Revolutionary Work in Our Times is a three day gathering of revolutionaries and social movement organizers. At this year's strategic dialogue, we'll talk about left strategies to confront the economic crisis in the age of Obama.
Our goals:
- Deepen our strategic clarity by creating spaces to sum up our political practice and to expand our analyses and visions through dialogue and mutual education.
- Create dialogue and collaboration between revolutionaries who are coming out of social movements and revolutionaries who are based in explicitly left organizations.
- Lay groundwork for new, stronger, more unified revolutionary organizations.
Revolutionary Work in Our Times is a space where revolutionaries can draw lessons from the history of peoples' struggles, talk about the challenges and opportunities we face, and discuss our visions for building a more powerful movement and a stronger left that can defeat capitalism, racism, heterosexism, ableism, xenophobia, and gender oppression. These conversations will sharpen our strategic thinking and build deeper unity between people engaged in social movement work.
We invite...
Members of socialist and anarchist organizations who are interested in building a more unified left deeply connected to social movements.
Left activists and organizers who are rooted in social and environmental justice movement work. Cultural workers, artists, healers, young people, elders, and other conscious folks who are interested in strengthening their revolutionary vision.
Comrades who are interested in incorporating race, sexuality, ability, immigration and gender into our analysis of capitalism, placing our struggle in an international framework, building more powerful left organizations, and taking a non-dogmatic approach to left theory.
Please invite people who have experience engaging in revolutionary study, strategy, and dialogue. For organizations, please do preparatory political education with your members so they don't expect introductory level discussion.
There will be limited scholarship resources (both financial support and alternative housing arrangements) available. We need participants' help to increase this scholarship fund. This year, we are trying to amplify scholarship availability, so we strongly encourage non-profit organizations and individuals with access to resources to provide extra support.
Click here to Register Online.
The deadline for applications is June 15.
BACKSTORY
A circle of revolutionary organizations, study groups, and social movement organizations decided to get together and work on joint projects to build unity on the left.
We did a panel workshop at the US Social Forum in 2007 "Revolutionary Consciousness, Strategy, Vision and Organization in the 21st Century." Over 200 people, mostly from the social movement left, attended this workshop (and it would have been much larger if we had a bigger room).
We planned a Revolutionary Summer School which took place in New Jersey last summer 2008; you may have been there or heard about it. Last summer, about 200 people came together - with the majority people of color and working class people, with large percentages identifying as women or trans as well as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or queer - for dialogue about revolutionary theory and strategy.
Since that time, Left Turn and Malcolm X Grassroots Movement have joined the planning team. We have been in consultation with many organizations across the country on how to make sure this next strategic dialogue is relevant, useful, and fun. We welcome your input!
~Revolutionary Work In Our Times Planning Team.
The current avatar of RWIOT includes Bay Area Activist Study Circle, Freedom Road Socialist Organization/Organización Socialista del Camino para la Libertad, League of Revolutionaries for a New America, Left Turn, Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, New York Study Group, and Solidarity.
You can reach us at revolutionaryworkinourtimes@gmail.com if you have any questions, ideas, or feedback (or just want to tell us how excited you are)!
