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a social club for socialists

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  • Week #9

    Hello comrades,

    Sorry about the lateness of this week’s email – some of us (me) have been hit by our end-of-term vibes a little too early.

    This evening our final Care and Community meeting of the summer will be taking place in Marrowbone, but don’t worry, a chairde, all three groups will be back in October! We will be doing some plotting during our time off, and will announce our plans for the autumn in a few weeks’ time!

    Next week our very very final summer session, our film club, will be taking place in Ballybough, and we will be discussing Alcàrras. Newcomers are always welcome! We truly love to see your beautiful faces appearing!

    This week

    TUE 7PM –> Active Neutrality // Connolly Books
    THU 7PM –> Healthcare // Marrowbone Books

    Next week

    WED 7PM -> Alcàrras @ Film Club // Ballybough CC

    ———————————————

    THIS WEEK!

    Militarism and Neutrality #5

    Tuesday 18 August 2025 / 7pm-8.30pm //
    Connolly Books, 43 Essex Street East, Dublin 2

    (Our meeting is going to run a little bit longer this week, to facilitate some conversation about the autumn!)

    Active Neutrality

    Core Reading

    • Karen Devine, Struggling for Active Neutrality, the Triple Lock and Peace, available at: https://www.rundale.org/2025/07/31/the-struggle-for-active-neutrality-the-triple-lock-and-peace/
    • Edward Horgan, Ireland must use active neutrality to promote peace in Ukraine, available at:https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/f/ireland-must-use-active-neutrality-promote-peace-ukraine
    • International Peace Bureau, Military & Environment: The Carbon Boot-Print, available at: https://www.ipb.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/IPB-Information-Paper-the-carbon-boot-print-1.pdf

    Further Reading

    • Centre Delàs d’Estudis per la Pau, Climate Crisis, Armed Forces and Environmental Peace, available at: https://centredelas.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/informe49_ClimateCrisisArmedForcesEnvironmentalPeace_ENG.pdf
    • International Peace Bureau, Move the money from military to social purposes, available at: https://demilitarize.org/resources/ipb-brochure-move-the-money-from-military-to-social-purposes/
    • Karen Devine, The Resilience of Irish Neutrality, available at: https://www.e-ir.info/2024/07/09/the-resilience-of-irish-neutrality/#google_vignette
    • Win Without War, Re-imagining US Military Spending for the 21st Century and Beyond, available at: https://winwithoutwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Reimagining-Security-Spending_Final.pdf

    ———————————————

    Care and Community #5

    Thursday 20 August 2025 / 7pm-8pm //
    Marrowbone Books, 78 The Coombe, Dublin 8

    Healthcare

    • S. Connolly, Improving access to healthcare in Ireland: an implementation failure. Accessible at: https://saintsandscholars.club/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/im…
    • B. Alder-Bolton & A. Vierkant, Surplus. Accessible at: https://thenewinquiry.com/surplus/
    • R. L. Quarterman, Healthcare in Cuba: How a tiny island defies US sanctions to lead in healthcare. Accessible at: https://peoplesdispatch.org/2025/03/18/healthcare-in-cuba-ho…

    Further Reading

    • S. Lamrani, The Health System in Cuba: Origin, Doctrine and Results. Accessible at: https://journals.openedition.org/etudescaribeennes/24110

    ———————————————

    NEXT WEEK!

    Film Club #5

    Wednesday 27 August 2025 / 7pm-8pm //
    Ballybough Community Centre, 49 Ballybough Rd, Dublin 3

    [FYI this is not a screening! Just a chat!]

    Alcàrras (dir. Carla Simon, 2022) [LINK TO WATCH]

    The life of a family of peach farmers in a small village in Catalonia changes when the owner of their large estate dies and his lifetime heir decides to sell the land, suddenly threatening their livelihood.
    Suggested reading:
    “‘Alcarras’ Is a Powerful Movie About a Divided Family Fighting for Its Future”, Rolling Stone website, K. Austin Collins: https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-reviews/alcarras-review-spain-powerful-movie-divided-family-solar-panels-farming-future-1234657180/
    Carla Simón on Alcarràs: “filming is an act of love”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaXwrzaMEhs

    ———————————————

    Love and solidarity,
    SAINTS AND SCHOLARS ☘️ 🩷

    August 21, 2025
  • Week #7

    Hello comrades,

    Hope you are all having a lovely bank holiday weekend! This week we have three groups running, including our brand! new! online! group! Hopefully see some of you there? This week we are going to be discussing data centres, but we’re really interested to hear what topics people would like the group to focus on.

    Also, our Care and Community group is going to be running at 7pm this week, so a little bit earlier than it has been!

    This week

    TUE 7PM –> Operation Gladio // Connolly Books
    WED 7PM –> Data Centres // ONLINE!!
    THU 7PM –> Privatisation & Social Care // Marrowbone Books

    Next week

    WED 7PM -> Ratcatcher @ Film Club // Ballybough CC

    P.S. Always and forever, if you have one article read out of a group’s reading list, you’re set to attend! So please don’t be stressing about coming if you haven’t managed to get through the full readings.

    ———————————————

    THIS WEEK!

