The IMT World School that was held in
Italy between 31 July and 5 August was a tremendous success. About 225
comrades from many different countries and continents travelled to the
Italian seaside resort of Marina de Massa in order to attend a week of
intense but enjoyable and educational meetings.
The IMT World School that was held in
Italy between 31 July and 5 August was a tremendous success. About 225
comrades from many different countries and continents travelled to the
Italian seaside resort of Marina de Massa in order to attend a week of
intense but enjoyable and educational meetings.
There
were comrades present from Britain, France, Belgium, Spain, Holland,
Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Poland, Estonia,
Russia, Greece, Iran, Syria, Pakistan, USA, Canada, Mexico, El Salvador,
Venezuela, Argentina, Brazil and Bolivia. There were apologies from a
number of countries who were unable to attend either for financial or
visa problems (Serbia, Morocco, Nigeria etc.). However, a link was
established to the Nigerian comrades through Skype, which enabled them
to follow at least the main sessions as they were taking place.
overwhelming majority were young comrades, reflecting a significant
influx of new members in several sections of the IMT over the past year.
This
year the central theme was Revolution. The School was taking place
under the shadow of awesome historical events: first the great Arab
Revolution, which is unfolding in one country after another, then the
colossal upheavals in Spain, Greece and other countries.
aim of the School was to put these earth-shaking events in their
historical context, to analyse the experience of past revolutions, and
to try to apply the lessons of the past to shed light on the present and
anticipate the future.
Day one of the School got off to a good
start with a very lively discussion on the general world situation,
which was introduced by comrade Alan Woods. This was a very wide-ranging
discussion, covering the world economic crisis, the Arab Revolution,
perspectives for the Venezuelan Revolution, and above all the
revolutionary developments taking place in Europe. We then broke up into
smaller commissions to discuss different subjects.
day 2 (Aug 1) there were two commissions in the morning: one on the
revolutionary events in Pakistan 1968-9 led off by Lal Khan, and another
on the English Revolution 1640-60 (Rob Sewell). These were followed in
the afternoon by the French Revolution 1789-93 (Greg Oxley), and the
American Revolution 1774-6 (John Peterson). In the evening an
extraordinary session on Greece was organised, where the Greek comrades
related their experience of intervening actively in a revolutionary
situation.
day 3 (Aug 2), the morning sessions were on the Paris Commune 1871
(Hubert Prevaud) and the German Revolution 1918-23 (Rob Sewell). In the
afternoon there was a plenary session on the Russian Revolution,
introduced by Alan Woods.
On the morning of day 4 there were
sessions on the Chinese Revolution 1925-7 and 1949 (Fred Weston) and the
Spanish Revolution 1931-37 (Jorge Martín). This was followed by the
traditional free afternoon, when comrades had an opportunity to do some
tourism in the beautiful Tuscan area, or just lie on the beach and relax
in the sun. Given the extremely intensive nature of the School, this
was a necessary break, allowing the comrades to return refreshed to the
serious business of Revolution.
day 5 the morning sessions were divided between one on soviets,
councils and workers’ power (Erik Demesteer) and the Cuban Revolution
(Jorge Martín). In the afternoon we had Nasserism and Arab nationalism
(Francesco Merli) and France 1968 (Jerome Metellus).
The final
day, Friday Aug 5, began with two morning commissions: on the Iranian
Revolution 1979 (Hamid Alizadeh) and the Arab revolution (Erik
Demesteer), and ended in the afternoon with plenary session dedicated to
a general report on the work of the International Marxist Tendency
given by Fred Weston.
2011 World School was wound up by an inspiring speech by comrade Alan
Woods, after which all those present rose to their feet in a truly
rousing rendition of The Internationale.
The mood throughout the
School was enthusiastic both inside and outside the sessions. In
addition to the commissions and plenary sessions there were numerous
discussions and small commissions in which comrades from different
countries could exchange experiences and learn from each other.
At
the end of the School, there was a very lively social, when comrades
from every section sang revolutionary songs. The mood of enthusiasm was
shown in the magnificent collection, which raised over 30,000 euros for
the building of the International Marxist Tendency.
London, 2nd September, 2011.
