Understanding the Crisis Part 4: What are governments for?

Living under Covid-19 and a lockdown has taught us many things about ourselves and the society we live in. But what has it taught us about capitalism, the system that underpins and dominates life across the globe? In this introductory seminar series taking place each week throughout the festival, Jeremy Gilbert and guests will look at what this historic experience can teach us about capitalism and the politics that inform it.

This week we'll be looking at how, for the past 40 years, we’ve been told that governments can’t do much to change our lives: they can’t fix climate change, they can’t make housing cheaper, they can’t care for the old or educate the young properly. Suddenly this year, we learned that they can manage a complete alteration of every aspect of our lives in a matter of weeks. How come?

Photo Credit:

Jorge Martin

https://www.facebook.com/jorge.martin.1917
https://twitter.com/marxistJorge

NOTE: Participants who register for this course will be sent a video recording of around 40 minutes a day or two before the event. The live session will then be a participatory Q&A where people can ask questions and share thoughts on the content of the video. Basically, it's like a video version of a reading group! To get the most out of the course, we encourage people to try and make it to as many of the sessions in the course as possible. Registration for the next session in the course will open once the previous one has taken place.