Skip to main content
  • WSWS
  • ICFI
  • Mehring Books
  • ISSE
  • RSS Feed
  • Newsletter
ISSE logo
Student Movement of the ICFI and Socialist Equality Party
  • ISSE Groups
  • Statement of the ISSE
  • Downloads
  • Upcoming Events
  • Statements
  • Contact
  • Join
Home

San Diego State University ISSE

Printer-friendly versionSend to friendPDF version
News about the ISSE at San Diego State University

Dear ISSE members, students and workers,

The International Students for Social Equality will be undertaking a 6-week study of Marxist theory this summer at San Diego State University. The academic year now coming to a close witnessed an awakening of class struggle among students and workers worldwide. These struggles are an indication of the massive social unrest to come as the crisis of capitalism deepens. The ISSE summers school is designed to equip a new generation of working class youth with the theoretical tools necessary to navigate a revolutionary course through the coming period of struggle. We encourage all ISSE contacts to come to the school, the details of which can be found below. Please come to this important summer school, join the ISSE and take up the international struggle for socialism.

ISSE Summer School, 2010

When: May 24- June 28th, 2010. Monday nights from 6:30- 9:00 pm. Where: Storm Hall 348, SDSU campus.

Concept:

The International Students for Social Equality (ISSE) is the youth wing of the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI), the international revolutionary socialist party founded by Leon Trotsky in 1938. Following the degeneration of the USSR under the Stalinist bureaucracy Trotsky and the left opposition to Stalin established the Fourth International to carry on the legacy of Marxism. The ISSE defends the heritage of Marx, Engels, Lenin and Trotsky, and it is incumbent upon our membership to absorb the historical lessons of Marxism worked out in decades of working class struggles.

Starting with the Marxist philosophy of historical materialism, the ISSE summer school will focus on instilling in our members a sophisticated grasp of the Marxist method. We will explore topics such as the relationship between Marxist thought and the natural sciences, the relationship between the natural sciences and the social sciences and the relationship between the material world and its reflection in human thought. The opening philosophical discussion will set the framework for the rest of the summer school.

We will continue to develop on these philosophical themes, and use them to guide us through the remaining topics, opening up the discussion to include the objective and subjective factors of revolution, dialectic and formal logic and the consistent application of the Marxist method against the backdrop of class pressures produced by the ever-evolving global economic structure. Throughout the school, we will be considering these philosophical ideas not for the joy of abstract contemplation, but for the sake of working out and strengthening our revolutionary perspective. The power of Marxism is that it is true. Armed with the theoretical and historical perspective of the Fourth International, the ISSE will be poised to take a leading role in the international revolutionary struggles ahead.

Reading Schedule:

Week 1 (Meeting May 24th): Historical materialism 1) Marx, 1859 preface (http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1859/critique-pol-economy/preface.htm) 2) Marx and Engels German Ideology (Chapter 1; http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1845/german-ideology/ch01.htm)

Week 2 (meet May 31st): Historical materialism (continued) 1) Lenin, In Lieu of an introduction (from Materialism and Empirio-criticism; http://marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1908/mec/intro.htm - v14pp72h-022). 2) Engels, The part played by labor in the transition from ape to man (http://marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1876/part-played-labour/index.htm)

Week 3 (meet June 7th): The Leninist conception of the Party - Lenin, What is to be done? (http://marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1901/witbd/index.htm)

Week 4 (meet June 14th): Permanent Revolution - Trotsky, Results and Prospects and Permanent Revolution (http://marxists.org/archive/trotsky/1931/tpr/index.htm) - North, A significant contribution to an understanding of permanent revolution (http://wsws.org/articles/2010/apr2010/perm-a19.shtml)

Week 5 (meet June 21st): The Fourth International - Trotsky, The transitional program (http://marxists.org/archive/trotsky/1938/tp/index.htm) - Trotsky, A petty bourgeois opposition in the SWP (http://marxists.org/archive/trotsky/idom/dm/09-pbopp.htm)

Week 6 (meet June 28th): Globalization - Globalization and the International working class (http://www.wsws.org/exhibits/slreply/index.htm) - Marxist internationalism vs. the perspective of radical protest (All parts; http://wsws.org/articles/2000/feb2000/cho1-f21.shtml)

Please feel free to email us back with questions, comments or concerns. Thanks. Hope to see you all there!

