Here’s a quick round-up of some of the things our Plan C groups have been up to recently and some dates for your diary.
London
Plan C London met in late March to discuss various proposals on developing ourselves as a group. Some of us have been involved in starting The Common House – a self-organised political space in Bethnal Green, which is a year old in April. Reflective of some of our members experiences involved with London Anti-Fascists we are hosting a talk by ..ums Ganze! network from Germany on Anti-national politics and the history and perspectives on anti-fascism in Germany at 3pm Saturday 19th April at The Common House.
A week later on Friday 25th April we are hosting a film showing of Finally Got the News (1970) – a documentary that reveals the activities of the League of Revolutionary Black Workers inside and outside the auto factories of Detroit. Donations welcomed at the door and you WILL get free popcorn! Film will start after 7pm.
C is for Care – Plan C London to host (hopefully with Feminist Fightback) a meeting with the E15 Mothers as the initial meeting of the Care Forum – an experimental space for theory, organising and action around reproduction and care. More details TBA.
We will meet once a month by hosting an open meeting which will be a mixture of presented talks and discussions, social and sounding out proposals for activity. Our next meeting will be on 7.30pm Monday 12th May at The Common House.
Manchester
Do You Remember the Future?
On 22nd March Plan C MCR hosted the first in our ‘Conversations on the Future’ series. Designed to be an ‘introduction’ to the series, and utilizing an experimental and largely successful ‘discussion’ format, we brought together Mark Fisher and Morag Rose in discussion with Judy (MCR) and around 50 participants. Together we discussed the overlaps between work, hope, the lack in ‘resistance’ politics, plans and the concept of the future. A recording of this event will be available to listen to soon.
We feel the event was a real success and provides a model which, with a few tweaks, we will be looking to use again. Expect more events in this series in the near future.
Upcoming Events
Beyond Europe?
As part of our international organising platform Beyond Europe, Plan C MCR are really excited to host an info-share and discussion night with our German comrades in the anti-authoritarian communist group …ums Ganze! As well as introducing our Beyond Europe platform to Mancunians we hope to discuss current developments in Germany (including self-organised migrant struggles, large scale housing struggles in Hamburg and increasing police repression) as well as perspectives on the current European crisis and emerging European social movements. We are also hoping to discuss the European wide Anti-Fascist conference which will have taken place the week before in Athens. Facebook link here.
When: 7:30 PM, 15th April.
Where: Subrosa (27 Lloyd St South, Fallowfield).
Thames Valley
On Monday 24th March Thames Valley Plan C and the Royal Holloway Left Forum hosted a successful discussion about the demand for a Universal Basic Income. A number of independent left wing students were present, as well as members of the Green Party and the Alliance for Workers Liberty, all of whom contributed to the discussion with thoughtful questions and criticisms. The discussion started with an introduction to Thames Valley Plan C and our analysis of the secular crisis of capitalism. We then explained why we believe a UBI is a necessary step towards a post capitalist future and made the case for it being a central demand of all those seeking to transcend capitalism. The discussion touched upon the revolutionary potential of a UBI as a means to strengthen the power of labour relative to capital by empowering individual workers to reject highly exploitative jobs or even wage labour altogether. We also discussed how a UBI has the potential to create the conditions for a deeply expanded social economy organised by collectives for the direct satisfaction of needs rather than through the capitalist market or state provision. There was a broad acceptance that globalisation and automation demands a response from the left that moves beyond defensive battles to protect the social wage and starts to assert a different vision of the future in which the benefits of technological innovation are shared by all in the form of greater free time, wealth and autonomy. Thames Valley Plan C would like to thank all those who attended the discussion and hope that in the future we can work together to coordinate our UBI based activity. We are currently making a short film about the idea of a UBI and would like to extend an invitation to any other fellow travellers advocating a UBI to get involved with our current project.
Leeds
Leeds Plan C will be participating in the Hands off our Homes Welfare Fightback demo in Leeds April 5th. Building on this we’ll be attending a meeting on April 15th intended to bring those campaigning on Welfare and work in Leeds together to discuss ways forward. The very next day we will be hosting a public meeting with the German group Um Ganze to discuss Europe, Germany and the prospects for social movements. On April 29th we will be staging the latest in our monthly Ten Minute Tubthumps, this one titled “Why are some Left ideas so unpopular?” The format consists of ten minute long provocative talks followed by drinks and informal discussion. We will also be hosting a reading group on neoliberalism and mental health.
Then on the weekend of May 3rd and 4th we are hosting a series of events looking critically at the development plans for South Leeds. On the Saturday we are leading a guided walk of the Hunslet area of Leeds discussing its contested past, its uncertain present and several possible futures. We will look critically at current development plans. Ask who and what is driving them? Towards what ends? And how likely they are to come true? This will be followed by a talk about a similar area of wasteland in Nottingham by David Bell and Rebecca Beinart at the Tetley art space. On the Sunday we will be restaging our Leeds Turned Upside Down walk through the neighboring area of Holbeck concentrating on the Radical History of Leeds.
