Greaves Summer School `99
by Cathal Mac Gabhann
The annual Desmond Greaves Summer School reconvened for the eleventh time since his death in 1988. Desmond Greaves was a dedicated and committed socialist-republican revolutionary, intellectual and historian. His masterpieces were Liam Mellows and the Irish Revolution and The Life and Times of James Connolly, both of which are essential reading for republicans seeking a deeper and broader understanding of the struggle.
The Summer School was held in the Irish Labour History Museum in Beggar's Bush last weekend from Friday 27 August until Sunday 29 August. It consisted of four lectures to be given respectively by Thomas Metscher, Liam O'Dowd, Ruan O'Donnell and James Anderson. They spoke on various topics covering the EU, the origins of European civilisation, the nation state, the Act of Union, etc.
On Friday evening, the school opened with Professor Thomas Metscher of Bremen in Germany delivering the first lecture on ``Europe and the Logic of Domination: Notes on a Dialectic of Culture''. He discussed the origins of European civilisation and how this was based on the ``logic of domination''. He elaborated this point further to how this domination was asserted economically, socially, militarily and politically. This resulted in the subordination of women, subject peoples, the working class, etc, and in the territorial conquest and material exploitation of native peoples in Ireland, the Americas, Africa and most of Asia.
His second point dealt with how this domination had to be justified morally and how those who were dominated had to be demonised in order to emphasise the righteousness of these conquerors. He then went on to tackle the ``Eurocentic Myth'' which basically asserts supremacy and superiority of European culture. The notion that Europe is, and has been, a unified whole was also contradicted. He argued that Europe has always consisted of various components on historical, social, political, geographical and economical levels.
The second lecture on Saturday was given by Liam O'Dowd from Queen's in Belfast and it was entitled ''Globalisation and the E.U.: End of the Nation-State''. He challenged the notion that the nation-state was coming to an end. He demonstrated that nation-states have in fact proliferated this century, especially in Europe, in the last ten years, and how it is quite conceiveable of there being 400 or 500 in the next century. He argued that globalisation could in fact be a process where these smaller units become linked in ways other than the forced mergers of past empires. After this lecture, Greaves's comic epic poem Elephants Against Rome was recited.
Dr. Ruan O'Donnell of Limerick University delivered the third lecture, Making the Union: The Act of Union in History on Sunday morning. This was an interesting lecture where the backround to the Act of Union was discussed. He also outlined how this Act was forced through, contrary to the interests of all sections of Irish society, including the Protestant Ascendancy. He discussed the issue of security being the most overriding objective of the British Government, and how the Rebellion two years previously had almost overwhelmed the reactionary colonial regime in Ireland. This would undoubtedly have made Ireland the revolutionary bridgehead into Britain, the position that Britain desperately feared during the abortive Bantry Bay Invasion in 1796.
Other points that were discussed were Pitt's desire to effect Catholic Emancipation, the tacit support of the Catholic Church towards Union, the lack of public interest in the debates, the continuing disturbances even after the Rebellion, and the ongoing fear of an imminent French Invasion. Many issues were discussed and elaborated upon and it was altogether a stimulating lecture. However, it concentrated on the political implications of Union, whereas the economic and social implications could have been given more attention.
Due to an illness, Professor James Anderson of Newcastle couldn't give his lecture on ``North-South Development or Partition and Sectarian Conflict'' later on in the afternoon. A symposium was convened where many issues regarding the North-South bodies were discussed. There were many contributors and this encouraged an interesting discussion.
All in all, the lectures were worthwhile and educational. There perhaps should have been more republicans in attendance, as much could have been gained from the discussions about Europe in particular. While much of the lectures are intellectually deep and require heavy digestion for the uninitiated, they are worth attending, whereas the Summer School could do with an injection of younger blood.
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