Monday 12th march 2007 6.30pm Comrade Gaurav

Nepalese Revolutionary Leader to speak in London

Chandra Prakash Gajurel (Comrade Gaurav), a senior Politburo Member of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), and Head of the CPN (M)'s 'International Command', recently released from an Indian prison after three years without trial, will be speaking at Goldsmiths...

Comrade Gaurav - CPN (Maoist) will speak at Goldsmiths on 12th March 2007 in the Ben Pimlott Lecture Theatre at 6.30 PM. A great opportunity to welcome this Comrade back to active political struggle after his time in an Indian jail. This event adds to our growing interest in issues relevant to the history and development of struggles against imperialism, and is open to all (and not just MA Postcolonial Studies, of course). More details will be posted here soon (including other London talks), but for now please mark Monday 12th March (6.30) in your diary now. below, some info on the reason we are able to have Comrade Gaurav here - his release from jail at the end of November (from WPRM):

"1 Dec 2006

To All Chapters and Supporters:

Dear Comrades and Friends,

We have received the following additional information about the release of Comrades Gaurav and Kiran.

According to press reports they were released from the Jalpaiguri Central Jail in India at 7.45 pm on Thursday (30 Nov.). In addition it is being reported that 13 other people who were arrested along with them were also released. Press reports further state that they were met by "jubilant crowd" of "hundreds of people" (Reuters) "shouting 'Down with Nepal's monarchy'" as they left the jail.

It is being reported that "The West Bengal State Government had Tuesday ordered the local authorities to expedite the release. Following the order, police withdrew the cases filed at three different police stations in Jalpaiguri and Matigarha police station of Siliguri against them." This once again showing that the cases against them were politically motivated from the start and not based on any "violation of the law".

After leaving the jail they traveled to Kakarvitta, on the Nepalese side of the border with India. According to the Hindustan Times, "hundreds of people waited for their 'national heroes'" as they arrived in the town. Upon arriving in Kathmandu on Friday they were greeted by CPN(M) Chairman Prachanda at a public gathering and received "extended applause" from a crowd of "2,000 people" (AFP News) in attendence.

Both comrades have stated their intentions of returning to active revolutionary politics and thanked those who supported them during their period of imprisonment.

• Welcome Back Comrades Gaurav and Kiran!
• Free All Nepali Political Prisoners Still Held in India and China!
• Imperialists and Reactionaries: Hands Off Nepal!"

The pic is from a German campaign rally - showing international support retains its relevance. Lal Salaam.

Public Meetings:

REVOLUTION IN NEPAL

at a Crucial Juncture

The Current Situation and Perspectives for the People's Struggle in Nepal and Around the World

With Comrade Gaurav a Senior Leader of the Revolution in Nepal

Since 1996 the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), CPN (M), has been leading a massive revolution that has been sweeping through Nepal. On August 20, 2003, a senior leader of the CPN(M), and a member of its political bureau, Chandra Prakash Gajurel, known to millions of people in Nepal, South Asia and around the world as Comrade Gaurav, was arrested by the Indian authorities as he attempted to travel from India to Europe.

Nearly one year ago, in April 2006, the struggle of the Nepali masses against the feudal monarchy and its imperialist backers was raised to a crescendo, and people poured onto the streets of Nepal for a continuous 19 day shutdown of the entire country. King Gyanendra, after much discussion with his backers (mainly US and India), was eventually forced to concede defeat and reinstate the parliament which he had previously dissolved. The backdrop for these momentous events was of course the 10 year revolution under the leadership of the CPN(M). Since this April Movement the Nepali masses have been anticipating elections to a Constituent Assembly which would decide the fate of the monarchy. The CPN(M) has been pushing forward towards these elections and various agreements with the Seven Party Alliance (SPA) to isolate the monarchy have been made. The SPA however - and the current prime minister, Koirala, of the Nepali Congress Party - has been vacilating and looking for excuses to delay elections at all costs, with the open support of the US imperialists and Indian expansionists. The people's struggle in Nepal is thus at a crucial juncture, with the ruling classes and imperialists desperately looking for an opportunity to drown the aspirations of the Nepali masses.

Since his release from prison in India in December 2006 Comrade Gaurav has become head of the CPN(M) International Department. Nepali Samaj and the World People's Resistance Movement (Britain) invite you to participate in our public meetings to talk to comrade Gaurav directly about advances of the revolution in Nepal and the world situation:

3:00pm, Saturday 10 March at 100 Flowers Cultural Centre, first floor, 24 Stoke Newington High street, Dalston, N16. Nearest train station Dalston Kingsland (North London Line). Buses 67, 76, 149, 243

2:00pm, Sunday 11 March at Oceanic club, first floor 158 Station Road, Edgware Middlesex HA8 7AW. Nearest underground station: Edgware (Northern Line). Buses 16, 32, 142, 192, 204, 288, 303.

