report on the second ‘global commune’

by Allan Armstrong

The second Global Commune day school, jointly organised by the Republican Communist Network (RCN) and The Commune, was held in the Out of the Blue Centre in Edinburgh on May 22nd.  People attended from Aberdeen, Bristol, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, London and Midlothian.

a sign at the Middlesex University occupation points to the way forward

The first workshop session, ‘After the Election, What Next?‘ was introduced by Alberto Durango and Mark Ellingsen from The Commune. Alberto emphasised the necessity for communists to be open and honest about their communism.  Workers needed political confidence to attack the labour bureaucracy. Mark pointed out that current economic crisis was far from solved. We need to clearly argue for a revolutionary alternative to capitalism and not be afraid to call for the abolition of wage labour. The question is how do we relate this abstract demand to concrete practice.

after the general election, what next?

Mark Ellingsen gave an introduction to a session at the recent Global Commune day school in Edinburgh:

If you ask people what they expect after the general election most people will answer public sector cuts. These will indeed dominate the coming weeks and months, but it is useful to step back and take stock of where we are.

global commune day school, edinburgh, 22nd may

Following the success of January’s Global Commune day school (see here) we are holding a further day of discussions in Edinburgh on 22nd May.

There will be workshops on ‘After the election – what next?’; ‘Internationalism from below – a communist perspective’; and ‘How do communists organise?’