick

A recent article on the Warwick Tab has attacked the newly elected left-wing presidents of Warwick Labour, Fraser Amos, and Warwick Pride, Ky Andrea, over tweets about LGBT Tories. The “offending” tweets by the President of Warwick Pride say, “Tory Gays F*** off,” and “Tory Gays go home”, whilst Fraser retweeted a comment claiming you cannot be both gay and right-wing. These attacks are, beyond a shadow of a doubt, a politically Read more…

By Marxist Student, ago

Queen Mary Occupation Report

On Tuesday 10th April 2018 the Queen Mary student occupation came to a close. For the past 30 days, 20-30 students at Queen Mary, in solidarity with the UCU lecturers’ strikes and against student bursary cuts, occupied the Octagon; a grade II listed space often referred to as “the heart” of the university.

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By Marxist Student, ago

“Corbynism without Corbyn” – for whose benefit?

Every crisis in life makes some and breaks others. So it is with the smears of the bourgeois establishment on Jeremy Corbyn and the movement behind him. These pressures too are breaking some whilst steeling others. Take, for example, Joe Smallman’s recent article for politics.co.uk. In his piece, the author asks us to consider the “unthinkable” prospect of “Corbynism without Corbyn”. At first, the suggestion sounds fairly harmless, as the author recognises Read more…

By Marxist Student, ago

Marx in a Day – #Marx200

This year marks a special anniversary. It is 200 years since the birth of Karl Marx, widely considered the greatest mind of the last millennium. 5th May is Karl Marx’s 200th birthday. Join the Marxist Student Federation and Socialist Appeal on this day for a special celebratory event – to discuss Marx’s revolutionary ideas and fight for socialism today. Together with Frederick Engels, Marx established the theory of scientific socialism. In this Read more…

By Marxist Student, ago

Capitalism is literally taking food out of children’s mouths

Headteachers speaking at the National Education Union’s conference this month in Brighton highlighted an increase in the number of young pupils experiencing dire conditions of poverty in England and Wales. Despite the Department of Education’s claim that the Tories have put into place a “social mobility action plan”, which “targets areas that need the most support,” teachers from around the country described in shocking detail the “grey skin”, “poor teeth” and “poor Read more…

By Marxist Student, ago

Strikes don’t victimise students! UUK and capitalism do!

University staff in the UK faced changes to their pension scheme that an independent study confirmed would result in losses of over £200,000 in retirement. Obviously, staff chose to fight this injustice. After two weeks of industrial action, UCU and the employer Universities UK (UUK) offered to create a ‘Joint Expert Panel’ to negotiate a pension deal by next year. The offer has been accepted for now, and is an attempt to Read more…

By Marxist Student, ago

Strikes, occupations and the role of Marxists – lessons of the UCU dispute

  The strike action taken by the University and College Union (UCU) in February and March 2018 was the most militant in the union’s history. The strike could have been used as the basis for a public sector wide general strike, which in turn could have been used by the leaders of the Labour Party to bring down the government and put Corbyn and McDonnell into Downing Street. A Corbyn government, to Read more…

By Marxist Student, ago

NUS conference 2018: what have we learned and what’s next?

The NUS conference has now closed for another year. This time it met during the most militant industrial action on university campuses in years, and while strike action is also taking place in FE colleges around the country. The conference should have been a war council to discuss how the NUS could mobilise students to develop this struggle of our staff into a broader struggle involving all layers of the working class, Read more…

By Marxist Student, ago

NUS conference 2018: how do we tackle the mental health crisis?

Mental health has become a buzzword of student politics. “We need to solve the mental health crisis” never fails to receive a round applause. The impression you would take from the NUS conference is that everyone is deeply concerned with the mental health crisis. Even the current right-wing NUS leadership were able to highlight that our current mental health services are under-funded and under-staffed. This is all true. Some delegates made the Read more…

By Marxist Student, ago

NUS conference 2018: how can we fight for free education?

With 7 million students behind it, the National Union of Students (NUS) potentially has enormous power to fight for fundamental change in society. But unfortunately, at the moment, it defines itself simply as “the national voice of students helping them to campaign, get cheap student discounts and provide advice on living student life to the full”. The NUS has the power to carry out bold policies that go way beyond battling for Read more…

By Marxist Student, ago

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