    Militarism and Neutrality #4

    Tuesday 5 August 2025 / 7pm-8pm //
    Connolly Books, 43 Essex Street East, Dublin 2

    Operation Gladio

    Core Reading

    • Daniel Singer, ‘The Gladiators’ (10 Dec 1990) https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/gladiators/
    • Clare Pedrick, ‘CIA Organized Secret Army in Western Europe’ (14 Nov 1990) for the Washington Post available at: https://web.archive.org/web/20230324205950/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1990/11/14/cia-organized-secret-army-in-western-europe/e0305101-97b9-4494-bc18-d89f42497d85/
    • Excerpts from Daniele Ganser, “NATO’s Secret Armies: Operation GLADIO and Terrorism in Western Europe” (2004) https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vSl1Am_xJ_qmvACp4yaNLFl79SamI3QBZoIoK7zpKU02YRQ6U6B2-A7Fv84NgloX3CyzagUqCbIan2z/pub

    Further Reading (Optional background info!)

    • The Cold War channel ‘Operation Gladio: How the West Wanted to Defend against the USSR’ (15mins) https://youtu.be/tIat4tYtG94?si=3yHAQoP_BI2YZRob and part 2 (23mins) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbC_t3IBEpI
    • BBC 2, ‘Timewatch’ documentary on Gladio (1992) (2hrs 25mins) available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGHXjO8wHsA&t=2307s
    • CTH Zurich’s Parallel History Project’s chronology of events https://phpisn.ethz.ch/lory1.ethz.ch/collections/coll_gladio/chronology76c1.html?navinfo=15301
    • Philip Willan, ‘Obituary: Paolo Emilio Taviani’ (21 Jun 2001) https://web.archive.org/web/20221222022712/https://www.theguardian.com/news/2001/jun/21/guardianobituaries.philipwillan
    • Philip Willan, ‘US supported anti-left terror in Italy’ (24 Jun 2000) https://www.theguardian.com/world/2000/jun/24/terrorism
    • European Parliament resolution on Gladio (22 Nov 1990) https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/European_Parliament_resolution_on_Gladio

    ———————————————

    Online Reading Group #1

    Wednesday 6 August July 2025 / 7pm-8pm //

    ONLINE @ Zoom

    Data Centres

    • Not Here, Not Anywhere, Irish Data Centres: An Introduction. Available at: https://listen.dublindigitalradio.com/news-events/irish-data-centres-an-introduction-by-no
    • Becca Inglis, We Need Socialist to Fix Our Broken Internet. Available at: https://www.huckmag.com/article/we-need-socialism-to-fix-our-broken-internet
    • Evgeny Morozov, Socialize the Data Centres! Available at: https://saintsandscholars.club/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Evgeny-Morozov-Socialize-the-Data-Centres-NLR-91-January-February-2015.pdf

    Further Reading

    • James Bridle, Power in a Networked World. Available at: https://exposingtheinvisible.org/en/interviews/james-power-in-a-networked-world/

    ———————————————

    Care and Community #4

    Thursday 7 August 2025 / 7pm-8pm //
    Marrowbone Books, 78 The Coombe, Dublin 8

    Privatisation and Social Care

    • Neoliberalism, austerity, and social work. Available at: https://saintsandscholars.club/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DOC-20250727-WA0003.pdf
    • Bob Hudson, Adult Social Care: Is Privatisation Irreversible? Available at: https://sochealth.co.uk/2018/02/15/adult-social-care-privatisation-irreversible/
    • James Graham, Socialism Needs Disability Justice. Available at:  https://www.midnightsunmag.ca/socialism-needs-disability-justice/

    Further Reading

    • Jesse Chase, Community Care in the Revolution. Available at: https://hoodcommunist.org/2020/11/12/community-care-in-the-revolution/amp/

    ———————————————

    NEXT WEEK!

    Film Club #4

    Wednesday 13 August 2025 / 7pm-8pm //
    Ballybough Community Centre, 49 Ballybough Rd, Dublin 3

    [FYI this is not a screening! Just a chat!]

    Ratcatcher (dir. Lynne Ramsey, 1999) [LINK TO WATCH]

    James Gillespie is 12 years old. The world he knew is changing. Haunted by a secret, he has become a stranger in his own family. He is
    drawn to the canal where he creates a world of his own. He finds an
    awkward tenderness with Margaret Anne, a vulnerable 14 year old expressing a need for love in all the wrong  ways, and befriends Kenny, who possesses an unusual innocence in spite of the harsh surroundings

    Suggested reading: “Ratcatcher: A Flashlight Cinema” by Girish Shambu: https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/7571-ratcatcher-a-flashlight-cinema 

    Social Realism, ScreenOnline: http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/1037898/index.html

    Optional further viewing:Kes (dir. Ken Loach, 1969) 

    This is England (dir. Shane Meadows, 2006)

    ———————————————

    Love and solidarity,
    SAINTS AND SCHOLARS ☘️ 🩷

    August 3, 2025
  • Week #6

    A chairde,

    Tonight our third film club will be taking place in Ballybough Community Centre! All welcome!

    Next week we will be running three readings group, including our first ONLINE session, which we’re really looking forward to! The online sessions are beginning with a discussion on data centres, but we’re really really open to what topics attendees would like to focus on in the future.

    We’ve also included some information below on the Neutrality Roadshow, who kindly enough gave our Militarism group a short talk last week!

