An essential introduction to Marxism for activists, students, and anyone curious about socialist ideas. This stream explores the foundations of Marxist theory, the history of class struggle, the workings of capitalism, and the strategies socialists have used to organise and fight back. Build your understanding of the ideas, debates, and tools that shape the struggle for a socialist future.

Participants are encouraged to read Introducing Marxism by Tom Bramble in preparation for the sessions.

From strikes to rank-and-file organising, this stream shows how the working class fights, builds power, and challenges the limits of union bureaucracy. With Marxist analysis of history, theory, and strategy, we explore the lessons for socialists today in rebuilding solidarity and collective strength.

From Latin America to Europe, Asia to Australia, revolutionaries are grappling with how to build parties rooted in struggle and socialist politics.

Marxism 2026 hosts socialist party builders from every corner of the globe to discuss their experiences, strategies, and lessons in constructing revolutionary organisation in a time of international crisis and resistance.

Bring the class war to life by exploring core sections of the global working class- from sweatshops and care work to farms, docks, public services, and the gig economy. This stream looks at the political economy of these industries, with a focus on the workers within them- from the ways they are exploited to their struggles, stories, and resistance.

This stream digs into the strategic tasks of building a revolutionary party: how Marxists approach “left unity,” why leadership and democratic organising matter, and how a party relates to students and workers, how and when revolutionaries can use elections as a platform. All of these things have been hotly debated within the revolutionary Marxist tradition, and continue to be important to clarify today. This stream is recommended for people with some familiarity with the politics of party building and who have done the preparatory reading.

Socialist Alternative has grown from a handful of revolutionary students in 1971 through to a thriving organisation of well over 700 today. While we have a long way to go before we seriously challenge capitalism, there are many lessons to be learned from this meaningful accomplishment. This stream is for comrades who want to gain an appreciation of the organisation's history in order to contribute to building its future.

From 1936 to 1939, Spanish workers and peasants fought a heroic battle against Franco's fascist forces. The revolution and civil war in Spain is one of the most controversial political battles of the 20th century. Across the world, people were divided into supporters of Franco and defenders of the Spanish Republic. Amongst opponents of fascism, though, important political divisions also emerged. Anarchists, dissident socialists, and revolutionaries argued that in order to defeat fascism, workers should take power into their own hands rather than supporting the Republican capitalists.

Huge debates raged amongst them about how to make workers' power a reality. The Communist Party, under orders from Stalin, allied with the Republican leaders and slaughtered those who wanted to extend the revolution, paving the way for Franco's eventual victory. This stream will look at the key political debates through the civil war, focusing on the roles played by the revolutionary anarchists, the Spanish Socialists, the POUM, and the Stalinists. It is recommended that people follow along and do the preparatory reading.

From the struggles of the Workers’ Opposition and the Decists to debates over soviets, trade unions, and the pressures of civil war, we explore the tensions between socialist democracy, bureaucratisation, and the survival of the revolution. This stream is aimed at people with knowledge of the 1917 revolution and the Bolsheviks. Reading is essential.

From the trenches of the First World War to the global struggles against fascism, imperialism, and superpower domination, revolutionary socialists have consistently stood against war and for the working class. This stream explores how socialists fought to end WWI, resisted the rise of fascism in WWII, challenged imperialist conflict during the Cold War, and opposed the Vietnam War—always placing class struggle, international solidarity, and revolutionary strategy at the centre. These sessions show that real peace can only be won through the organised power of workers, not the lies of governments or the compromises of liberal reformism.