Theory and analysis

The road to revolution: the work of the Marxist Student Federation in 2016

This document is a brief outline of the ideas and tasks of the Marxist Student Federation (MSF), as discussed, amended and voted on in Marxist societies around the country and at the national conference of the MSF in February 2016. These proposals are designed to provide a skeleton for the work of the MSF over the next year. They should be supplemented by reports and resolutions from the groups that make up the Read more…

By Marxist Student, 8 yearsJanuary 6, 2016 ago

Student life under capitalism

The class struggle resonates through every fibre of modern civilisation. Education is not exempt from this. We have witnessed the devastating effects of this bourgeois government on education as a result of the capitalist crisis. From pre-2012 an undergraduate degree would cost roughly £20,000 however today that cost has soared to £38,000! With the planned changes to maintenance grants this sum will rise further to reach just shy of £50,000. The availability Read more…

By Marxist Student, 8 yearsDecember 18, 2015 ago

For a socialist housing policy

The motion below has been submitted to the London Young Labour conference in January by a group of Marxists who are young members of the Labour party in London. If you are also a London Young Labour member and would like to put your name to this motion please get in touch via contact@marxiststudent.com or through the Marxist Student Federation facebook page. London Young Labour believes that: The housing crisis is one of the most significant threats Read more…

By Marxist Student, 8 yearsDecember 14, 2015 ago

Open University staff strike

Last week, Open University staff in Cambridge took to the streets in reaction to government plans to close down several regional centres. UCU (University and College Union) members from Manchester, Cambridge, Belfast, Edinburgh and Cardiff – to name but a few of the cities that will see strike action in the coming weeks – are embroiled in a series of coordinated walkouts, aiming to send Cameron’s government a clear message that they Read more…

By Marxist Student, 8 yearsDecember 7, 2015 ago

University management get bonuses while staff face cuts

“We’re all middle class now” proclaimed John Prescott in 1997 to the agreement of a great many. Of course, this statement glossed over issues such as homelessness, low pay in an age before the minimum wage, and the shattered communities unable to rebuild after Thatcher’s savage deindustrialisation. But this statement captures the feeling of the time – it was “the end of history”, as Francis Fukuyama claimed. There was no need Read more…

By Marxist Student, 8 yearsNovember 24, 2015 ago

Brazil: students occupy schools to stop “educational reorganisation”

On November 9th at 7:00 pm, several students gathered and decided to occupy the state school of Diadema. The students of the Fernão Dias school, which is also run by the São Paulo state government, did the same the following day. In both places, the demand is one and the same: end the “educational reorganisation” process! While these words are being written, both schools are under siege by military police forces (in Read more…

By Marxist Student, 8 years ago

Tories aren’t scum. But their despicable party defends an appalling system.

This article by Jake Leigh-Howarth, a student at the University of Leeds, was published yesterday by The Tab. In it he complains that “self-styled Marxists” are out to demonize him for being a Tory. Eoin Breathnach, a Marxist student at the same university, responds to Jake’s complaints: Dear Jake, We’re sorry. We’re sorry about the shouts of ‘Tory scum’. We’re sorry about the pig masks. We’re sorry for the chants about Read more…

By Marxist Student, 8 yearsNovember 20, 2015 ago

40% of colleges at risk of closure: the crisis of capitalism continues

The Conservatives’ ‘Long Term Economic Plan’ grinds into its sixth year and the crisis of capitalism remains. With the UK Government looking to close the black hole in its finances, blown open by the 2008 crash, vital services are facing closure. Despite Cameron’s promise that the education budget would be protected, the Tories have asked the Department of Education to come up with two spending plans based upon 25% cuts and Read more…

By Marxist Student, 8 yearsNovember 18, 2015 ago

USA: #MillionStudentMarch against student debt

115 Colleges across the United States demonstrated for free education on 12 November. The demonstrations were organized over social media using #MilllionStudentMarch. Among their demands were free education, $15 minimum wage for campus workers, elimination of existing debts, as well as ending racial and other oppressions on campuses and in society. The campaign Million Student March was inspired by Bernie Sanders’s statement in an interview that if a million students marched Read more…

By Marxist Student, 8 yearsNovember 16, 2015 ago

Paris attacks: the barbarism of a sick capitalist system

Below we publish two short comments on the terrorist attacks in Paris on Friday (13 November). For a full analysis of the events see here. ——————————————— Solidarity with the people of Paris under terrorist attack in at least 7 locations with dozens of people killed and also hostages taken. The far right and reactionaries in France and elsewhere are already attempting to gain political capital out of this by blaming refugees Read more…

By Marxist Student, 8 yearsNovember 15, 2015 ago

Fight the Tory green paper: no to fees and marketisation

The Tory government has recently released it’s future plans for Universities in a ironically titled paper, ‘Fulfilling our Potential: Teaching Excellence, Social Mobility and Student Choice’. There are several key objectives which the government have their hearts set upon, number one being the introduction of higher variable fees. The Tories are not just unthinking, crazed individuals – they have clearly learnt from the 2010 student protests. Introducing nation-wide tuition fee hikes Read more…

By Marxist Student, 8 years ago

Greece: Students as a barometer of society

This September, only days after the re-election of SYRIZA in power, the schools in the country opened. The shortages the schools faced were severe right away ; extending from books, to staff, to regular cleaning and writing supplies. For example, my neighbourhood primary school had to close in September and re-open in early October. I had a discussion concerning the situation of the school with the headmaster, an independent syndicalist, who Read more…

By Marxist Student, 8 yearsNovember 13, 2015 ago

Looking for the communists?