    This week

    WED 7PM -> Neptune Frost (2021) @ Film Club // Ballybough CC

    Next week

    TUE 7PM –> Operation Glado // Connolly Books
    WED 7PM –> Data Centres // ONLINE!!
    THU 7PM –> Privatisation & Social Care // Marrowbone Books

    P.S. Always and forever, if you have one article read out of a group’s reading list, you’re set to attend! So please don’t be stressing about coming if you haven’t managed to get through the full readings.

    ———————————————

    THIS WEEK!

    Film Club #3

    Wednesday 30 July 2025 / 7pm-8pm //
    Ballybough Community Centre, 49 Ballybough Rd, Dublin 3

    [FYI this is not a screening! Just a chat!]

    Neptune Frost (dir. Saul Williams and Anisia Uzeyman, 2021) [LINK TO WATCH]

    A group of escaped coltan miners forms an anti-colonialist computer hacker collective in the hilltops of Burundi. They soon attempt a takeover of the authoritarian regime that’s exploiting the region’s natural resources — and its people.

    Suggested reading: “Neptune Frost, the Afrofuturist Musical Imagining Life Beyond Capitalism: Interview with Williams & Uzeyman” – Xuanlin Tham. Available at: https://www.anothermag.com/design-living/14495/neptune-frost-afrofuturist-musical-anisia-uzeyman-saul-williams-interview

    ———————————————

    NEXT WEEK!

    Militarism and Neutrality #4

    Tuesday 5 August 2025 / 7pm-8pm //
    Connolly Books, 43 Essex Street East, Dublin 2

    Operation Gladio

    Core Reading

    • Daniel Singer, ‘The Gladiators’ (10 Dec 1990) https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/gladiators/
    • Clare Pedrick, ‘CIA Organized Secret Army in Western Europe’ (14 Nov 1990) for the Washington Post available at: https://web.archive.org/web/20230324205950/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1990/11/14/cia-organized-secret-army-in-western-europe/e0305101-97b9-4494-bc18-d89f42497d85/
    • Excerpts from Daniele Ganser, “NATO’s Secret Armies: Operation GLADIO and Terrorism in Western Europe” (2004) https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vSl1Am_xJ_qmvACp4yaNLFl79SamI3QBZoIoK7zpKU02YRQ6U6B2-A7Fv84NgloX3CyzagUqCbIan2z/pub

    Further Reading (Optional background info!)

    • The Cold War channel ‘Operation Gladio: How the West Wanted to Defend against the USSR’ (15mins) https://youtu.be/tIat4tYtG94?si=3yHAQoP_BI2YZRob and part 2 (23mins) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbC_t3IBEpI
    • BBC 2, ‘Timewatch’ documentary on Gladio (1992) (2hrs 25mins) available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGHXjO8wHsA&t=2307s
    • CTH Zurich’s Parallel History Project’s chronology of events https://phpisn.ethz.ch/lory1.ethz.ch/collections/coll_gladio/chronology76c1.html?navinfo=15301
    • Philip Willan, ‘Obituary: Paolo Emilio Taviani’ (21 Jun 2001) https://web.archive.org/web/20221222022712/https://www.theguardian.com/news/2001/jun/21/guardianobituaries.philipwillan
    • Philip Willan, ‘US supported anti-left terror in Italy’ (24 Jun 2000) https://www.theguardian.com/world/2000/jun/24/terrorism
    • European Parliament resolution on Gladio (22 Nov 1990) https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/European_Parliament_resolution_on_Gladio

    ———————————————

    Online Reading Group #1

    Wednesday 6 August July 2025 / 7pm-8pm //

    ONLINE @ Zoom

    Data Centres

    • Not Here, Not Anywhere, Irish Data Centres: An Introduction. Available at: https://listen.dublindigitalradio.com/news-events/irish-data-centres-an-introduction-by-no
    • Becca Inglis, We Need Socialist to Fix Our Broken Internet. Available at: https://www.huckmag.com/article/we-need-socialism-to-fix-our-broken-internet
    • Evgeny Morozov, Socialize the Data Centres! Available at: https://saintsandscholars.club/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Evgeny-Morozov-Socialize-the-Data-Centres-NLR-91-January-February-2015.pdf

    Further Reading

    • James Bridle, Power in a Networked World. Available at: https://exposingtheinvisible.org/en/interviews/james-power-in-a-networked-world/

    ———————————————

    Care and Community #4

    Thursday 7 August 2025 / 7pm-8pm //
    Marrowbone Books, 78 The Coombe, Dublin 8

    Privatisation and Social Care

    • Neoliberalism, austerity, and social work. Available at: https://saintsandscholars.club/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/DOC-20250727-WA0003.pdf
    • Bob Hudson, Adult Social Care: Is Privatisation Irreversible? Available at: https://sochealth.co.uk/2018/02/15/adult-social-care-privatisation-irreversible/
    • James Graham, Socialism Needs Disability Justice. Available at:  https://www.midnightsunmag.ca/socialism-needs-disability-justice/

    Further Reading

    • Jesse Chase, Community Care in the Revolution. Available at: https://hoodcommunist.org/2020/11/12/community-care-in-the-revolution/amp/

    ———————————————

    Upcoming Neutrality Roadshows!

    The Neutrality Roadshow has some upcoming talks throughout August and September which might be of interest to a few Saints & Scholaríní. 

