Resistance (socialist youth organisation)
Encyclopedia
Resistance is a Revolutionary Socialist
youth organisation with its national headquarters in Sydney
. Resistance is an independent affiliate of the Socialist Alliance
with a strong historical relationship with the Democratic Socialist Perspective
, which dissolved into the Socialist Alliance in 2010.
Membership is open to everyone under 26 who is living in Australia and broadly agrees with the aims of Resistance. As a youth organisation, Resistance campaigns as a group of young people within the social movements rather than only focusing on issues relating to youth.
There are Resistance branches in Adelaide, Brisbane, Geelong, Hobart, Melbourne, Newcastle, Perth, Sydney and Wollongong which operate out of the activist centre in each city.
Resistance held their 39th national conference in Wollongong, 24-26 April 2010.
Resistance also campaigns around international issues such as ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, ending the occupation of Palestine , support for the Venezuelan and Cuban governments,, support for Tamil self-determination in Sri Lanka.
, and each edition includes one page dedicated to articles written by Resistance members about youth issues.
Socialist Club and the Vietnam Action Campaign. This was a time when students were being radicalised by the Vietnam war. The original name for the organisation was SCREW, said either to stand for Society for the Cultivation of Rebellion Every Where, or Sydney Committee for Revolution and Emancipation of the Working Class. After a few months the name was changed to Resistance, and at the founding national conference in 1970 the name was changed to Socialist Youth Alliance, to be changed back to Resistance 10 years later.
Recent campaigns that Resistance has helped organise and lead include high school walkouts against Pauline Hanson in 1998, Books not Bombs anti-war protests in 2003, the APEC protests against George Bush in 2007 and Students Against the Pulp Mill in 2008.
When the DSP and several other groups formed the Socialist Alliance
in early 2001, Resistance gave its solidarity but did not affiliate to the Alliance until late 2003.
Revolutionary socialism
The term revolutionary socialism refers to Socialist tendencies that advocate the need for fundamental social change through revolution by mass movements of the working class, as a strategy to achieve a socialist society...
youth organisation with its national headquarters in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
. Resistance is an independent affiliate of the Socialist Alliance
Socialist Alliance (Australia)
The Socialist Alliance was founded in 2001 as an alliance of socialist organisations and individuals in Australia, initiated by the Democratic Socialist Perspective and the International Socialist Organisation along with 6 other founding socialist organisations, to create greater left unity in the...
with a strong historical relationship with the Democratic Socialist Perspective
Democratic Socialist Perspective
The Democratic Socialist Perspective was an Australian Marxist political group, which operated as the largest component of a broad-left socialist formation, the Socialist Alliance...
, which dissolved into the Socialist Alliance in 2010.
Membership is open to everyone under 26 who is living in Australia and broadly agrees with the aims of Resistance. As a youth organisation, Resistance campaigns as a group of young people within the social movements rather than only focusing on issues relating to youth.
There are Resistance branches in Adelaide, Brisbane, Geelong, Hobart, Melbourne, Newcastle, Perth, Sydney and Wollongong which operate out of the activist centre in each city.
Resistance held their 39th national conference in Wollongong, 24-26 April 2010.
Campaigns
Resistance campaigns on many social justice and environmental issues. Current national campaigns include: action on climate change, equal marriage rights, stopping internet censorship by the Australian government, rolling back the Northern Territory Intervention, ending mandatory detention for asylum seekers, and equal rights for women.Resistance also campaigns around international issues such as ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, ending the occupation of Palestine , support for the Venezuelan and Cuban governments,, support for Tamil self-determination in Sri Lanka.
Green Left Weekly
Resistance members help to write for and produce Green Left WeeklyGreen Left Weekly
Green Left Weekly is an Australian radical left-wing newspaper, written by progressive activists to "present the views excluded by the big business media". It was published by the Democratic Socialist Perspective from its inception in 1990 until January 2010, when the DSP merged into the Socialist...
, and each edition includes one page dedicated to articles written by Resistance members about youth issues.
History
Resistance was formed in 1967 out of the Sydney UniversityUniversity of Sydney
The University of Sydney is a public university located in Sydney, New South Wales. The main campus spreads across the suburbs of Camperdown and Darlington on the southwestern outskirts of the Sydney CBD. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and Oceania...
Socialist Club and the Vietnam Action Campaign. This was a time when students were being radicalised by the Vietnam war. The original name for the organisation was SCREW, said either to stand for Society for the Cultivation of Rebellion Every Where, or Sydney Committee for Revolution and Emancipation of the Working Class. After a few months the name was changed to Resistance, and at the founding national conference in 1970 the name was changed to Socialist Youth Alliance, to be changed back to Resistance 10 years later.
Recent campaigns that Resistance has helped organise and lead include high school walkouts against Pauline Hanson in 1998, Books not Bombs anti-war protests in 2003, the APEC protests against George Bush in 2007 and Students Against the Pulp Mill in 2008.
When the DSP and several other groups formed the Socialist Alliance
Socialist Alliance (Australia)
The Socialist Alliance was founded in 2001 as an alliance of socialist organisations and individuals in Australia, initiated by the Democratic Socialist Perspective and the International Socialist Organisation along with 6 other founding socialist organisations, to create greater left unity in the...
in early 2001, Resistance gave its solidarity but did not affiliate to the Alliance until late 2003.
External links
- Resistance
- Green Left Weekly reference
- Socialist Alliance