Anti-fascism: Descendants of Spanish Civil War Veterans Compare Their fathers’ Left to Current Identity Politics, Language Policing and Social Activism
June 3, 2023

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Panelists: Janette Higgins, Dov Osheroff
Moderator: Willy Maley

Description: Three descendants of Spanish Civil War veterans sit down to talk about their fathers, their working class backgrounds their growing political consciousness and how they literally went off to fight fascism in the international brigades of the Spanish Civil War.

Janette Higgins is the daughter of Spanish Civil War veteran Jim Higgins. She resides in Toronto and is the editor of her father’s memoir Fighting for Democracy, the true story of Jim Higgins (1907-1982) published in 2020.

Dov Osheroff is a carpenter, son of Spanish Civil War veteran Abe Osheroff and lives in the San Francisco Bay area.

Willy Maley is the son of James Maley, veteran of the Spanish Civil War. Willy is a professor of English Literature at the University of Glasgow, Scotland as well as a playwright, poet and co-author of the book Our Fathers Fought Franco.

The conversation is organized in two parts.

Part I begins with a short clip of Christian Parenti and Max Blumenthal talking about today’s left and pointing out how it is no longer made up of working class people.

This sets the stage for our three panelists whose fathers represent a left that couldn’t have been more different than that of today – totally rooted in the working class.

The discussion begins with an introduction to their fathers, their childhoods and how they became politicized and eventually volunteered to fight fascism in the international brigades of the Spanish Civil War. They talk about their careers after the war and how they were affected by their experiences in the war.

Part II is a conversation about how their fathers might view today’s political and social climate of rising censorship, identity politics and today’ forms of activism that bear no resemblance to their own struggles to create a more just world.

*Note: Participation by any panelist does not indicate their agreement with or endorsement of the opinions of any other conference participant. The presence of any panelist does not mean Plebity endorses or shares their opinions.

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Dov and Willy talking – perspectives from the left on political violence, history, colonialism, imperialism, racism, antisemitism, social media and the importance of critical thinking and debate

Dov and Willy talking – perspectives from the left on political violence, history, colonialism, imperialism, racism, antisemitism, social media and the importance of critical thinking and debate

Dov Osheeroff and Willy Maley - perspectives from the left

Dov Osheroff and Willy Maley: perespectives from the left on political violence, history, colonialism, imperialism, racism, antisemitism, social media and the importance of critical thinking and debate

Participants:
Willy Maley
Dov Osheroff

Moderator:
Mark White

UncategorizedFree speech and the left conference 2023
International conference will look at free speech on the left

International conference will look at free speech on the left

Conference 

Censorship, cancel culture, identity politics and other issues will go under the microscope during the Free Speech and the Left conference June 17 to 24.

The online event will feature authors, academics, journalists and activists from a dozen countries. The conference will consist of pre-recorded presentations, panel discussions and livestream segments.

Co-hosted by Plebity, India & Global Left, Redline, and acTVism Munich, the conference will be broadcast on Plebity’s YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/@plebity).

Participants will include Nadine Strossen, Richard Wolff, Freddie deBoer, Noam Chomsky, Jill Stein, Susan Neiman, Tara Henley and Jacob Mchangama.

Conference 2023FeaturedFree speech and the left conference 2023
Preview next week’s Free Speech and the Left conference

Preview next week’s Free Speech and the Left conference

Conference 

conference preview - 20 hours in five minutes

View this 5 minute preview of next week’s Free Speech and the Left conference

Our panelists discuss censorship, cancel culture, identity politics, the relevance of today’s left and other issues during the upcoming Free Speech and the Left conference.

The online event will take place June 17 to 24 and feature authors, academics, journalists and activists from a dozen countries. The conference will consist of pre-recorded presentations, panel discussions and livestream segments.

Participants include Nadine Strossen, Richard Wolff, Freddie deBoer, Noam Chomsky, Jill Stein, Susan Neiman, Tara Henley, Paul Jay, Jacob Mchangama, Norman Finkelstein, Wayne Hsiung, Katherine Corcoran, Ioan Grillo, Matthew Hoh, Lawrence Wilkerson and others…

Co-hosted by Plebity, India & Global Left, Redline, and acTVism Munich, the conference will be broadcast on Plebity’s YouTube channel.

The full list of panels and conference schedule can be found here: https://www.plebity.org/conference-2023-free-speech-and-the-left/.