Birmingham Salon

Revolution! Thinking About the Centenary of the Russian Revolution

Sunday 1st October 2017, 1.30pm - 6.00pm, at Centrala, Unit 4, Minerva Works, 158 Fazeley Street, Birmingham B5 5RT 

Entrance fee: £7

At the centenary of the 1917 revolution which brought the Bolsheviks to power in Russia, Birmingham Salon looks at the enduring legacy of this and other past revolutions.

Buy your ticket on Skiddle now.

The afternoon's itinerary:

1.45 pm - 3.45 pm

Film screening of Every Cook Can Govern: The Life, Impact, and Works of CLR James

CLR James, the Trinidad-born revolutionary wrote about Toussaint L'Ouverture leading the 18th century revolution in Haiti in his acclaimed work, Black Jacobins. The film focuses on his life, writing and ideas, and interweaves never before seen footage of James with testimony from those who knew him.

4.15 pm - 5.45 pm

Live debate: The centenary of the Russian revolution – what is its legacy?
During 10 days that shook the world in October 1917, the Red Guard, armed factory workers, soldiers and sailors took over the telegraph office, Winter Palace and other key buildings in the then capital, Petrograd. The revolution ultimately failed. But does that mean that the Bolsheviks, and those who fought for Peace, Bread and Land, were wrong to overthrow the old regime?

What impact did the Russian revolution have on the 20th century world? What is its relevance to today? Does its ultimate failure mean that we must simply give up on the idea of a political struggle for social change? Or should we instead reflect on how better to go about building a new society?


The debate will be chaired by Helene Guldberg.

Speakers:

Dr Mike Fitzpatrick: Doctor and writer, former GP and veteran left-winger

Christopher Read: Professor of 20th Century History at the University of Warwick. Author of Lenin: A Revolutionary Life (Routledge, 2005) and War and Revolution in Russia: 1914-22 - The Collapse of Tsarism and the Establishment of Soviet Power (Basingstoke and New York, Palgrave 2013)
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