Getting to grips with neoliberalism – John McDonnell backs teach-in

John McDonnell MP, the shadow chancellor, has welcomed the teach/learn-in in Wigan on Saturday, November 24. He says:

We’re meeting at the Sunshine House Community Hub, Wellington Street, Wigan WN1 3SA from 11am to 5.30pm. Registration is from 10.30am. Reserve your place now via Eventbrite .

Plan for the Day

10.30 Registration

11.00 Welcome to the day with a brief update on the crisis of neoliberal capitalism. How the day will work. What we want to achieve by the end of the teach/learn-in.

Working Groups with 5 minute lightning presentations

11.20 From neoliberalism to illiberalism: What is behind the rise of the far right?
Can democracy be achieved within the current state/political system? Strategies for defeating the far right. Meeting potential threats to a Corbyn government. What would real democracy look like?

12.20 – Break

12.30 Eco-crisis at a tipping point
Why do states fail to act? Can individual action alone halt climate change and biodiversity loss? Why/how the far right is deepening the crisis. Reimagining the Commons. Ending neoliberal alienation from our nature.

1.30 pm Lunch at the venue

2.15 pm Identity, ideology & culture in a neoliberal world:
Is culture only a tool for the 1%? What does a cultural strategy for an emancipatory movement look like? Beyond divide and rule – privileging and celebrating diversity.

3.15pm Refreshment break

3.30pm Globalised precarity & inequality – beyond the gig economy
Why precarity & inequality are the new normal. Can AI benefit the 99%? Technology as a liberatory tool. Achieving co-ownership and control of the corporations. What to do with the financial system?

4.30pm Creating an Action Plan

5.15 pm Closing remarks. Wigan as an introduction to an online course,