The Workers Solidarity Movement are holding a conference in Dublin on Saturday December 3rd 1994 to look at the lessons of our involvement in struggle over the last ten years. We are asking people who we feel have a commitment to fighting for change to join us in exploring ideas on how to move forwards. Part of the purpose is of course to try and interest people in anarchism and the WSM. But we also want a genuine exchange of ideas, something we also hope to gain out of.
11:30
Introduction: Our experience of the last
decade
A brief introductory talk about our
involvement in struggle & some of the
mistakes we have made that will
hopefully draw out some lessons for the
future.
12:00.
The left: what went wrong?
The effects of the collapse of the left
are visible all around us. But why did
that collapse occur, was it merely due
to a set of bad decisions (& characters)
or are their deeper flaws in the basic
ideas and operation of the left.
1:00
Lunch break
2:00.
D.A.I.C. & T.U.F., Revolutionary
politics and 'single' issues.
In recent years we have been involved in
two areas that showed limited success,
but although they came to involve large
numbers of people they then dropped
back. Is this an inevitable feature of
such single-issue campaigns. We
obviously believe in the need for a
revolutionary organisation, but what is
the role of such an organisation in
campaigns. Is it worthwhile for
activists to be involved in a small
revolutionary group.
3:00
Video: Revolution and counter revolution
in the Spanish Civil War
Many people see no alternative to
capitalism, or after the USSR see the
cure as being worse than the disease.
We take a break here to remind ourselves
of a time when workers demonstrated
briefly an alternative to capitalism,
not just in terms of economics but also
in the structure of decision making.
4:00
How do we go forward from here
We have spent a lot of time developing
the general ideas and methods of
anarchism to todays situations. This
has been done not just from theoretical
examination but also from our experience
of applying anarchists idea and strategy
to campaigns we have been involved with.
From this we have the start of an idea
of how the left should be re-
constructed. Here we want your opinions
of the conclusions we have come to.
Andrew Flood
anflood@macollamh.ucd.ie
Phone: 706(2389)