“Don’t back down, double down” – Festival of the Oppressed report

Bringing together over 300 comrades across two days of panels, workshops, and political discussions, rs21’s first Festival of the Oppressed created a collective space to investigate how oppression is grounded in Marxist politics, reports Jaice Titus.

In June 2025, rs21 hosted its first ever large-scale two-day gathering, Festival of the Oppressed. We chose this name to centre the struggle for liberation in revolutionary politics, and to create a shared space for collective reflection on how oppression is being reconfigured in the current global political moment.

The weekend opened with a plenary titled ‘Stretching Marxism’, which invited comrades to deepen their understanding of Marxism in conjunction with the politics of oppression. When we talk about class politics today we’re looking at a multi-gendered, multi-ethnic working class and we wanted to take a new look at how we understand that as revolutionaries. Speakers from BLMUK and RISE helped set the scene with discussions on how class struggle can happen in communities as well as workplaces. This was followed by sessions exploring the violence of the state, and tracing the futures of capitalism with Gargi Bhattacharyya, Gabriel Winant and Barnaby Raine.

Saturday’s programme continued with discussions on building antiracist and antifascist solidarities in our fractured time. A session with Red Medicine brought together health workers and organisers to imagine what care and struggle might look like within and beyond hospital walls. The Troublemakers At Work panel focused on defending trans rights in the workplace and within unions while the day concluded with a plenary dedicated to trans liberation. There were chants of “Palestine, trans rights, one struggle, one fight” and mentions of the unofficial slogan of the event, “Don’t back down, double down“.

Interactive workshops offered tools for navigating social media under conditions of growing hostility. Alongside these, we created intergenerational spaces that welcomed children and young people. Activities included kite-making, storytelling, poetry writing, slogan making and a radical singing workshop. Haymarket Books and Books Against Borders hosted a reading space for the Palestinian author and activist Mohammed el-Kurd’s new book Perfect Victims. A lively collection of stalls added to the event, featuring Haymarket Books, Care4Calais, RISE, Nijjor Manush and CopWatch, and offered resources and opportunities to link up with ongoing campaigns. The day ended with a radical walking tour through Islington, and a summer solstice afterparty with DJ sets.

Sunday began with an in-depth conversation on abolition, focusing on the expansion of state powers and the possibilities of abolition communism. Further sessions explored solidarity with Palestine, tenant power, queer resistance, and the experiences of sick and disabled proletarians. A conversation on authoritarian nationalist currents brought together Richard Seymour, Sara Farris and Sivamohan Valluvan. Another key session brought together Tithi Bhattacharya and Alyssa Battistoni for a discussion on social reproduction theory and its relevance in the present. We also hosted an interactive workshop addressing sexuality, the far right, and imperialism.

The final sessions included a panel curated by BLMUK on the question of the new left party with contributions from War on Want, Green Party and Abolitionist Futures. Our closing plenary was on building resistance in an age of catastrophe, featuring a student organiser, representative from Palestinian Youth Movement and a rank-and-file striker. This plenary also discussed the new left party, exploring how socialists and revolutionaries might relate to and shape its emergence.

Over 300 tickets were sold for the event, which brought together a predominantly young and multiracial gathering of comrades, with a desire to collectively confront the crises of our time. The energy, commitment and creativity on display throughout the weekend marked a significant moment for rs21 and for all those committed to the struggle for liberation. 

The event would not have been possible without the dedication of our members, many of whom stepped up with care, energy and solidarity to help shape the event, and without all the comrades who spoke, contributed and attended across the weekend.