    • Wednesday 6th August @ 7pm in Clarke’s City Arms, Stoneybatter, D7T
    • Thursday 14th /Friday 15th – Newry
    • Monday 25th – Gort, Co. Galway 
    • Tuesday 26th – Clifton, Co. Galway
    • Wednesday 27th – Mullingar, Co. Westmeath
    • Friday 29th – New Ross, Co. Wexford 

    More details on Instagram! https://www.instagram.com/neutrality_now/

    Speakers from the Neutrality Roadshow will also be contributing (in a personal capacity) to neutrality events hosted by Forward Ireland on the following dates: 

    • Thursday 7 August @ 7pm in Naomh Fíonnbarra Clubhouse, D7
    • Thursday 21st August @ 7pm in Ballybough Community Centre, D3
    • Thursday 28 August @ 7pm in F2 Centre, Reuben Plaza, Rialto, D8

    ———————————————

    Love and solidarity,
    SAINTS AND SCHOLARS ☘️ 🩷

    July 30, 2025
  • Week #5

    A chairde,

    We have a busy week ahead of us, with our Militariam & Neutrality, Property, Land & Ecology, and Care & Community groups running tomorrow Tuesday through Thursday.

    We’ll be crossing halfway line of our summer reading groups this week. It’s been great so far, and it’s been super meeting everyone! If you haven’t attended a meeting yet, don’t feel like you can’t still come along! We’d love to see you!

    This week

    TUE 7PM –> NATO and Imperialism // Connolly Books
    WED 7PM –> Reunificiation and the Environment // FLUX Chatham St
    THU 8PM –> Police and Prison Abolition // Marrowbone Books

    Next week

    WED 7PM -> Neptune Frost (2021) @ Film Club // Ballybough CC

    P.S. Always and forever, if you have one article read out of a group’s reading list, you’re set to attend! So please don’t be stressing about coming if you haven’t managed to get through the full readings.

    ———————————————

    THIS WEEK!

    Militarism and Neutrality #3

    Tuesday 22 July 2025 / 7pm-8pm //
    Connolly Books, 43 Essex Street East, Dublin 2

    NATO and Imperialism

    This session will begin with a short talk about the current neutrality campaign by Róisín of the Neutrality Roadshow!

    Core Reading

    • Ann Garrison, ‘NATO was Founded to Crush Communist, Socialist, and Anti-Colonial Movements Worldwide’ (13 April 2025), available at: https://janataweekly.org/nato-was-founded-to-crush-communist-socialist-and-anti-colonial-movements-worldwide/ 
    • Josefina L. Martínez and Diego Lotito, ‘NATO and Imperialist Military Expansionism’ (17 July 2022), available at: https://www.leftvoice.org/nato-and-imperialist-military-expansionism/
    • Lorna Bogue, ‘No, Ireland Shouldn’t Join NATO’ (10 April 2023), available at: https://jacobin.com/2023/10/ireland-nato-neutrality-forum-geopolitics-military

    Further Reading (optional)

    • Abayomi Azikiwe, ‘Our Case Against NATO: Africans and the Struggle Against Imperialism’ (19 April 2022), available at: https://blackagendareport.com/our-case-against-nato-africans-and-struggle-against-imperialism
    • John Catalinotto, ‘NATO polices the world for imperialism: A look at its roots’ (5 June 2024), available at: https://www.workers.org/2024/06/79046/
    • Jonathan Stevenson, ‘Ireland’s Future: United, European and in NATO’ (19 February 2025), available at: https://www.iiss.org/online-analysis/survival-online/2025/02/irelands-future-united-european-and-in-nato/
    • Podcast: David Swanson: “NATO: What You Need to Know” (27 mins),available at: https://globalconnectionstelevision.buzzsprout.com/1628122/episodes/15359709

    ———————————————

    Property, Land and Ecology #3

    Wednesday 23 July 2025 / 7pm-8pm //
    Flux Studios, 4 Chatham Row, Dublin 2

    Reunification and the Environment

    • Seán Fearon, “The Economic Case for Irish Reunification, for People and Planet”. Rundale. Available at: https://www.rundale.org/2024/10/31/the-economic-case-for-irish-reunification-for-people-and-planet/
    • Lynda Sullivan, “Environmental Justice Before, During and After a United Ireland”. Z. Available at: https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/environmental-justice-before-during-and-after-a-united-ireland/.
    • Seán Fearon, “A Roadmap to Eco-Social Transformation on the Island of Ireland”. Z. Available at: https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/reunification-a-roadmap-to-eco-social-transformation-on-the-island-of-ireland/

    ———————————————

    Care and Community #3

    Thursday 24 July 2025 / 8pm-9pm //
    Marrowbone Books, 78 The Coombe, Dublin 8

    Police and Prison Abolition

    • Ruairi-Santiago McBride, “Growing abolition in Ireland”. Rundale. Available at: https://www.rundale.org/2025/01/30/growing-abolition-in-ireland/.
    • Sarah Lamble, “Practising everyday abolition”. Abolitionist Futures. Available at: https://abolitionistfutures.com/latest-news/practising-everyday-abolition [Audio version also available]
    • Jennifer Fleetwood, “Defunding the police in the UK: Critical questions and practical suggestions”. Howard Journal of Crime and Justice. Available at: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/hojo.12468.

    ———————————————

    NEXT WEEK!

    Film Club #3

    Wednesday 30 July 2025 / 7pm-8pm //
    Ballybough Community Centre, 49 Ballybough Rd, Dublin 3

    [FYI this is not a screening! Just a chat!]

