Festival of the Oppressed programme
SATURDAY
10:00 – 11:00
| Session Title and Description | Speakers & Chair | Room |
| OPENING PLENARY: ‘STRETCHING MARXISM’ – CENTERING OPPRESSION IN THE STRUGGLE FOR SOCIALISM Our opening session will discuss how we can renew Marxist analyses of class, race and gender in a rapidly changing world. | Joshua Virasami – BLM UK, author of How to Change It Jaice T – writer and activist Jess Spear – People Before Profit Taisie Tsikas – rs21 | Conference Hall |
| WHEN KIDS FIGHT BACK [Kid-friendly] An interactive audio visual workshop outlining the history of kids fighting back, including creative elements that everyone can participate in. | Led by Rachel | Lewis Suite |
11:15 – 13:00
| Session Title and Description | Speakers & Chair | Room |
| THE BELLY OF THE BEAST: THE STATE AGAINST THE PEOPLE Our panellists discuss the role of the state – not just the government but the police, the courts, the immigration system – in reproducing gendered and racialised oppression. | Helen Charman – author of Mother State Lisa Leak – trans writer and organiser Timor Landherr – researcher Sabrina H – rs21 activist | Conference Hall |
| RED MEDICINE PANEL How to run a hospital | Jess Thorne Health workers Samuel Kelly – Red Medicine podcast | Seminar Room 2 |
| ANTIRACIST HISTORIES AND FUTURES How can histories of interracial solidarity in struggle inform resistance movements today? | Annie Olaloku-Teriba – writer and researcher Anindya Bhattacharyya Abena B – rs21 activist | Seminar Room 3 |
| Kite Making Workshop [Kid-friendly] Flying kites in Gaza has been a tradition for children and a symbol of hope for decades. In this workshop we will make kites and share some poetry. | Led by Hamza R | Lewis Suite |
13:00 – 14:00: Lunch break
14:00 – 15:45
| Session Title and Description | Speakers & Chair | Room |
| ENDING CAPITALISM BEFORE IT ENDS US How can we trace the futures of capitalism to grasp the agents who might create a world beyond exploitation and domination? | Gargi Bhattacharyya – author of The Futures of Racial Capitalism Gabriel Winant – historian at University of Chicago, AAUP officer Barnaby Raine – historian and activist Harry Holmes – rs21, Prometheus editor and climate activist | Conference Hall |
| SOCIAL MEDIA WORKSHOP: MARXIST CONTENT IN HOSTILE TIMES | Tarek Shalaby | Seminar Room 2 |
| TROUBLEMAKERS AT WORK Defending Trans rights at work and in our unions | Collab with Troublemakers at Work | Seminar Room 3 |
| STUDY SPACE Haymarket Books and Books Against Borders. Click here for the reading list. | Lewis Suite | |
16:00 – 17:00
| Session Title and Description | Speakers & Chair | Room |
| CLOSING PLENARY: TRANS LIBERATION – RESISTING THE WAR ON OUR BODIES How can we go beyond demands for trans rights to waging a fight against the state for liberation from the gender binary? | Max Fox – writer and editor of Pinko Magazine Trans Kids Deserve Better Fredy H – FLINT Lotta P – rs21 activist Chair: Laura G | Conference Hall |
17:00 – 18:30
| TAKE TO THE STREETS – A RADICAL LONDON WALK London has a rich history from below of people fighting back against capital and oppression. Chartists, Suffragettes, socialists, trade unions and communists. The outcome of these struggles are everywhere; in free education and a free health service, in the legacy of high quality public house building, in democratic rights, freedoms and liberties. But capital constantly renews its oppression and works to increase money power over freedom and the real liberation of humanity. All these gains are constantly under attack. This walk will provide glimpses of radical histories, and how they can inspire us to change the world. Duration: 90mins, with rest stops and comfort breaks included. The walk will avoid busy streets and is wheelchair accessible. |
Evening – afterparty at Pelican House E1 5QJ from 7pm
SUNDAY
10:00 – 11:15
| Session Title and Description | Speakers & Chair | Room |
| FROM ABOLITION TO REVOLUTION – HOW DO WE GET FREE? Our panellists debate the ways in which a growing abolitionist politics should relate to revolutionary socialist organisation. | Shanice McBean – co-author of Abolition Revolution Jonas Marvin – rs21, writer of Marx’s Dream Journal Jaice T – writer and activist | Conference Hall |
