Revolution Then and Now, SOAS University of London
Channel: SOAS University of London
Date: 2018-01-26

This panel discussion titled "Revolution Then and Now" was held on 16 January 2018 by the Department of Development Studies at SOAS University of London, the speakers were Dr Stathis Kouvelakis (King’s College London), Kate Evans (cartoonist, artist, and activist), and John Rees (writer and activist).
You can find out more about this event at https://goo.gl/TCSfKk

The revolutionary tradition has a long history, and revolutionaries have inspired subsequent generations in fighting for a world free of exploitation, oppression and class distinctions. This panel discusses historical and contemporary debates between reformists, who have sought to discover a principle of harmony in social relations under capitalism, bypassing the question of revolutionary politics, and revolutionaries, who have argued for working-class hegemony and the struggle for political and economic democracy. It examines the classical bourgeois revolutions, and particularly the English Revolution and the formation of the Levellers, who became central figures in the history of democracy. It also discusses the legacy of some of the great revolutionaries, the contributions they made to the canon of revolutionary socialist thought, and the obstacles they faced in their lives as revolutionaries. But revolution is not a thing of the past. As capitalist crisis deepens, inequality reaches dizzying levels and war remains firmly on the agenda, the panel asks what lessons we should draw from the revolutionary tradition.