    Neptune Frost (dir. Saul Williams and Anisia Uzeyman, 2021)

    A group of escaped coltan miners forms an anti-colonialist computer hacker collective in the hilltops of Burundi. They soon attempt a takeover of the authoritarian regime that’s exploiting the region’s natural resources — and its people.

    Suggested reading: “Neptune Frost, the Afrofuturist Musical Imagining Life Beyond Capitalism: Interview with Williams & Uzeyman” – Xuanlin Tham. Available at: https://www.anothermag.com/design-living/14495/neptune-frost-afrofuturist-musical-anisia-uzeyman-saul-williams-interview

    ———————————————

    Love and solidarity,
    SAINTS AND SCHOLARS ☘️ 🩷

    July 21, 2025
  • Week #4 – Film club this week!

    [This is a copy of our weekly mail-out, which you can subscribe to on our Contact & Subscribe page.]

    A chairde,
    Thanks so much to everyone who braved the heat this week and joined us at the reading groups! This week we’re going to be hosting our second film meet-up, and the reading for next week is also now available below and on the website.

    This week

    WED 7PM -> Phoenix (2014) @ Film Club // Ballybough CC

    Next week

    TUE 7PM –> NATO and Imperialism // Connolly Books
    WED 7PM –> Reunificiation and the Environment // FLUX Chatham St
    THU 8PM –> Police and Prison Abolition // Marrowbone Books

    P.S. Our expectation in terms of how much reading you need to have done to attend is just ONE article! 

    P.P.S. If you have any questions at all, or need help accessing any of the readings/materials, or would like to loop in with us before attending an upcoming event, feel free to send us an email by reply!

    ———————————————

    THIS WEEK!

    Film Club #2

    Wednesday 16 July 2025 / 7pm-8pm //
    Ballybough Community Centre, 49 Ballybough Rd, Dublin 3

    [FYI this is not a screening! Just a chat!]

    Phoenix (dir. Christian Petzold, 2014) [LINK TO WATCH]

    Phoenix is set in Germany in the aftermath of World War II, where Nelly, a Jewish woman who managed to survive Auschwitz concentration camp, decides to go back to her husband Johnny in Berlin. She has had to have her face reconstructed owing to a bullet wound, and her husband does not recognize her.

    Suggested reading: “Petzold’s Phoenix, Fassbinder’s Maria Braun, and the Melodramatic Archaeology of the Rubble Past” – Jaimey Fisher. Available at: https://www.sensesofcinema.com/2017/christian-petzold-a-dossier/petzold-fassbinder/

    Further viewing (optional): Vertigo (dir. Alfred Hitchcock, 1958); The Marriage of Maria Braun (dir. Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1979).

    ———————————————

    THIS WEEK!

    Militarism and Neutrality #3

    Tuesday 22 July 2025 / 7pm-8pm //
    Connolly Books, 43 Essex Street East, Dublin 2

    NATO and Imperialism

    This session will begin with a short talk about the current neutrality campaign by Róisín of the Neutrality Roadshow!

    Core Reading

    • Ann Garrison, ‘NATO was Founded to Crush Communist, Socialist, and Anti-Colonial Movements Worldwide’ (13 April 2025), available at: https://janataweekly.org/nato-was-founded-to-crush-communist-socialist-and-anti-colonial-movements-worldwide/ 
    • Josefina L. Martínez and Diego Lotito, ‘NATO and Imperialist Military Expansionism’ (17 July 2022), available at: https://www.leftvoice.org/nato-and-imperialist-military-expansionism/
    • Lorna Bogue, ‘No, Ireland Shouldn’t Join NATO’ (10 April 2023), available at: https://jacobin.com/2023/10/ireland-nato-neutrality-forum-geopolitics-military

    Further Reading (optional)

    • Abayomi Azikiwe, ‘Our Case Against NATO: Africans and the Struggle Against Imperialism’ (19 April 2022), available at: https://blackagendareport.com/our-case-against-nato-africans-and-struggle-against-imperialism
    • John Catalinotto, ‘NATO polices the world for imperialism: A look at its roots’ (5 June 2024), available at: https://www.workers.org/2024/06/79046/
    • Jonathan Stevenson, ‘Ireland’s Future: United, European and in NATO’ (19 February 2025), available at: https://www.iiss.org/online-analysis/survival-online/2025/02/irelands-future-united-european-and-in-nato/
    • Podcast: David Swanson: “NATO: What You Need to Know” (27 mins),available at: https://globalconnectionstelevision.buzzsprout.com/1628122/episodes/15359709

    ———————————————

    Property, Land and Ecology #3

    Wednesday 23 July 2025 / 7pm-8pm //
    Flux Studios, 4 Chatham Row, Dublin 2

    Reunification and the Environment

    • Seán Fearon, “The Economic Case for Irish Reunification, for People and Planet”. Rundale. Available at: https://www.rundale.org/2024/10/31/the-economic-case-for-irish-reunification-for-people-and-planet/
    • Lynda Sullivan, “Environmental Justice Before, During and After a United Ireland”. Z. Available at: https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/environmental-justice-before-during-and-after-a-united-ireland/.
    • Seán Fearon, “A Roadmap to Eco-Social Transformation on the Island of Ireland”. Z. Available at: https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/reunification-a-roadmap-to-eco-social-transformation-on-the-island-of-ireland/

    ———————————————

    Care and Community #3

    Thursday 24 July 2025 / 8pm-9pm //
    Marrowbone Books, 78 The Coombe, Dublin 8

    Police and Prison Abolition

    • Ruairi-Santiago McBride, “Growing abolition in Ireland”. Rundale. Available at: https://www.rundale.org/2025/01/30/growing-abolition-in-ireland/.
    • Sarah Lamble, “Practising everyday abolition”. Abolitionist Futures. Available at: https://abolitionistfutures.com/latest-news/practising-everyday-abolition [Audio version also available]
    • Jennifer Fleetwood, “Defunding the police in the UK: Critical questions and practical suggestions”. Howard Journal of Crime and Justice. Available at: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/hojo.12468.