6:30pm, Monday 12 March at Goldsmiths College. Nearest station: New Cross. Near to New Cross Road/Laurie Grove. See http://www.goldsmiths.ac.uk/find-us/ for exact location.

5:00pm, Tuesday 13 March at Junior Common Room, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS). Nearest underground station: Russell Square.

Supported by: 100 Flowers Cultural Centre, Indian Workers Association, Fight Racism Fight Imperialism, Communist Workers and Peasants Party of Pakistan, Friends of Africa, Revolutionary Practice.

World People Resistance Movement(Britain)

BM Box 7970 London WC1N 3XX wprm_britain@yahoo.co.uk

Shilliam Thursday 8th March

The Department of Politics at Goldsmiths presents a talk by:

Robbie Shilliam (Oxford):

'The "politics of race" in modern world
development',

5pm, RHB137a, Thursday 8th March

Judith Butler on Arendt 05.03.07 at 6,30

Hannah Arendt and the End of the Nation-State?

Starts: 18:30 - 05 March 2007 | Ends: 20:00 - 05 March 2007

Location: Great Hall, Richard Hoggart Building - Goldsmiths

Cost: Free

Judith Butler - Hannah Arendt and the End of the Nation-State? - as part of the Richard Hoggart Lecture Series

Judith Butler is one of the world's leading feminist philosophers. Her work has been translated into many languages and hPublisher concepts have entered into the everyday language of the new sexual politics. "Gender Trouble and Bodies That Matter" developed post-structuralism, psycho-analysis and linguistics to query and de-stabilise the gender ideals through which we understand normative sexual identity.

In "The Psychic Life of Power" Butler again uses psycho-analysis to understand melancholia in social and political life, and in "Antigone's Claim" she addresses the constraints of kinship and the undermining of non-normative intimacy. More recently in "Precarious Life" Butler shifts her attention to the emerging patterns of violence and vulnerability in the post 9/11 world and in Giving an Account of the Self she develops an argument for radical dependency on others as necessary for survival. Butler has long been involved in activism and campaigning in feminist and queer politics, she is a regular commentator on social and political affairs, particularly in relation to Israel and Palestine and she has also been concerned of late with issues around secularity, non secularity and religious belief.

NOTE: tickets may be needed - check here:


The top pic is of hannah Arendt, the lower pic is of Judith Butler's door. - evidence of cult following may be discerned. I think some people clearly have too much free time - I know its easy to post pics nowadays, even upload from your camera phone (see here), but this door thing is pretty obscure so far as trinketized idolatry goes. Or maybe there is some sort of commentary on dependency upon others implied here, so I suspend judgement.

Marshall Berman - Thursday March 1 2007 5pm

Marshall Berman - March 1st at 5pm

"ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SPECTACLE IN TIMES SQUARE"

Centre for Cultural Studies, the Politics Department and Media and Communications present a special lecture:

by Marshall Berman, author of On The Street and All That's Solid Melts Into Air will speak in the IGLT at Goldsmiths at 5pm

*Thursday, 1 March 2007 : Professor Marshall Berman,
The author of All that's Solid melts into Air' and 'On the Town' will speak at CCS.
*5pm in Goldsmiths Ian Gulland Lecture Theatre.

All welcome.


• Tube Stations: New Cross and New Cross Gate
• Rail network trains via London Bridge to New Cross or New Cross GateStations.
• DLR to Deptford Bridge Station (10 minutes walk).
• Buses from Central London: 21, 36, 136, 171, 172, 177, 225, 321, 343,436, 453.

Marshall Berman holds academic degrees from Columbia University, Oxford and Harvard. Currently he is Distinguished Professor of Political Science at City College of New York and CUNY Graduate Center, where he teaches political philosophy and urban studies. He writes frequently for The Nation, The New York Times Book Review, Bennington Review, La Jornada, New Left Review, New Politics and the Village Voice Literary Supplement and he serves on the editorial board of Dissent. His main works are The Politics of Authenticity: Radical Individualism and the Emergence of Modern Society, All That is Solid Melts in Air: The Experience of Modernity, Adventures in Marxism, and On the Town: One Hundred Years of Spectacle in Times Square. He is co-founder of the Center for Workers Education at City College in Upper Manhattan.

On the Town: One Hundred Years of Spectacle in Times Square
Described as a “continuous carnival” and “the crossroad of the world,”Times Square is a singular phenomenon: the spot where imagination and veracity intersect. To esteemed scholar and author Marshall Berman, it is also the flashing, teeming, and strangely beautiful nexus of his life. In this remarkable book, Berman takes us on a thrilling illustrated tour ofTimes Square, revealing a landscape both mythic and real. On the Town is a unique look through the lens of the ideas and works of art that inspired– or were inspired by – this landmark’s allure.

For more info contact: Francisco Carballo, cup01fc@gold.ac.uk