“And if universal suffrage had offered no other advantage than that it allowed us to count our numbers every three years; that by the regularly established, unexpectedly rapid rise in the number of our votes it increased in equal measure the workers’ certainty of victory and the dismay of their opponents, and so became our…
Category: Events
Confronting Fascism: Socialist Knowledge and the Far-Right in Interwar Europe
“Fascism attempts to organize the newly created proletarian masses without affecting the property structure which the masses strive to eliminate. Fascism sees its salvation in giving these masses not their right, but instead a chance to express themselves. The masses have a right to change property relations; Fascism seeks to give them an expression while…
Wellington Socialist Society AGM 2023
To all members, This is the date for the Wellington Socialist Society Annual General Meeting for 2023. The AGM is where we elect our Executive Committee, and decide on some projects and activities for the year. If you have anything you want to add to the agenda this year please send it through to wellingtonsocialistsociety@gmail.com….
CSS Public Lecture: Pro Patria Mori? Socialist Opposition to the First World War in Christchurch
“This war…WILL END CAPITALISM! Do you get that? After capitalism, what? SOCIALISM!” This quote from trade unionist Ted Howard, written in August 1914 reflects the hopes and beliefs of Canterbury socialists at the start of World War One. Based on research for the ‘Voices Against War’ website and her forthcoming book “‘I don’t believe in…
CSS Public Lecture: Anarchism for Dummies
Following the success of our first ‘Socialism for Dummies’ event earlier this year, the CSS brings you round two … ‘Anarchism for Dummies’. Featuring two of the CSS’ very own anarchists (Tim Elder and Leith McLean) and one executive member with a lot to learn (Sionainn Byrnes), this event is an opportunity to ask any…
CSS Public Lecture – They Rule: How capital dominates politics today
“The executive of the modern state is nothing but a committee for managing the common affairs of the whole bourgeoisie.” -Marx Eighty three of the top US corporations are linked through their interconnecting boards. Who are these people who are making important decisions about the world’s future? How do they make decisions? As we face…
Supplementary Questions – WSS Presents A Public Conversation with Chloe Swarbrick
Kia ora, neighbours. The Wellington Socialist Society brings to you, the good people of Wellington, a bonus event this June. How lucky. Chlöe Swarbrick is taking some time off her regularly scheduled sausage-making at Parliament to come down to Bedlam & Squalor so she can share some reflections over a pint or two on her…
WSS Public Panel: Social Democracy – Then & Now
“Without general elections, without unrestricted freedom of press and assembly, without a free struggle of opinion, life dies out in every public institution, becomes a mere semblance of life, in which only the bureaucracy remains as the active element.” – Rosa Luxemburg. During the late 19th and early 20th century, working-class communities worldwide began organising…
WSS Public Lecture – Lessons from the Picket Line
“But as soon as the workers discover that their interests are common, that they are all opposed to the exploiter, it takes the form of great organizations and open battles against the exploiting class. The sense of power that goes with class consciousness means the regeneration of the working class. It raises this class forever…
Making Rebels: New Zealand’s First Socialist Party
The Wellington Socialist Society invites you, dear neighbour, to our next public event – Making Rebels: New Zealand’s First Socialist Party. Founded after a group of 200 British socialist ‘Clarion Settlers’ migrated here in 1900, the New Zealand Socialist Party was this country’s first nationwide socialist organisation. As branches were founded all over the country,…