We hope to see you all there!! :)

Please, feel free to email us with questions, comments and/or concerns. :)





ISSE article in the Daily Aztec

The rally called by the ISSE on Sept. 26, 2009 on the SDSU campus was highlighted in the Daily Aztec, SDSU's independent student paper.



Please click here or copy and paste the link below to read the article. http://www.thedailyaztec.com/city/group-voices-budget-concerns-1.1930214

The ISSE is enthusiastic about the turnout of the rally, and strongly feels that the rally will increase the visibility of our organization on the campus of SDSU. As was one of the central themes of the speeches at the rally, the ISSE believes that the coming period will be marked by increased mobilization of students throughout the globe, and in California in particular. The ISSE at SDSU is organizationally and theoretically poised to be the leading voice of socialism on our campus. Over the coming months we will continue to deliver the perspective of international socialism in a clear and principled manner.


Upcoming Events: 
Related Articles: 

ISSE members speak at San Diego rallies

March 5, 2010

Members of the International Students for Social Equality spoke March 4 at rallies in San Diego, which drew thousands of people to protest cuts to public education. The demonstrations were part of events throughout the state and country to oppose school closures, tuition increases, and teacher layoffs.

Related Group: 
San Diego State University ISSE
  • Add new comment
  • Feed: ISSE
  • Feed: Education in the US
  • Original article

Thousands rally in San Diego, California against education cuts

March 4, 2010
Previous | Image 1 of 5 | Next
The rally in downtown San Diego

About 1,000 students and faculty gathered at a March 4 rally against education cuts at San Diego State University in California. A similar number of people demonstrated at the University of California, San Diego. A subsequent demonstration in downtown San Diego drew several thousand.

The events in San Diego were among the largest demonstrations in the state. Tens of thousands of students, parents and workers demonstrated throughout the country against school closings, tuition hikes, and teacher layoffs. (See, “Students and staff protest against education cuts in US”)

Among the main speakers at the San Diego rallies were members of the International Students for Social Equality, the student organization of the Socialist Equality Party. The ISSE, which helped organize the demonstration at SDSU, called for a break with the Democratic Party and for a socialist movement to defend education.

Related Group: 
San Diego State University ISSE
  • Add new comment
  • Feed: ISSE
  • Feed: Education in the US
  • Original article
  • Read more

University protests continue in California

November 20, 2009
Protesters at the University of California, Berkeley

Protests at University of California (UC) campuses continued for a third day on Friday, as students mobilized against a massive hike in fees at the state’s institutions of public higher education.

Yesterday, the UC Board of Regents approved a 32 percent increase in fees for undergraduates attending a UC school. In total, the fee hike, which will be implemented in two stages over the course of 2010, will add about $2,500 a year to students’ bills. This will bring the price tag for enrolling in the UC system to more than $10,000 a year. This sum is in addition to the thousands of dollars that undergraduates and their families must pay in order to cover the costs for room, board, books and incidental expenses.

Related Group: 
San Diego State University ISSE
Related Group: 
ISSE at UC Berkeley
  • California Budget Cuts
  • Add new comment
  • Feed: Education in the US
  • Original article
  • Read more

California students and faculty denounce education cuts

September 25, 2009
Previous | Image 1 of 2 | Next
Students at UC Berkeley

Thousands of students, faculty, and workers rallied throughout California Thursday in opposition to budget cuts, tuition hikes, and faculty layoffs. The demonstrations were called on the first day of the new year at several of the schools, as students returned to sharp tuition increases and higher class sizes.

The turnout exceeded the expectations of organizers, reflecting mounting anger over the economic crisis and the massive budget cuts pushed through in California by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Democratic Party-controlled state legislature.