    ———————————————

    Love and solidarity,
    SAINTS AND SCHOLARS ☘️ 🩷

    July 15, 2025
  • Week #3 – Mon 7 July 2025

    Hello comrades,

    Hope you are all keeping well! We were so delighted last week to host our first film discussion in Ballybough! The next meeting will run in the same time, same place on Wednesday week, and the film and its reading are included below.

    This week we will be running three meetings: INTERNATIONAL NON-ALIGNMENT (Militarism & Neutrality), THE COMMONS AND THE LOUGH NEAGH CRISIS (Property, Land & Ecology), and CARE (Care & Community)! Reading and meeting info are included below. Also, keep in mind that this week our Care & Community will be running on Saturday morning, instead of midweek!

    P.S. If you couldn’t get through all of the reading for a group, that’s abslutely fine. If you’ve read one article/chapter, that’ll do! We’d rather see you there than not!

    ———————————————

    THIS WEEK! 

    Militarism and Neutrality

    Tuesday 8 July 2025 / 7pm-8pm //
    Connolly Books, 43 Essex Street East, Dublin 2

    International Non-Alignment

    Core Reading

    • Comhiarracht Gaelach, ‘Non-alignment and neutrality: A response to Ireland’s Consultative Forum on International Security Policy’ (10 January 2024), available at: https://diem25.org/non-alignment-and-neutrality-a-response-to-irelands-consultative-forum-on-international-security-policy/
    • Pat Walsh, ‘Non-Alignment Now!’ (2 December 2022), available at: https://drpatwalsh.com/2022/12/02/non-alignment-now
    • Paul Stubbs, ‘The Non-Aligned Movement Then and Now’ (8 November 2023), available at: https://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/the-non-aligned-movement-then-and-now/

    Further Reading (optional)

    • Dáil Éireann debate 14 June 1978 – Questions on Non-Aligned Nations, available at:https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1978-06-14/21/
    • DiEm25, ‘Yanis Varoufakis, Jeremy Corbyn and Ece Temelkuran present the Athens Declaration’ (13 May 2022), available at: https://diem25.org/yanis-varoufakis-jeremy-corbyn-and-ece-temelkuran-present-the-athens-declaration/
    • Harsh V. Pant, ‘End of the Road for the Non-Aligned Movement?’ (29 September 2016), available at: https://archive-yaleglobal.yale.edu/content/end-road-non-aligned-movement
    • Hennie Strydom, ‘The Non-Aligned Movement and the Reform of International Relations’ (2007), available at: https://www.mpil.de/files/pdf1/mpunyb_01_strydom_11.pd

    ———————————————

    Property, Land and Ecology

    Wednesday 9 July 2025 / 7pm-8pm //
    Flux Studios, 4 Chatham Row, Dublin 2

    The Commons (and Lough Neagh)

    • Louise Taylor & John Barry, “The Commons / Lough Neagh
      Northern Ireland as a Sacrifice Zone: The Lough Neagh Crisis”. Available at: https://pureadmin.qub.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/613768576/Northern-Ireland-as-a-Sacrifice-Zone-The-Lough-Neagh-Crisis.pdf
    • Silvia Federici, “Feminism and the Politics of the Commons”. Available at: https://wealthofthecommons.org/essay/feminism-and-politics-commons
    • Daniel Long, “The case for a land observatory in Ireland”. Available at: https://www.arc2020.eu/the-case-for-a-land-observatory-in-ireland/

    ———————————————

    Care and Community

    Saturday 12 July 2025 / 10am-11am //
    Marrowbone Books, 78 The Coombe, Dublin 8

    Care

    • Ch. 3 – “Caring Communities” in The Care Collective, The Care Manifesto: The Politics of Interdependence.
    • Ch. 2 – “The Political Economy of Love” in Alva Gotby, They Call It Love: The Politics of Emotion.
    • Ch. 1 – “Redefining Democracy as Settling Disputes about Care Responsibilities” in Joan Tronto, Caring Democracy.

    Chapters available as a PDF.

    ———————————————

    NEXT WEEK!

    Film Club #2

    Wednesday 16 July 2025 / 7pm-8pm //
    Ballybough Community Centre, 49 Ballybough Rd, Dublin 3

    [FYI this is not a screening! Just a chat!]

    Phoenix (dir. Christian Petzold, 2014)

    Phoenix is set in Germany in the aftermath of World War II, where Nelly, a Jewish woman who managed to survive Auschwitz concentration camp, decides to go back to her husband Johnny in Berlin. She has had to have her face reconstructed owing to a bullet wound, and her husband does not recognize her.

