Ideas for Freedom 2022, a weekend of socialist debate and discussion, will take place on the weekend of Saturday-Sunday 2-3 July 2022 at Camden School for Girls, Sandall Rd, London NW5 2DB.

Weekend tickets bought before the event are £43 waged, £25 low waged and HE student and £9 non-waged/school student. Day tickets are £22 waged, £12 low-waged/student, £4 non-waged. Half day (two sessions) tickets are £11 waged, £6 low-waged/student, £2 non-waged. Online tickets (limited access) are £5. Tickets cost more if bought at the door.

**Any technical problems with payments via Paypal (some browsers run into problems) please make payment via www.workersliberty.org/payment***

Zoomlinks for online access for the weekend and for the film have been or will be sent to all ticket holders. We will send emails with links at the end of each day, as ticket sales come in. Please check your email for information about Ideas for Freedom (including junk/spam folders).

Crash accommodation. Free creche staffed by professional childcare workers (register by Friday 23 June by emailing office@workersliberty.org). Cheap food and refreshments available.

We'll be taking sensible precautions in response to the current rise in Covid infections. We'll ventilate the rooms and provide sanitiser and masks. We are asking participants to take a LFT before coming to the event and are encouraging participants to wear masks inside.

Also... on Thursday 30 June: Walking tour: 'Rebel, radical and revolutionary history of Clerkenwell'. Tickets £3 from here. Free to ticket holders for main event.

And on Friday 1 July: Socialist Film Night, showing ‘The Young Karl Marx’. Tickets £5 or free to ticket holders for main event. Tickets can be purchased here.

FINAL AGENDA

* = Sessions with online access.

Saturday 2 July

11:30-1:10

The punk rock politics of Joe Strummer: radicalism, resistance, and rebellion, with Gregor Gall: Socialist academic, writer, and activist Gregor Gall leads a discussion on the themes of his latest book, on Joe Strummer, frontman of legendary punk band The Clash.

* The legacy of George Orwell, with Dorian Lynskey: Writer and journalist Dorian Lynskey discusses the themes of his latest book, The Ministry of Truth: The Biography of George Orwell's 1984. What can the contemporary left learn from Orwell’s critique of totalitarianism and authoritarianism?

Renewing our unions, with John Moloney (Assistant General Secretary, PCS union, pc) John Leach (Regional Organiser, RMT London Transport Region, pc), and Jocelyn Cruywagen, Branch Secretary, Lambeth Unison (pc).

Other sessions: A socialist history of race and racism, with Camilla Bassi / The struggle for reproductive rights worldwide, with speakers including Martyna Jałoszyńska (Razem, Poland) and Lieta Vivaldi (Chile).

2-3:30

* Plenary: Workers' solidarity with Ukraine: Comrades from Workers’ Liberty recently visited Ukraine as part of an international labour movement and left solidarity delegation. Speakers also include from Ukrainian socialist group, Sotsialnyi Rukh (Social Movement), and Russian anti-war activists (speaking via Zoom.

3:55-5:20

The Covid-19 pandemic: what can we learn from countries' different outcomes?, with Professor George Davey-Smith. Different countries implemented a wide range of different measures to tackle the pandemic. Which worked best, and why?

The history of Ukraine, with Chris Ford and Marko Bojcun (Ukraine Solidarity Campaign). This session will introduce participants to key events in Ukrainian history, and discuss the long-running threads of its struggle for independence and self-determination, free from Russian imperialist domination.

* Defending the right to protest and strike: Creeping authoritarianism and the labour movement's response, with Sarah Woolley, BFAWU general secretary (pc), Rhian Keyse (UCU NEC), and Janine Booth (RMT Disabled Members’ Advisory Committee)

What’s happening in Sri Lanka?, with Niyanthini Kadirgamar, Feminist Collective for Economic Justice and Devaka Gunawardena. Since mid-March, Sri Lanka has been swept by huge protests and strikes against the authoritarian nationalist regime of Gotabaya Rajapaksa and its economic policies. Can the protests, reaching across ethnic and religious divides, overcome the poisonous legacy of ethno-nationalist politics in Sri Lanka? As living standards collapse, can Sri Lanka's workers push back to fend off an even more neoliberal outcome?

Introduction to revolutionary socialism: why the working class?

5:35-7

Capitalism, disability, and socialism, with Janine Booth (TUC Disabled Workers’ Committee, pc), Ellen Clifford (author of The War on Disabled People: Capitalism, Welfare, and the Making of a Human Catastrophe), and Richard Reiser (managing director, World of Inclusion). A discussion of how class society disables people, and how a classless society might do things differently.

* The legacy of James Connolly, with Paul Richards (Workers' Liberty) What can the writing, theorising, and organising of James Connolly, revolutionary trade unionist, socialist, and fighter for Irish liberation, teach us today?

Other sessions: The left in disarray on Ukraine, with Dale Street // Introduction to revolutionary socialism: what is a revolutionary party and why do we need one? // A socialist history of Israel/Palestine.

From 7:15 – Informal social at The Abbey Tavern, 124 Kentish Town Road, London NW1 9QB (10 minutes from venue)

Sunday 3 July

10-11:40am

* The Cammell Laird shipyard occupation and the fight for justice. With Eddie Marnell (Cammell Laird occupier), Alice James (Workers' Liberty), and John Cunningham (author of the Workers' Liberty pamphlet The Cammell Laird Occupation)

Couriers vs gig economy bosses, with with speakers including Just East/Stuart striker and courier Khalil Lange and IWGB activist, and Laura Wormington, IWBG organiser.

Other sessions: Introduction to revolutionary socialism: the significance of the Russian revolution // Is a united Ireland in prospect?, with Paul Richards (Workers' Liberty) // Monarchy, republicanism, and socialism, with Ron Dornsley (Workers' Liberty) //

12:40-2:10

* Should socialists back a “progressive alliance”? Workers' Liberty debates Michael Chessum, author of forthcoming book This is Only the Beginning: The Making of a New Left, From Anti-Austerity to the Fall of Corbyn. How should the left organise after the defeat of “Corbynism”? Should we back a “progressive alliance” between anti-Tory parties in elections?

Other sessions: Sheffield's early socialists, with E. M. Johns // The history of Hong Kong, with Hong Konger socialist Chen Ying // Introduction to revolutionary socialism: what is imperialism?//An introduction to the Western Sahara struggle, with a Saharawi activist.

2:30-4

* The ideas Starmer wants to ban. The Labour Party NEC recently banned Workers' Liberty, making association with us an expellable offence for Labour members. This session discusses the history of Labour leaderships’ attacks on the revolutionary left.

Renewal in the US labour movement, with Lisa Xu, Unite All Workers for Democracy (pc), and Mel Bienenfeld, retired teacher trade unionist and member of DSA and Tempest Collective (pc). With a unionisation drive sweeping across Starbucks stores in the US, and the grassroots Amazon Labor Union winning the first union recognition agreement in any Amazon workplace in the US, there are signs of a revival in the US labour movement.

Dimitriy Shostakovich and Stalinism, with John Cunningham. An examination of the life and work of Soviet composer Shoatakovich.

Other sessions: Class struggle in China, with Chinese socialist Chris // The climate movement in Australia, with Janet Burstall (Workers' Liberty Australia)

4:05-4:30 * Closing plenary