State power, transitions and eras of social revolution - a series of three lectures

What is revolutionary change and how do we make a transition to a socialist society? This series of lectures examines the Marxist idea of revolution as encompassing the passage of state power from one class to another as part of the transition from one mode of production to a higher one. Three lectures will examine the importance of the Marxist concept of the mode of production, of the idea that history is shaped by eras of social revolution in which one mode of production is replaced by a new, more sophisticated one, and the importance of state power in these revolutionary transitions.

A first lecture examining these themes in Marxist theory and history will be followed by two lectures examining particular revolutionary transitions: the one that unleashed the capitalist mode of production and a final lecture looking at the ongoing struggle to give birth to the socialist mode.

2 June: ‘The Marxist theory of revolutionary change as transitions between modes of production’, Dr Jonathan White

10 June ‘The transition from feudalism to capitalism’, Professor James Crossley

17 June ‘The transition to Socialism’, Professor Vijay Prashad