News & events

Sam Aaronovitch political writing prize 2008
winning article

Round and round the houses: the Leitch Review of Skills
written by Alison Wolf, King's College London

Dave Cope’s CPGB Bibliography is a hugely valuable resource for those of us involved with both researching and supporting research in the politics of the left. With 10 categories of materials produced by the CP, and 4 categories of material about the CP users can efficiently and quickly drill down through the database. The keyword facility is a useful additional tool, especially as it includes in its scope the (where applicable) “comments” field, with its explications and often fascinating nippets of additional information’.
John Powles, Head of Special Collections at Glasgow Caledonian University

Long after its dissolution, the history of the Communist Party of Great Britain continues to capture the interest and imagination of academics, writers and researchers. There can have been few political projects that generated such an intensity of debate, and produced such an enormous volume of literature. Despite its relatively small size, the influence of the CPGB - in the fields of politics, theory, culture, social policy, and anti-racism - was enormous.
Now, for the first time, through Dave Cope’s definitive survey, researchers can gain a true picture of the breath-taking pace of production, and ambitious range of projects undertaken by the Party during its 71year history.
Available to all on the web, this bibliography represents both a labour of love and an immensely valuable practical tool for anyone with an interest in Left-wing politics. It is to be highly recommended as an example of scholarship and clarity, and as an example of the manner in which the internet can be used to share, document, and democratise knowledge of our radical past.
John Callow, Marx Memorial Library

Terry Eagleton is John Edward Taylor Professor of English Literature at the University of Manchester and a Fellow of the British Academy. He has written almost fifty books of literary criticism and cultural theory, has taught and lectured widely throughout the world, and has had stage plays produced in London and Ireland. A study of ethics, Trouble with Strangers, is due from Basil Blackwell this September.

His lecture Socialism & Culture investigates the central role which culture has played in the politics of the 20th century, and examines the role of culture in the so-called war on terror. It considers the interrelations between culture, civilization and so-called barbarism, and argues that in certain key respects ‘culture’ is being treated as a new form of barbarism.

5 December 2006
A first instalment of Race & Class articles is available in the archive.

The Barry Amiel & Norman Melburn Trust Annual Lecture 2006

Dr Moshe Machover
Founding Member of the Socialist Organization in Israel (Matzpen)
& Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at King's College, London.
Israelis & Palestinians:
Conflict & Resolution
Chair: Tariq Ali

Black Gold, a film documentary supported
by the Barry Amiel and Norman Melburn Trust, is
part of the official selection of the London Film
Festival 2006.
Black Gold is a moving and eye-opening look into
the 80-billion-dollar global coffee industry, where
the spoils of overpriced lattes and cappuccinos are
sparsely shared with the farmers who make it all possible.
Sundance Film Festival, 2006

Rethinking Social Democracy Conference - Sheffield 2006:
Social democracy in the post-bipolar world:
Challenges in the developed world, opportunities in
the developing world? 28-30 June 2006 - Unversity of Sheffield

2005 Sam Aaronovitch political writing prize
winners: Fred Robinson, Keith Shaw, and Gill Davidson
‘On the Side of the Angels’: Community Involvement in the Governance of Neighbourhood Renewal  

New Political Writing Prize 2005
Winners of the Barry Amiel and Norman Melburn Trust/New Statesman Prize for New Political Writing on the subject:
Do women’s rights remain the privilege of the developed world?
First: Racheal Walker
Second: Verity Johnson
Third: Sarah Solemani and Tanya Angerer