Memorial lecture well attended
By Lisa Macdonald
SYDNEY — Eighty people braved unusually cold and rainy weather to attend the 1994 Jim Percy Memorial Lecture here on October 18. The lecture, given by Dick Nichols from the Democratic Socialist Party National Executive, was the second annual lecture held to commemorate the life of Jim Percy, the party's general secretary for 20 years and a widely respected socialist leader, who died in 1992.
The lecture, titled "Socialism in the '90s", addressed the continuing relevance of Marxism as a theoretical tool for explaining world developments and, more specifically, the practical usefulness of Leninism as a method for organising the working class movement to achieve revolutionary social change.
The discussion which followed raised a wide range of issues, from the role of social democracy in post-Stalinist left politics to the place of market forces in those societies like Cuba in a transitional stage between capitalism and socialism.
The meeting also launched a new book which brings together a collection of talks given by Jim Percy between 1990 and 1992. The book, titled The Democratic Socialist Party — Traditions, Lessons and Socialist Perspectives, puts the arguments for a revolutionary socialist party in advanced capitalist countries like Australia.
The broad interest in the problems and the future of socialism indicated by this meeting reveals the need for more public forums and opportunities for debate and discussion about the way forward for socialists.