Monday, May 13, 2013
ISO Study Group: Labor History
THIS WEDNESDAY: The Battle for Public Education
The Batlte for Public Education
May 15th, 7:00PM
Cepeda Library (651 N. Pleasant Valley Rd.)
Chicago Students Take a Seat and Walk
http://socialistworker.org/2013/05/07/chicago-students-take-seat-and
No Closures Without A Fight
http://socialistworker.org/2013/04/03/no-closures-without-a-fight
Austin ISD Approves Johns Hopkins as Partner
http://impactnews.com/articles/austin-isd-board-approves-johns-hopkins-as-emhs-partner/
Monday, May 6, 2013
Socialist Clothing Swap
Saturday May 11th, 3PM
Suggested Donation: $5
This Wednesday: Discuss Socialism and Movements
ISO Austin Community Branch Meeting
Wednesday May 8th, 7:15 PM
Willie Mae Kirk Library (3101 Oak Springs Drive)
Our meeting this week we will be discussing the theory and application of the perspective of implantation in movements.
Theory of Implantation
How do socialists build movements? How are movements shaped by socialists? How has movement work changed (especially since Occupy), and how do we change with it? We will discuss the perspective of implantation by discussing an lecture by French anti-capitalist Olivier Besancenot about the changing face of revolutionary activism, found in ISR 82 from 2012. Comrades, please read the article and come ready to discuss the lessons we can draw from it. For those who want more context about ISO and movement work, the article "Socialists and Movements" gives a good overview.
Putting Theory into Practice
In this discussion we want to draw from the theoretical discussion in the previous item and move into practical questions facing our branch. This is an ongoing discussion we will be having, so mostly we want to get at what members are thinking about the implantation perspective, what questions we have about movement work, and what ideas we have about how to proceed. The round-robin, where each member gets a turn at speaking, is voluntary - you will not be compelled to speak - but we encourage members to bring up questions for us all to think about.
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
THIS WEEK ::: Anti-Death Penalty Work and the Socialism 2013 Conference
Wednesday, May 1, at 7:00 PM
COMMUNITY BRANCH
Location: University Hills Library, 4721 Loyola Lane
The Campaign to End the Death Penalty
We will be discussing the state of the Campaign to End the Death Penalty (CEDP) work locally and nationally and next steps. Our work within other organizations fighting for social justice reforms is an important part of our branch work, and the success of our fractions depends on the active attention and participation of our branch.
Socialism 2013
Preliminary talks for this amazing conference are now online! Check them out at http://www.socialismconference.org/sessions! It looks like we'll have an exciting conference this year. It's important that everyone register early so that we can better plan fundraising, transportation, and other logistics. It will also help us build enthusiasm for the conference among our group and other local activists. We encourage everyone who hasn't already to go ahead and register at https://www.socialismconference.org/register/.
This will be followed by a book review and announcements.
Sunday, April 21, 2013
They Say Cut Back, We Say Fight Back!
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
THIS WEEK ::: What's Going On In Venezuela?
Thursday, April 18, at 7:00 PM
COMMUNITY BRANCH
Location: UT campus, Parlin 101
Elections in Venezuela
There are a number of questions surrounding the recent elections in Venezuela, namely: Why does the US continue to vilify the left in Venezuela, including disputing the fairness of the recent election? How was the right wing able to make gains? What is next for the legacy of Chavez? What can leftists in the US learn from Venezuela?
To prepare for discussion, check out the following links:
Facebook image showing vote results
Opposition demanding recount (though Maduro got the same percentage as Bush in 2004)
Narrow victory for Maduro
You can also check out two blogs with election coverage: http://venezuelanalysis.com and http://coreyrobin.com
After this discussion we will discuss our upcoming meeting on austerity and then an update on plans for our national conference to be held in June in Chicago.
This will be followed by a book review and announcements.




