This umbrella term is commonly associated with the economic and political aspects while little attention was paid to its historical achievement in human rights and equality. This Sunday, a meeting will discuss its interconnected nature and high relevance to nowadays.
There are two moments of socialism: scientific socialism and modern socialism.
The latter is believed to be more relevant to the current situation because it involves various interpretations depending on one’s national situation which is cannot be encapsulated in one single framework.
This is the view of Claudio Chipana – founder of Café Filosofico (The Philosophy Café) in London and a former coordinator in the Latin American Recognition Campaign (LARC) and a columnist for The Prisma.
Chipana is himself dedicated to various issues including Latin America, migration and multiculturalism and, in memory of the 100 years Bolshevik revolution in Russia, he decided to set the topic for discussion as “what does socialism mean in the present situation locally and globally” for the last regular meeting of the year of the Café.
Following the thought of the Peruvian thinker, José Carlos Mariátegui, he put forward his view that: “socialism has to be created from the particular circumstances according to the differences in where you live; it has to be ‘heroic creation’, not an imitation”. He therefore preferred not to point to any single nation when asked if any socialist country exists in the world at present.
“It is necessary to talk about socialism, because of the profound crisis of capitalism”, said Chipana. Given that there are two ideologies dominating the world, he believes it is essential to put forward for debate the richness of the interpretations of socialism.
“Socialism is everywhere”, he added: “whatever the manifestation of socialism that has appeared … Whether people call themselves socialists or communists or just simply freedom fighters or democracy fighters. In one way or another they are linked to socialism in a broad sense”.
When asked for his opinion on Churchill’s quote: “capitalism is the unequal distribution of wealth. Socialism is the equal distribution of poverty”, he pointed out that capitalism is serving the minority- top 5% or 1%- and creating an illusion for the rest while socialism is seeking the good for everyone.
However, he thinks it is not easy to change people’s mentality under the influence of capitalist ideology; this can only be changed through education, discussions and debates.
“It is impossible to think of socialism as poverty. It’s the other way around”, he stressed.
The conversation is open to anyone who is interested, and Claudio will develop his opinion regarding this issue.
Place: 103 Newington Butts, SE1 6SE, London Date: December 10, from 5.30 pm. More information: firstname.lastname@example.org, Tel: 07427635508. To book a table: Phone: 02077015431, Sabor peruano internacional.