Theory and analysis

The meritocracy myth – Oxbridge off limits to local youth

A recent report by the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission suggests that difficulties in access to higher education faced by children from poor backgrounds are just as prevalent in wealthier regions of the UK as they are in more deprived areas. The report found that no children eligible for free school meals in Cambridge and Oxford gained entrance to those universities in 2014 and 2013 respectively. Conversely, the area with the Read more…

By Marxist Student, ago

Brazilian Revolutionary Camp 2016 – new youth organisation founded: ‘Freedom and Struggle’

Between 28-31 January, at the occupied Flaskô factory in Sumaré, the second annual Revolutionary Camp took place. It was organised by the ‘Free and Accessible For All’ campaign with the aim of educating young political activists and founding a new youth organisation. On the first day, after the arrival of the delegates and the issuing of credentials, there was a guided tour of the Flaskô factory which has been occupied for more Read more…

By Marxist Student, ago

School course cuts a symptom of crisis – revolution needed

In pursuit of a budget surplus so as to continue the fragile capitalist system, the Conservative government is reducing spending by cutting education. Apart from the obvious consequences of falling standards, witnessed in my own school (St Thomas Moore Academy in Newcastle) with the worst set of A-level results since 2005, and a mass exodus of teachers there are also unforeseen consequences. One of these has been the huge financial strain upon the exam boards which provide GCSE Read more…

By Marxist Student, ago

Casualisation killing higher education – Capitalism to blame!

“I have to sublet my apartment during the summer and live with my mother – at 43. I have put off having a family…The situation is obscene.” These are not words overheard on the dole queue, nor the hardships of a minimum-wage check-out attendant. This is the situation of a lecturer and researcher with two decades of experience in her field: the kind of person whom, at a time of capitalist upswing, Read more…

By Marxist Student, ago

Conference 2016: What would a socialist foreign policy look like?

At the MSF conference 2016 one of the sessions will be a discussion on the question of socialist foreign policy. With Corbyn as leader of the Labour party there has been renewed focus on the correct approach to intervention in the Middle East. Scandalously a wing of the parliamentary party voted in favour of bombing Syria, against the wishes of their party conference and their constituents. Another foreign policy issue that will Read more…

By Marxist Student, ago

Public education, capitalism, and the socialist alternative

The quality and quantity of education available to the public has always been a general measure of social progress. The greater the wealth of knowledge available to its citizens, the more civilised is their society and the higher its level of culture and the quality of existence it provides. Capitalism has always prided itself on making the intellectual riches of all humanity socially available through the development of the means of production Read more…

By Marxist Student, ago

Fighting for the NHS: resolution for the BMA Medical Students conference

The resolution below was submitted by a medical student and socialist society member at the University of East Anglia for discussion at the BMA Medical Students conference in April. Its content is particularly timely given the ongoing struggle of junior doctors and the recent cuts to grants faced by student nurses. If you would like to add you name to this resolution in support of it please email contact@marxiststudent.com ——————————————————– That this Conference condemns Read more…

By Marxist Student, ago

Campus ‘censorship’ and liberation struggles – a Marxist perspective

As reported in The Independent, the right-libertarian magazine spiked has recently produced a so-called Free Speech University Ranking, which demonstrates that 90% of university student unions are involved in the restriction of freedoms of expression and speech. The activities of many political students in attempting to create ‘safe spaces’, to campaign against hate groups, and to eliminate harmful practices from the university environment are routinely noted in the mainstream press, almost always with a mixture of Read more…

By Marxist Student, ago

Maintenance Grant Cuts: For a Socialist Higher Education System

Last week saw a significant drop in temperature across Britain, and a high of only 5 degrees in London made Thursday 14th January the chilliest day of 2016 so far, a seemingly natural event for the winter period. Yet the cynics amongst us couldn’t be berated for wondering if the warmth was sapped from the air by the coldness inside one particular room in Westminster. Behind closed doors, just 18 MPs took Read more…

By Marxist Student, ago

The Road to Revolution: Marxist Student Federation conference 2016

The national conference of the Marxist Student Federation conference will take place this year on Saturday 13 February 2016 in London at SOAS. (Facebook event here) This year’s conference is meeting at a time when the world seems on the edge of a new economic slump. Diplomatic, political, and military crises are frequently sending shockwaves across the globe. In Britain the EU referendum is opening up divisions in the Tory party, while Corbyn’s Read more…

By Marxist Student, ago

What would a socialist foreign policy look like?

As Labour Students and Young Labour prepare for conferences in February, at which policy will be decided and elections held (including for the position of International Officer), it is a good time to consider what kind of policies a Corbyn-led Labour party should be putting forward. For the first time in a long time, thanks to Corbyn, people are talking seriously about what socialist policies might look like. With the ongoing bombing of Read more…

By Marxist Student, ago

Tories vs student nurses: we must fight for the NHS

  After a petition against the Tories’ plans to cut bursaries for student nurses and force them to pay high tuition fees reached 100,000 signatures in just two days, MPs will be debating the issue in Parliament on Monday 11 January. If the measures are implemented it will mean debts of over £50,000 with which future nurses will enter the workplace, and while they are studying and doing work placements they will Read more…

By Marxist Student, ago

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