British Labor Activist Sees Rebirth of Marxism: Interview

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Sunday, July 21, 2002

British Labor Activist Sees Rebirth of Marxism: Interview

A British Socialist activist, who organized Marxism Forum 2002, saw signs of rebirth of Marxist thought amidst the trend of globalization.

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A British Socialist activist, who organized Marxism Forum 2002, saw signs of rebirth of Marxist thought amidst the trend of globalization.

"Marxism is not antiquated and will not be antiquated. It is still the guiding ideology for creating a better world. And such view is commonly shared by the participants of Marxism Forum 2002," John Rees told Xinhua.

Following the disintegration of the former Soviet Union in the early 1990s, some people held that Marxism was dead.

"This was untrue. On the contrary, we have seen the rebirth of Marxism in globalization. Now there is an increasing number of people showing interests in Marxism," he said.

He noted that when the Marxism Forum was first launched in 1977,there were only 200 participants. But this year some 5,000 people attended the forum, including some 300 overseas participants.

The 45-year-old Rees is a leading member of Britain's left-wingSocialist Workers Party and editor of International Socialism journal.

"Marxism 2002 Forum is a festival of ideas. At over 200 meetings or workshops, participants exchanged views on Marxism andsocialism, globalization and imperialism, anti-capitalism movement,anti-war as well as the crisis of Britain's New Labor Party. They were trying to use Marxism methods to interpret the current complicated social phenomenon," he said.

He added that 2002 was the 10th year for him to organize the forum, which also saw three members of parliament from Britain's ruling Labor Party attending the forum, showing its increasing influence.

This year's forum was held July 5-12 in London. Rees said Karl Marx, the founder of Marxism, had lived and worked in Britain for 34 years and London was his last resting place.

"The labor movement has a tradition in Britain. There are now some 8 million trade union members in Britain, and plus their family members, they should represent some 20 million people, or one third of the whole population," he said.

He cited that when his Socialist Workers Party was first established in the early 1950s, there were only 25 members, but now it has nearly 10,000 members.

Rees, who studied political science and did research work on Marx and Friedrich Hegel, noted that compared to 10 years ago, theBritish people's current social views have changed a lot.

"To some extent, their views are closer to that of Marx," said Rees.

He said that recent opinion polls showed 85 percent of the population were against privatization and 70 percent held the trade unions were weaker than before and should be strengthened.

Rees has published four books on Marxism and socialism and was confident of the development of Marxism. He said the anti-capitalism and anti-war movements were becoming more influential and the trade unions were "restoring" their confidence.

He believed Marxism would be interpreted in new and more comprehensive ways in the new period.

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