John Rees (UK politician)
Encyclopedia
John Rees is a British political activist, broadcaster and writer who is a national officer of the Stop the War Coalition
and founding member of Counterfire who was formerly associated with the Socialist Workers Party
. For the Islam Channel, he is the writer and presenter of the political history series Timeline and a presenter of the Politics and Media programme.
and Marx
at Hull University
under Dr (now Lord) Bhikhu Parekh
. The result of that research, The Algebra of Revolution, was published by Routledge in 1998. When Georg Lukacs
' unknown manuscript "Tailism and the Dialectic" was discovered and published by Verso
in 2000, Rees provided the introduction to the volume.
, and was for many years on its Central Committee. He was editor of the quarterly journal International Socialism for ten years and the organiser of the SWP's annual Marxism festival in 1982 and 1983 and again between 1992 and 2002.
A co-founder and a current national officer for the Stop the War Coalition
, he has been a central organiser of all its marches including that of 15 February 2003. Rees is also vice president (Europe) of the Cairo Conference.
He was top of Respect – The Unity Coalition list in the West Midlands
region for the 2004 European Election
, and the Respect candidate for the Birmingham Hodge Hill by-election. He also stood for Respect in the 2006 local elections in the Bethnal Green South ward of Tower Hamlets
, East London where he came second to Labour. Rees was controversially not selected by the SWP Central Committee to be on the slate for re-election and did not stand independently at the January 2009 conference. Shortly after his partner Lindsey German
resigned from the SWP in 2010, Rees and 41 other members followed disenchanted with the party's direction, internal regime and approach to united fronts (18 others who had resigned in weeks prior also supported the resignations).
Rees is currently in the organisation Counterfire for which he has written two short books, Strategy and Tactics and along side Joseph Daher The People Demand: A short history of the Arab revolutions.
He is currently pursuing doctoral research on the Levellers
and the English Revolution at Goldsmiths, University of London. In 2006, John Pilger
said: "I know of few who speak and write more wisely of the danger we face from rapacious power, and what we should do about it, than John Rees".
Stop the War Coalition
The Stop the War Coalition is a United Kingdom group set up on 21 September 2001 that campaigns against what it believes are unjust wars....
and founding member of Counterfire who was formerly associated with the Socialist Workers Party
Socialist Workers Party (Britain)
The Socialist Workers Party is a far left party in Britain founded by Tony Cliff. The SWP's student section has groups at a number of universities...
. For the Islam Channel, he is the writer and presenter of the political history series Timeline and a presenter of the Politics and Media programme.
History
Rees was born in Wiltshire and was brought up and educated in Chippenham. His father, William Rees was from Aberdare, South Wales, and was a life-long trade union activist and Labour Party member. His mother, Margaret Rees (née Shipley) was from Darlington. Rees' first degree was in Politics from Portsmouth Polytechnic and he subsequently undertook research on HegelGeorg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel was a German philosopher, one of the creators of German Idealism. His historicist and idealist account of reality as a whole revolutionized European philosophy and was an important precursor to Continental philosophy and Marxism.Hegel developed a comprehensive...
and Marx
Karl Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx was a German philosopher, economist, sociologist, historian, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. His ideas played a significant role in the development of social science and the socialist political movement...
at Hull University
University of Hull
The University of Hull, known informally as Hull University, is an English university, founded in 1927, located in Hull, a city in the East Riding of Yorkshire...
under Dr (now Lord) Bhikhu Parekh
Bhikhu Parekh, Baron Parekh
Bhikhu Chotalal Parekh, Baron Parekh is a political theorist.-Biography:Parekh was born in the village of Amalsad in the province of Gujarat, India; his father was a goldsmith with a basic education. Parekh was admitted to the University of Bombay at the age of 15, and earned a Bachelor's degree...
. The result of that research, The Algebra of Revolution, was published by Routledge in 1998. When Georg Lukacs
Georg Lukács
György Lukács was a Hungarian Marxist philosopher and literary critic. He is a founder of the tradition of Western Marxism. He contributed the concept of reification to Marxist philosophy and theory and expanded Karl Marx's theory of class consciousness. Lukács' was also an influential literary...
' unknown manuscript "Tailism and the Dialectic" was discovered and published by Verso
Verso Books
Verso Books is a publishing house based in London and New York City, founded in 1970 by the staff of New Left Review. The company claims "global sales approaching $3 million per year and over 350 titles in print," possibly making it "the largest radical publisher in the English-language...
in 2000, Rees provided the introduction to the volume.
