November 3-4, 2007

Columbia University - International Affairs Building, NYC


The United States has torn Iraq apart and now threatens war on Iran all for imperial control of oil in the Middle East. In the name of the "war on terror", racist lies are peddled about Arabs and Muslims and our civil liberties are stripped away. Politicians attack immigrants and call for "securing the border” and have unleashed ICE agents to raid communities and workplaces. All in the context of falling living standards for workers and growing class inequality.

But these horrors are not without opposition. A majority of Americans now oppose the war in Iraq. Activists rallied and stopped the execution of Kenneth Foster in Texas and thousands marched in Jena to protest Jim Crow injustice. Workers at Cygnus in Chicago won a strike and defended the jobs of immigrants. A growing minority is looking for a genuine alternative to our rulers’ imperial war abroad and class war and racist scapegoating at home.

The potential exists to build an alternative, but our side needs a voice. Politicians across the spectrum are united in their attacks on the working-class at home and continuing wars abroad. If an opposition is to be built, it must be built from below. This means that our side needs ideas and strategies based on our own power and history. Socialist politics offer ideas that can help us to change the world.

This year's Northeast Socialist Conference aims to provide space to debate and clarify strategies for change, learn from the history of previous struggles, and put forward a vision for the future. Join hundreds of activists, progressives and socialists for a conference that will address the key issues facing the Left today while also discussing how we can fight for a world free of the wars, racism and poverty that our society has produced.



Saturday Plenaries:

>Morning: Can There be A Revolution in the US?—Sharon Smith, author of Subterranean Fire: A History of Working-class Radicalism in the United States

>Lunch: Dave Zirin, author of Welcome to the Terrordome: Sports in the 21st Century and What's My Name Fool

>Evening: Resisting Empire—Anthony Arnove, author of Iraq: the Logic of Withdrawal; Jeremy Scahill, author of Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army (speakers list in formation)

Performing Saturday night--Son of Nun

Saturday Workshops:

  • Afghanistan: The Good Occupation?
  • The Struggle for Palestine
  • Option or Trap? The Left and the Democratic Party
  • Women, the Family and Sexual Oppression
  • Which Way Forward for the Anti-War Movement?
  • Empire in Crisis? US Imperialism Today
  • Health over Profit: The Fight for National Healthcare
  • Being Muslim is Not a Crime: Combatting Islamophobia
  • Slavery and the Origins of Racism
  • The Russian Revolution
  • Why We Need a Revolutionary Party
  • The Two Souls of Socialism—Sam Farber
  • From Foreclosures to Job Loss: Are We Headed for Recession?
  • Resisting No Match, Detention, and Deportation:
  • How to Defend Immigrant Rights
  • From Kenneth Foster to the Jena 6: Fighting Jim Crow Injustice
  • Lessons of Chile’s Revolution
  • The Fire Last Time: Lessons of the 1960s
  • GI Roundtable
  • How the Vietnam War was Stopped
  • Between Reform and Revolution: Where is Venezuela Headed?
  • Can Capitalism Save the Environment?

Sunday Workshops

  • Eugene Debs and the Rise of American Socialism
  • Marxism vs Identity Politics--Sharon Smith
  • What do Socialists Say About Political Islam?
  • Rosa Luxemburg’s Reform or Revolution
  • Did Lenin Lead to Stalin?
  • Marx’s Theory of Economic Crisis
  • Lenin’s State and Revolution
  • Engels: The Origins of Women’s Oppression
  • Trotsky on the United Front
  • Lenin’s What is to Be Done
  • Marx’s Historical Materialism
  • The Marxist Theory of Imperialism