a social club for socialists

a social club for socialists

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!

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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).

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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
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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/
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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.
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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!

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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
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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/
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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.

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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).

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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!

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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)

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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
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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.

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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

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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/
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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

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Care and Community

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

The Family
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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

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Film Club

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

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The Environment and Capitalism

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

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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