    Suggested reading: “Petzold’s Phoenix, Fassbinder’s Maria Braun, and the Melodramatic Archaeology of the Rubble Past” – Jaimey Fisher. Available at: https://www.sensesofcinema.com/2017/christian-petzold-a-dossier/petzold-fassbinder/

    Further viewing (optional): Vertigo (dir. Alfred Hitchcock, 1958); The Marriage of Maria Braun (dir. Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1979).

    ———————————————

    Hopefully see you during the week!

    Love and solidarity,
    SAINTS AND SCHOLARS ☘️ 🩷

    July 7, 2025
  • Session #2 – Reading Lists

    A chairde,

    Thanks so much to everyone who came out for week one! We had the best time and it was so nice chatting with everyone! Also thank you so so much to our hosts Connolly Books, FLUX, and Marrowbone Books! Absolute angels all of them!

    This week we’re going to be running our very first film club (!!!) in Ballybough Community Centre and we’d love to see you there! There’s more information below, and we’ve also included the reading for next week’s reading groups. We’ll be looking at INTERNATIONAL NON-ALIGNMENT, THE COMMONS AND THE LOUGH NEAGH CRISIS, and CARE! They’ll be great sessions and we’d love to see you there! Newcomers are always welcome!

    P.S. AGAIN, don’t worry if you couldn’t get through all of the reading for a group. If you’ve read one article/chapter, that’ll do!

    ———————————————

    Film Club #1 on Wednesday!

    Wednesday 2 July 2025 / 7pm-8pm //
    Ballybough Community Centre, 49 Ballybough Rd, Dublin 3

    [FYI this is not a screening! Just a chat!]

    Bamboozled (dir. Spike Lee, 2000) [WATCH]

    Frustrated when network brass reject his sitcom idea, producer Pierre Delacroix pitches the worst idea he can think of in an attempt to get fired: a 21st century minstrel show. The network not only airs it, but it becomes a smash hit.

    Suggested reading: Patrick Nkang, Joe King and Paul Ugo, “Legacies of Blackface Minstrelsy and Contemporary American Media: The Political Critique of Spike Lee’s Bamboozled”, available at https://www.ajol.info/index.php/gjh/article/view/79385/69682

    Further viewing (optional): The Producers (dir. Mel Brooks, 1967); American Fiction (dir. Cord Jefferson, 2023)

    ———————————————

    NEXT WEEK! 

    Militarism and Neutrality

    Tuesday 8 July 2025 / 7pm-8pm //
    Connolly Books, 43 Essex Street East, Dublin 2

    International Non-Alignment

    Core Reading

    • Comhiarracht Gaelach, ‘Non-alignment and neutrality: A response to Ireland’s Consultative Forum on International Security Policy’ (10 January 2024), available at: https://diem25.org/non-alignment-and-neutrality-a-response-to-irelands-consultative-forum-on-international-security-policy/
    • Pat Walsh, ‘Non-Alignment Now!’ (2 December 2022), available at: https://drpatwalsh.com/2022/12/02/non-alignment-now
    • Paul Stubbs, ‘The Non-Aligned Movement Then and Now’ (8 November 2023), available at: https://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/the-non-aligned-movement-then-and-now/

    Further Reading (optional)

    • Dáil Éireann debate 14 June 1978 – Questions on Non-Aligned Nations, available at:https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1978-06-14/21/
    • DiEm25, ‘Yanis Varoufakis, Jeremy Corbyn and Ece Temelkuran present the Athens Declaration’ (13 May 2022), available at: https://diem25.org/yanis-varoufakis-jeremy-corbyn-and-ece-temelkuran-present-the-athens-declaration/
    • Harsh V. Pant, ‘End of the Road for the Non-Aligned Movement?’ (29 September 2016), available at: https://archive-yaleglobal.yale.edu/content/end-road-non-aligned-movement
    • Hennie Strydom, ‘The Non-Aligned Movement and the Reform of International Relations’ (2007), available at: https://www.mpil.de/files/pdf1/mpunyb_01_strydom_11.pd

    ———————————————

    Property, Land and Ecology

    Wednesday 9 July 2025 / 7pm-8pm //
    Flux Studios, 4 Chatham Row, Dublin 2

    The Commons (and Lough Neagh)

    • Louise Taylor & John Barry, “The Commons / Lough Neagh
      Northern Ireland as a Sacrifice Zone: The Lough Neagh Crisis”. Available at: https://pureadmin.qub.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/613768576/Northern-Ireland-as-a-Sacrifice-Zone-The-Lough-Neagh-Crisis.pdf
    • Silvia Federici, “Feminism and the Politics of the Commons”. Available at: https://wealthofthecommons.org/essay/feminism-and-politics-commons
    • Daniel Long, “The case for a land observatory in Ireland”. Available at: https://www.arc2020.eu/the-case-for-a-land-observatory-in-ireland/

    ———————————————

    Care and Community

    Saturday 12 July 2025 / 10am-11am //
    Marrowbone Books, 78 The Coombe, Dublin 8

    Care

    • Ch. 3 – “Caring Communities” in The Care Collective, The Care Manifesto: The Politics of Interdependence.
    • Ch. 2 – “The Political Economy of Love” in Alva Gotby, They Call It Love: The Politics of Emotion.
    • Ch. 1 – “Redefining Democracy as Settling Disputes about Care Responsibilities” in Joan Tronto, Caring Democracy.

    Chapters available as a PDF.

