What Marx Means to Me? - Bradford Literature Festival

Karl Marx’s seminal works, The Communist Manifesto and Das Kapital, were published at a time of political upheaval in Europe. Now, in the 200th anniversary year of Marx’s birth, his ideas are still relevant, studied the world over and remain at the heart of political debate.

We are pleased to welcome a stellar line-up of speakers who have each been inspired in different ways by Marxist philosophy. Renowned Marxist writer and broadcaster Richard Seymour, known for his long-running blog Lenin’s Tomb, is joined by socialist, feminist academic Professor Lynne Segal, author of Radical Happiness, and Dr. Rashmi Varma, a specialist in post-colonial theory and world literature. This is sure to be a lively and engaging discussion that will relate the personal to the political, explore the history and heritage of Marxist teachings and consider the potentials and promises they may hold for present and future societies.

Chair

Dibyesh Anand

@dibyeshanand

Professor Dibyesh Anand is the Head of the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Westminster in London. He is the author of monographs Geopolitical Exotica: Tibet in Western Imagination and Hindu Nationalism in India and the Politics of Fear and has published on varied topics including Tibet, China-India border dispute, Hindutva and Islamophobia, identity politics in Tanzania, and nationalism.

Speakers



Lynne Segal

@Lynne_Segal

Lynne Segalis a socialist feminist academic and activist, and participant in many campaigns, from local community to international. Her notable works include Why feminism?: gender, psychology, politics.



Rashmi Varma

@RashVarma

Rashmi Varma was born and raised in India and was educated in India and the US. Since 2004, she teaches English and Comparative Literary Studies at the University of Warwick in the UK. She is the author of The Postcolonial City and its Subjects and numerous essays on feminism, Marxism and postcolonial theory. She is a founding editorial collective member of the journal Feminist Dissent.

Richard Seymour

@leninology

Richard Seymour is a renowned Marxist author and broadcaster, known for his long-running blog Lenin's Tomb, his articles for the Guardian and Jacobin, and his 2016 book published by Verso called Corbyn: The Strange Rebirth of Radical Politics.