This is the third in a series of Zoom meetings. The focus of the meeting is the question how we can combine a new effort to get strategically rooted within the local working class with a process of political debate and coordination beyond our localities.
For this meeting we asked comrade Steve Wright to contribute to and join the discussion. Steve will be able to tell us about the formation of ‘local workers’ circles and inquiries’ and the constitution of political organisations, such as Potere Operaio, in Italy in the 1960s.
You might think that these experiences have gathered a rather thick layer of historical dust, but we think there are certain parallels to today: revolutionaries in the 1960s were confronted with an old labour movement and its political representation in form of the PCI and PSI which were focused on ‘political reforms’ and had lost touch with the new and often migrant working class. Comrades felt they had to start from scratch by doing two things: engaging with the new workers and their conditions in an intimate and detailed way and organising a debate about the big political questions, e.g. whether state planning after World war II was a step towards socialism. Does this sound vaguely familiar?
We will talk about history, but we will make an effort to draw parallels to today and reflect on our local experiences, e.g. on the still ongoing Pizza Hut workers support action of the Croydon Solidarity crew.
Given that Steve will join us from Australia we had to schedule the meeting fairly early:
Sunday, 3rd of May 2020, 10 am UK time
If you are interested in joining, please email us: angryworkersworld@gmail.com