    ———————————————

    Love and solidarity,
    SAINTS AND SCHOLARS ☘️ 🩷

    June 30, 2025
  • Fortnight #1 – Reading Lists

    We’re really excited that our (inaugural!) summer reading groups will be kicking off next week! We will be running four groups on a fortnightly basis, and the full set of reading lists for our first sessions are included below.

    If you don’t end up managing to get around to all the core reading, please don’t feel like you can’t attend. Even if you only ended up reading one of the articles, we’d still love to have you!

    Sessions are drop-in and we always love to see new faces but we ask that you pre-register if possible so that we have an indication of numbers. You can do that at the following link: forms.gle/foscFQn1bV5BARXs5.

    P.S. If you have any difficulty accessing either the readings or the film for the sessions, just email us at hello@saintsandscholars.club and we can give you a hand.

    P.P.S. The full schedule for our summer sessions is available if you’d like to add hanging out with us to your calendar xx

    ———————————————

    Militarism and Neutrality

    Tuesday 24 June 2025 / 7pm-8pm //
    Connolly Books, 43 Essex Street East, Dublin 2

    Irish Neutrality

    Core Reading

    • Colin Gannon, ‘Ireland Should Resist the Pressure to Join the Western Military Bloc’ (19 July 2023), available at: https://jacobin.com/2023/07/ireland-nonalignment-neutrality-nato-us-european-union-war-foreign-policy 
    • Karen Devine, ‘The Resilience of Irish Neutrality’ (9 July 2024), available at: https://www.e-ir.info/2024/07/09/the-resilience-of-irish-neutrality/ 
    • Niamh Ní Bhriain, ‘Saving the Triple Lock: Neutrality Hawks v The Government of Ireland’ (August 2024), available at: https://www.tni.org/files/2024-08/Policy_Brief_Ireland_web.pdf 

    Further Reading (optional)

    • Afri, ‘A Force for Good? Reflections on Irish Neutrality’ (2024), available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h00k3pFLofk 
    • Dennis Driscoll, ‘Is Ireland Really ‘Neutral’?’ (1982), available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/30001725 
    • Irish Times, ‘Should Ireland revisit its neutrality?’ (4 February 2025), available at: https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2025/02/04/should-ireland-revisit-its-neutrality-prof-ben-tonra-and-dr-raymond-murphy-debate/ 
    • Report of the Consultative Forum on International Security Policy (10 October 2023), available at: https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-foreign-affairs/campaigns/consultative-forum-on-international-security-policy/

    ———————————————

    The Environment and Capitalism

    Wednesday 25 June 2025 / 7pm-8pm //
    Flux Studios, 4 Chatham Row, Dublin 2

    Core reading

    • Rebecca Vining and Criostóir King, The World Can Feed Itself (Rundale), available at: https://www.rundale.org/2024/05/30/the-world-can-feed-itself/
    • Calo et al, Achieving Food Resilience Requires Challenging Dominant Land Property Regimes (Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems), available at: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/sustainable-food-systems/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2021.683544/full
    • Rebecca May Johnson, I Dream of Canteens (Dinner Document), available at: https://dinnerdocument.com/2019/04/30/i-dream-of-canteens/ 

    Further reading (optional)

    Elise Wach, Market Dependency as Prohibitive of Agroecology and Food Sovereignty – A Case Study (Sustainability), available at: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/4/1927

    ———————————————

    Care and Community

    Thursday 26 June 2025 / 8pm-9pm //
    Marrowbone Books, 78 The Coombe, Dublin 8

    The Family

    • Liza Featherstone, Don’t Be Afraid to Embrace the Utopian Spirit (Jacobin) 
    • Evan Calder Williams, What the Hell is the Family? (The New Inquiry)
    • Laura Anne Roberston, Who Cares (The New Inquiry)

    ———————————————

    Film Club

    Wednesday 2 July 2025 / 7pm-8pm //
    Venue to be confirmed!!

    Bamboozled (dir. Spike Lee, 2000)

    Frustrated when network brass reject his sitcom idea, producer Pierre Delacroix pitches the worst idea he can think of in an attempt to get fired: a 21st century minstrel show. The network not only airs it, but it becomes a smash hit.

    Suggested reading: Patrick Nkang, Joe King and Paul Ugo, “Legacies of Blackface Minstrelsy and Contemporary American Media: The Political Critique of Spike Lee’s Bamboozled”, available at https://www.ajol.info/index.php/gjh/article/view/79385/69682 

    Further viewing (optional): The Producers (dir. Mel Brooks, 1967); American Fiction (dir. Cord Jefferson, 2023)

    June 17, 2025
  • Summer Reading Groups

    Militarism and Neutrality

    Tuesdays // 7pm-8pm
    24 June,
    8 July,
    22 July,
    5 August,
    19 August

    —————————————-

    Film Club

    Wednesdays // 7pm-8pm
    2 July,
    16 July
    30 July
    13 August
    27 August

    —————————————-

    The Environment and Capitalism

    Wednesdays // 7pm-8pm
    25 June,
    9 July,
    23 July,
    6 August,
    20 August

    —————————————-

    Care and Community

    Thursdays // 8pm-9pm + Saturdays // 10am-11am
    Th 26 June 8pm,
    Sat 12 July 10am,
    Th 24 July 8pm,
    Sat 9 August 10am
    Th 21 August 8pm

    June 17, 2025
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