| QUEER RESISTANCE, THEN AND NOW This session will look back at the history of queer struggles against state oppression and look at how central such resistance will be in movements opposed to Trump’s reactionary regime. | Colin Wilson – rs21, writer and activist Isabell D – queer historian and activist Chair: Rayan Abdi – student activist | Seminar Room 2 |
| TENANT POWER: ORGANISING AGAINST THE HOUSING CRISIS | Callum – housing activist Bekah – housing activist Kate Bradley – rs21, housing activist Chair: Clara H – housing activist, This Must Be The Place podcast | Seminar Room 3 |
| THE ART OF STORYTELLING [Kid-friendly] Stories help us understand and explain the world that we live in. This workshop will be an interactive space exploring the importance of storytelling and an opportunity to develop skills to tell stories. | Allan S and Liz B | Lewis Suite |
11:30 – 13:00
| Session Title and Description | Speakers & Chair | Room |
| HOW CAN WE UNDERMINE THE NATION? The resurgence of authoritarian nationalist currents across the globe present a huge challenge to the internationalist left. Our panellists discuss this danger and how we can confront it | Richard Seymour – author of Disaster Nationalism Sara Farris – author of In the Name of Women’s Rights Sivamohan Valluvan – author of The Clamour of Nationalism Chair: Hamza – rs21 | Conference Hall |
| PRACTICAL SOLIDARITY WITH ANTICOLONIAL STRUGGLE, IN PALESTINE AND BEYOND Panellists discuss how we can build practical solidarity with anti-colonial movements, especially the Palestinian struggle for liberation against the genocidal Zionist state. | Medb McDaid – activist and researcher Harry Holmes – rs21, Prometheus editor, climate activist Yara – Palestinian Youth Movement Chair: Charlie – Workers for a Free Palestine | Seminar 2 |
| SICK PROLETARIANS- CAPITALISM, DISABILITY AND RESISTANCE | Robert Chapman – author of Empire of Normality Rachel Eborall – Unite rep Pat Stack – rs21 writer and activist Chair: Jack – This Must Be the Place podcast | Seminar Room 3 |
| SLOGAN MAKING WORKSHOP [Kid-friendly] What do we care about? How can we express it? In this workshop, kids and adults will play together to build a collage of political slogans around protecting valuable community spaces. | Led by Will Rowe | Lewis Suite |
13:00 – 14:00: Lunch break
14:00 – 15:15
| Session Title and Description | Speakers & Chair | Room |
| RISE OF REFORM: WHAT NEXT FOR RADICAL SOCIALISTS? This session is to interrogate the political landscape regarding the disintegration of Labour and the rise of Reform and discuss what radical socialists, those who argue for some form of revolutionary socialism, should do in response. Collab panel with BLM UK. | Kojo Kyerewaa – BLM UK Tomi A – rs21 activist and writer Hau-Yu Tam – Lewisham Green Party councillor Tyrone Scott – War on Want Chair: Mariam E – Abolitionist Futures | Conference Hall |
| THEORISING LABOUR, GENDER AND IDEOLOGY: MARXIST FEMINIST PERSPECTIVES Marxist feminism has seen a huge resurgence over the last decade. Our panellists discuss theories of social reproduction and how we can best understand the relationship between gender, class and capitalism. | Tithi Bhattacharya – Purdue University, editor of Social Reproduction Theory Alyssa Battistoni – Barnard College, author of Free Gifts: Capitalism and the Politics of Nature Chair: Kate Bradley – rs21, housing activist | Seminar Room 2 |
| SEXUALITY, IMPERIALISM AND THE GLOBAL FAR-RIGHT ‘Pinkwashing’ and ‘homonationalism’ emerged to explain how LGBTQ+ identities had tied to Western capitalist states. Today, in the context of genocide in Gaza, how accurately do these terms still describe the relationship between sexuality and Western imperialism? | Alex Stoffel – author of Eros and Empire Sita Balani – author of Deadly and Slick Chair: Fraser – researcher and organiser | Seminar Room 3 |
15:30 – 17:00
| Session Title and Description | Speakers & Chair | Room |
| CLOSING PLENARY: POLITICAL ALTERNATIVES IN AN AGE OF CATASTROPHE Our closing plenary will ask: how do we build a political alternative to both the extreme centre and the disaster nationalists? | Paul Murphy – Dublin South-West People Before Profit TD Riya Al-Sanah – Workers in Palestine Jonny Jones – rs21 Leytonstone school strikers Chair: Rachel – Unite rep | Conference Hall |
| SINGING WORKSHOP [Kid-friendly] Radical and political protest, and songs of worldwide celebration, struggle and change is a part of worldwide struggle. | Led by Bekah | Lewis Suite |