Today the climate crisis and humanity’s broader relationship to non-human nature are among the most important questions for the Left to grapple with. However, even among socialists the Marxist theory of ecology is not widely known or discussed. This session will seek to introduce people to the ‘Theory of the Metabolic Rift’ and its application…
Indigenous resistance in Palestine and in Aotearoa responds to the violence of settler colonialism, and it is initiated in both cases by British colonialism. There is a common whakapapa. But indigenous resistance has a commonality beyond what it fights against. The commonality exists in indigeneity. This panel of young, indigenous activists from Palestine and…
There have been three periods of major transformation in Aotearoa’s political economy: the 1890s, the 1930s, and the 1980s. Founded in 1916, the Labour Party was responsible for the latter two transformations, while the Liberal Party – in many ways the precursor to Labour – was responsible for the first. Aotearoa’s right-wing parties have never…
“Precisely the defeated man must try the outside world again” – Ernst Bloch, The Principle of Hope (1954). It is easier to imagine the end of the world, than the end of capitalism. This phrase has become something of a shibboleth for the contemporary left, a diagnosis of our present condition and a bleak indictment of our…
In many ways, the 2020’s seems further away from the ‘end of history’ than the 1920’s. This has led some commentators to characterise our current moment as ‘the end of the end of history’. Indeed, after declining in the 1990’s and early 2000’s, both the number of conflicts and conflict deaths has increased in recent…
Kia ora Neighbours – both members and supporters of the New Zealand Federation of Socialist Societies. The Wellington Socialist Society is pleased to announce the second New Zealand Federation of Socialist Societies National Conference to be held in central Wellington (venues TBC) over Labour Weekend (26th-27th October), 2024. Registrations are open now. Please visit the…
Unfortunately, plans for our regular educational event in June need to be postponed, however we hope to be able to bring you two in July. Instead, members and fellow travelers are welcome to gather at Bedlam & Squalor to chat about various events in Pōneke of late, the general outlook for socialists at home and…
“And they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” – Isaiah 2.4 “I wasn’t disturbing the peace, I was disturbing the war.” – Ammon Hennacy Sixteen years ago three Catholic Workers, Adi Leason,…
“There is today in the world a dominant discourse […] This dominating discourse often has the manic, jubilatory, and incantatory form that Freud assigned to the so-called triumphant phase of mourning work. The incantation repeats and ritualizes itself, it holds forth and holds to formulas, like any animistic magic. To the rhythm of a cadenced…
Kia ora Neighbours, We’ve been a bit slack at organising social events lately. Given we’ve had a fair number of new members join in the last few months we thought it would be a good opportunity to have a meet-and-greet especially for new members – although of course existing members and fellow travelers are more…