Vol. 80/No. 21 May 30, 2016

Socialist Workers Party conference to discuss capitalist crisis, what to do

BY MAGGIE TROWE

The three-day Active Workers Conference sponsored by the Socialist Workers Party June 16-18 in Oberlin, Ohio, will bring workers and young people active in political struggles together to learn from talks, classes and informal discussion and debate.

Several hundred participants are expected from across the U.S. and around the world. The gathering is held on the Oberlin College campus.

Talks by Socialist Workers Party leaders Jack Barnes and Mary-Alice Waters, as well as classes and displays, will address the economic, political and moral crisis of the capitalist rulers that the 2016 election campaign reflects, the growing receptivity among workers to a revolutionary perspective and openings to build the revolutionary party.

Six classes will be presented.

Martín Koppel and Alyson Kennedy will present a class on “Puerto Rico Is a U.S. Colony: the SWP’s Communist Continuity in the Fight for Independence.”

“The Coming Apart of Imperialism’s Post-‘U.S. Lost the Cold War’ Order in the Middle East,” will be given by John Studer and Colleen Torberg.

Norton Sandler and Omari Musa will give a class on “Colonization, ‘Trade Union-ification,’ and the Struggle for a Proletarian Party.”

“‘No Nukes!’ — Our Call for U.S. Nuclear Disarmament and Why Nuclear Weapons Weaken Proletarian Power” is the title of a class by Dave Prince and Naomi Craine.

“The World Capitalist Economic Crisis: Why the Revolutionary Conquest of Power Is Necessary” will be given by Steve Clark and Mark Thomas.

Gerald Smith and Emma Johnson will present a class titled, “Capitalist Nation States and Fracturing of the European Union: Damned If They Do, Damned If They Don’t.”

Are They Rich Because They’re Smart? Class, Privilege, and Education Under Capitalism, a new Pathfinder book by SWP National Secretary Jack Barnes, will be for sale at the conference, and participants can browse tables loaded with hundreds of Pathfinder titles and buy them at special prices.

Near the book tables there will be displays using photos, maps and text to expand on themes of classes and talks.

There will be plenty of time for informal discussion, recreation and relaxation between talks and classes, during buffet-style meals at the college cafeteria and at evening socials.

Conference summaries on Saturday will draw together the three days of discussions. A panel that evening will feature remarks from party candidates and participants involved in party-building activities worldwide and will project activities to win workers and youth to communism, including sending out teams to campaign for the SWP straight from the conference. It will be followed by a party and dance.

SWP supporters, who volunteer to help produce Pathfinder books and raise monthly financial contributions for the SWP, will meet with party leaders June 19 to discuss their work.

It’s not too late to register and organize to drive or fly to the conference with others. To learn more, contact SWP members near you.