Politics
Elected a member of the National Executive of the National Union of Students in the early 1980s, Rees is a former leading member of the Socialist Workers PartySocialist Workers Party (Britain)
The Socialist Workers Party is a far left party in Britain founded by Tony Cliff. The SWP's student section has groups at a number of universities...
, and was for many years on its Central Committee. He was editor of the quarterly journal International Socialism for ten years and the organiser of the SWP's annual Marxism festival in 1982 and 1983 and again between 1992 and 2002.
A co-founder and a current national officer for the Stop the War Coalition
Stop the War Coalition
The Stop the War Coalition is a United Kingdom group set up on 21 September 2001 that campaigns against what it believes are unjust wars....
, he has been a central organiser of all its marches including that of 15 February 2003. Rees is also vice president (Europe) of the Cairo Conference.
He was top of Respect – The Unity Coalition list in the West Midlands
West Midlands (European Parliament constituency)
West Midlands is a constituency of the European Parliament. For 2009 it elected 6 MEPs using the d'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation. The constituency will also elect a "virtual MEP" who will be able to sit in the Parliament if the Treaty of Lisbon comes into effect...
region for the 2004 European Election
European Parliament election, 2004 (UK)
The European Parliament election, 2004 was the UK part of the European Parliament election, 2004. It was held on 10 June. It was the first European election to be held in the United Kingdom using postal-only voting in four areas. It coincided with local and London elections.The Conservative Party...
, and the Respect candidate for the Birmingham Hodge Hill by-election. He also stood for Respect in the 2006 local elections in the Bethnal Green South ward of Tower Hamlets
Tower Hamlets Council election, 2006
Elections to Tower Hamlets London Borough Council were held on 4 May 2006. The entire council stood for election and the Labour party retained control.-Election result:-Ward...
, East London where he came second to Labour. Rees was controversially not selected by the SWP Central Committee to be on the slate for re-election and did not stand independently at the January 2009 conference. Shortly after his partner Lindsey German
Lindsey German
Lindsey German is the convenor of the British anti-war organisation Stop the War Coalition and a former member of the central committee of the Socialist Workers Party. She was editor of Socialist Review for twenty years until 2004...
resigned from the SWP in 2010, Rees and 41 other members followed disenchanted with the party's direction, internal regime and approach to united fronts (18 others who had resigned in weeks prior also supported the resignations).
Rees is currently in the organisation Counterfire for which he has written two short books, Strategy and Tactics and along side Joseph Daher The People Demand: A short history of the Arab revolutions.
He is currently pursuing doctoral research on the Levellers
Levellers
The Levellers were a political movement during the English Civil Wars which emphasised popular sovereignty, extended suffrage, equality before the law, and religious tolerance, all of which were expressed in the manifesto "Agreement of the People". They came to prominence at the end of the First...
and the English Revolution at Goldsmiths, University of London. In 2006, John Pilger
John Pilger
John Richard Pilger is an Australian journalist and documentary maker, based in London. He has twice won Britain's Journalist of the Year Award, and his documentaries have received academy awards in Britain and the US....
said: "I know of few who speak and write more wisely of the danger we face from rapacious power, and what we should do about it, than John Rees".
Books
- The ABC of Socialism (1994) ISBN 0-906224-96-9
- In Defence of October: A Debate on the Russian Revolution (with others including Robin BlackburnRobin BlackburnRobin Blackburn is a British socialist historian, a former editor of New Left Review , an author of essays on Marx, capitalism and socialism, and of books on the history of slavery and on social policy...
) (1997) ISBN 1-898876-28-2 - The Algebra of Revolution: The Dialectic and the Classical Marxist Tradition (1998) ISBN 0-415-19877-1
- Essays on Historical Materialism (editor) (1998) ISBN 1-898876-38-X
- Imperialism and Resistance (2006) ISBN 0-415-34676-2
Articles
- "Trotsky and the Dialectic of History" (1990)
- "Engels's Marxism" (1994)
- "The Socialist Revolution and the Democratic Revolution" (1999)
- "Tony Cliff: Theory and Practice" (2000)
- "Imperialism: Globalisation, the State and War" (2001)
- "The Broad Party, the Revolutionary Party and the United Front" (2002)
- "Socialism in the Twenty-first Century" (2003)