Rallies, teach-ins, and walkouts took place throughout the 10-campus UC system, which has 220,000 students and 170,000 faculty and staff.

UC campuses have laid off nearly 900 employees this year, and plan to lay off 1,000 more next year, according to a report by UC Vice President Patrick Lenz.

Related Group: 
ISSE at UC Berkeley
Related Group: 
San Diego State University ISSE
  • Add new comment
  • Read more

ISSE members speak on education cuts at rally

September 24, 2009

Members of the International Students for Social Equality denounced cuts to public education at a rally on Thursday. For more coverage of the event, see ISSE holds rally in San Diego in defense of public education.

Related Group: 
San Diego State University ISSE
  • Feed: ISSE
  • Feed: Education in the US
  • Original article

For a fight against education cuts in California!

September 22, 2009

This statement will be distributed to California university faculty, students and staff participating in a one-day walkout on September 24 to protest layoffs, pay cuts, and tuition increases. The ISSE at San Diego State University has called a rally on the same day.

Faculty and students in the University of California system are planning a walkout on September 24 to protest the attack on California’s university education system through a series of budget cuts, layoffs, furloughs, student fee hikes, and course reductions.

There is growing anger over the destruction of the public education system in California. The International Students for Social Equality (ISSE) supports the broadest popular mobilization to defend and advance public education in California and across the country. A successful fight, however, requires a new political perspective.

Related Group: 
ISSE at UC Berkeley
Related Group: 
San Diego State University ISSE
  • Statements
  • Add new comment
  • Feed: Education in the US
  • Original article
  • Read more

California State University student fees jump 33 percent

September 10, 2009
Students at the rally

Students at California’s universities returned to class last week amid increases in fees and mass layoffs of faculty and staff. The state of California has cut $3 billion in spending to its 110 community colleges, the 10-campus University of California (UC) system and the 23-campus California State University (CSU) system.

The UC system raised its fees by 9 percent after taking $300 million in cuts. But the State University system has been affected even more dramatically. The system took a $600 million funding cut, and universities raised fees by a third to compensate.

San Diego State University (SDSU), the third largest university in the California state system, has been hit by a $55 million budget cut, most of which is likely to be permanent. Student fees have increased by a third in four months, and the university has laid off 700 employees, including lecturers whose appointments were not renewed.

Related Group: 
San Diego State University ISSE
  • Read more

Location

San Diego State University
5500 Campanile Drive
San Diego, CA, 92182
United States

Today on the WSWS

  • Afghanistan: Offensive in Kandahar underway
  • Liberal Party accused of budget “black hole”
  • US Mid-East talks: A conspiracy against the Palestinians
  • Australia: Garment company returns to profit after axing jobs
  • “The steel in our ship of state”: Obama cowers before the military
  • Swedish prosecutor re-opens “rape” case against WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange
  • One million US public school students homeless
  • Pakistan floods exacerbate child hunger and malnutrition
  • Obama administration, media intensify campaign to hold teachers “accountable”
  • France steps up military intervention in Sahel
more
«  

September

  »
S M T W T F S
 
 
 
1
 
2
 
3
 
4
 
5
 
6
 
7
 
8
 
9
 
10
 
11
 
12
 
13
 
14
 
15
 
16
 
17
 
18
 
19
 
20
 
21
 
22
 
23
 
24
 
25
 
26
 
27
 
28
 
29
 
30
 
 
 

Search

Most Popular Stories

Today:

  • Ypsilanti, Michigan, board votes to close schools, impose layoffs
  • Join the ISSE
  • Long Beach, California school board approves 755 layoff notices

All time:

  • Join the ISSE
  • Long Beach, California school board approves 755 layoff notices
  • Contact

Last viewed:

  • Australian teacher unions call off NAPLAN boycott
  • RMIT University ISSE
  • Brockton, Mass.: Pink slips for 430 teachers

Languages

  • English English
  • Français Français
  • Deutsch Deutsch