Vladimir Lenin speaking in Moscow,
On the 100th anniversary of the October Revolution Counterfire is hosting an event to celebrate the defining political moment of the twentieth century
Mainstream misrepresentation of the Russian Revolution and the subsequent Stalinist era has obscured the true nature of socialism for far too long.
But the seismic shifts in our own political foundations over the past two years provide a real opportunity to challenge this false narrative in the public mind, with greater understanding of the real history.
Far from being the destructive event of establishment lore, October 1917 saw the Bolsheviks seize control and issue Decrees on the abolition of private property, an immediate withdrawal of Russia from WWI, an eight-hour working day, and a minimum wage. Not to mention abolishing the ‘bourgeois’ press – and who wouldn’t want that?
So come and find out how the real lessons of our history can form a bedrock for the robust, sustainable social progress we all want to see, and let’s start getting the real story out there.
Sessions
The Russian Revolution: when workers took control
Neoliberalism, socialism, and the left today
Speakers
Danielle Obono, la France Insoumise member of the French National Assembly for Paris; John Rees, writer, broadcaster, activist, and one of the organisers of the People’s Assembly Against Austerity; Stathis Kouvelakis, former member of the central committee of Syriza now teaching political theory at King’s College London; Judy Cox, lifelong socialist writer and speaker and former member of the editorial board of International Socialism; and campaigner and author Alan Gibbons.
‘At those crucial moments when the old order becomes no longer endurable to the masses, they break over the barriers excluding them from the political arena, sweep aside their traditional representatives, and create by their own interference the initial groundwork for a new régime.’
Leon Trotsky
Let’s get it right next time.
Storming the Heavens: The Russian Revolution 100 years on is hosted by Counterfire and takes place on Saturday 28th October 2017, from 2pm to 6pm, at the Lumen Cafe, 88 Tavistock Place, London, WC1H 9RS.
