WeeklyWorker

20.03.2025
Auguste Rodin ‘The thinker’ (1904)

Bigger and better

Tina Becker looks forward to comradely debate and discussion, not least around the communist fusion process. Book now

Communist University has been the highlight of our political year for many decades. This is where friends, supporters and sometimes opponents of the CPGB gather to engage in a week of discussion and debate. Especially in the age of Zoom meetings, it can be hugely invigorating to meet with comrades that you usually only see through a small computer screen.

CU is very different from the run-of-the-mill schools put on by other left groups, in that plenty of time is allocated to contributions from the floor. Controversial debate is positively welcomed and, needless to say, there are no three-minute time limits. Moreover, critical thinking is encouraged, as can be seen by our impressive list of speakers at every CU.

No doubt, this will again be the case this year, though we are admittedly somewhat behind in putting together the schedule of talks and sessions. There is, however, a very good reason for the delay. This year, the event will be jointly organised by the CPGB, Talking about Socialism and the online journal, Prometheus - ie, the three organisations involved in the communist fusion process, Forging Communist Unity. We want to make sure that the event will become the property of all three organisations and are therefore keen to hear comrades’ thoughts on the format and the speakers before firming up the timetable.

Weekly Worker readers can, however, book their place now - see below - and many comrades have already done so. In fact, we already have twice as many bookings for the full week compared with last year - and that with four months to go! It is great news, for example, that comrades from the Communist Platform in the (newly renamed) Revolutionair Socialistische Partij in the Netherlands will be coming - “at least 10 of us will travel to London,” we are told. Excellent! We are also expecting comrades from Ireland and hoping to host again supporters of the US-based Marxist Unity Group, comrades from Germany and elsewhere. While we oppose setting up oil slick internationals (as many Trotskyist groups do), we understand the importance of real internationalism - the global system of capitalism can only be overturned by the conscious action of the international working class.

We might still be at the discussion stage, but major themes this year will no doubt be ‘Communist unity’ and (related to that) ‘How to build a Communist Party’. The era of Trump, the changes in global economic politics, the nature of China, the Ukraine war and the situation in Israel/Palestine and the climate catastrophe are of major importance too, of course, and will certainly be part of the discussion.

While there have been recent positive innovations with the addition of shorter CUs on Zoom in spring and winter (usually over a long weekend), the format of our main, summer, Communist University has in recent years become a little stale, in my opinion, and in some respects has even gone backwards compared to events in the past.

There are some reasons for this that are out of our control: for instance, the huge problem of finding a venue that will not threaten to cancel us at the last minute - one of the major problems arising from the largely self-inflicted defeat of the Corbyn movement and the failure to stand up to the smear campaign against the pro-Palestine solidarity movement. Many groups who have taken a principled stand on the issue have been labelled ‘anti-Semitic’ and continue to have their events cancelled by venues (the aspect of ‘cancel culture’ that does not appear much in the bourgeois press).

For us this means we have been unable in the last few years to (re-)book venues with big kitchens and communal spaces that allowed us to prepare meals together and socialise in the evenings. This was often where comrades really got to know each other, where disagreements could be cleared up and where, sometimes, lifelong friendships were formed. Having at the end of our annual fundraising drive the ‘Summer Offensive meal’ (which mostly isn’t offensive at all!) to celebrate in a restaurant is an entirely different experience to organising it in our own venue, where comrades can sing, play the guitar and perform party pieces. Hopefully, we will be able to find a venue again soon where these important social aspects can be revived. Still, even at our current venue, there is room to improve the social aspect and we want to make sure there will be plenty of opportunity to chat, discuss and socialise outside the official sessions.

The format of the main sessions can be improved too, I think. And this is something where we can make a real difference, quite easily, particularly with a larger audience. Three long sessions per day, lasting between two and two and half hours, addressed by ‘experts’ in their field make, of course, for generally high-quality introductions and discussions. But frankly this format is exhausting and many participants - especially younger and newer comrades - often play the role of passive listeners only. Some find it hard to concentrate for that many hours; others feel intimidated by the high level of the debate.

In addition to having some ‘expert sessions’, I think we should also try to turn the tables this year and encourage some younger and newer comrades to deliver openings, perhaps in shorter and smaller sessions. After all, the best way to learn is to explain something. I could well imagine a series of shorter events around the increasingly relevant question of ‘Building a Communist Party’, in which we could discuss questions like ‘Why our party needs open factions’, ‘What’s the difference between socialism and communism?’, ‘Why we argue for a minimum/maximum programme’, ‘What is the democratic republic?’ or ‘Should we still talk about concepts like the dictatorship of the proletariat?’

While I am generally not a fan of working groups - especially when they pack too many questions in or are run in a patronising fashion - I do think that this year they would make some sense. For a start, smaller discussion groups allow participants to get to know each other and each other’s politics better. Building trust is important if we want our fusion process to be successful.

We should also make a real effort to ensure that there are more cultural issues not only in the official CU programme, but also in the evenings after the official sessions - perhaps with a mini-Communist Culture Club, where comrades can introduce their favourite book or TV series or we could be watching a political film together. It is excellent that we can book breakout rooms in the venue to facilitate such events.

The active input from TAS and Prometheus certainly gives us an opportunity to shake things up - I am very much looking forward to it. If you have any proposals, wish to book your place or have any questions, please get in touch at office@cpgb.org.uk.

Communist University 2025 Thursday July 31 until Thursday August 7, inclusive.

Central London venue, a short walk from Great Portland Street tube station.

Details of speakers and sessions will be posted here: communistuniversity.uk

Cost:

You can reserve your place by sending a £30 deposit to account Communist Party of Great Britain, Cooperative Bank Sort code: 08-92-99, Account number: 65109991, IBAN: GB33 CPBK089299 65109991, BIC: CPBK GB22 Make sure to reference ‘CU 2025’