Marxism 2010

The Workers Party held its annual conference in Wellington June 4-6
The conference opened with Daphna Whitmore speaking on the revolutionary movement in India that spreads from the border with Nepal in the north to the southern states of India. John Edmundson spoke on Afghanistan and the quagmire the invading powers find themselves in.
On Saturday Ian Anderson examined the history of queer liberation and in a parallel session Joel Cosgrove gave a presentation on Cultural Capital.
John Edmundson looked at political economy – outlining Marx’s work and examining it in the light of current events. In a parallel session Don Franks presented What is Marxism.
At midday the conference broke to attend a protest against Israel.

In the afternoon there was a debate: Are population controls the answer to climate change? – between Byron Clark from the WP (arguing against) and retired academic John Robinson (arguing for).
Sunday’s sessions included The Fire Last Time: Lessons of the 60s – a talk by Philip Fergusson and a talk by Paul Hopkinson and Michael Walker on Palestine and PFLP . The conference closed with a review of The $15 minimum wage campaign – by Don Franks and Daphna.
A more  complete report from Marxism 2010 is forthcoming in the next issue of The Spark.