The British socialist newspaper Socialist Resistance on June 28, 2008, sponsored a fascinating day of discussion and debate on building broad left parties across Europe, attracting a comprehensive list of speakers from key left unity projects. The videos of the following talks were recorded on the day. They include speakers from the Left Bloc Portugal, Respect in Britain, the Socialist Party in the Netherlands, Die Link in Germany, Sinistra Critica (Italy) and the European Greens. They are reposted from Liam Mac Uaid's essential weblog, with permission. More videos of the day are available there.

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Miquel Reis discusses the experience of Bloco de Esquerda (Left Bloc) in Portugal.

 

 

Willem Bos is a long-standing activist of the Dutch left and a member of the Socialist Party in the Netherlands. He spoke in a personal capacity about his experiences in this important and successful party of the left.

 

 

Nick Wrack, national secretary of Respect in Britain, speaking in a personal capacity at the Socialist Resistance dayschool on broad parties.

 

 

Andrej Hunko looks at the experience of Die Linke (Left Party) in Germany.

 

 

This is one of the most coherent accounts in English of Sinistra Critica's recent experiences in Italy. Angelo Cardone delivered this talk at the Socialist Resistance dayschool on broad parties. Sinistra Critica's experience in and out of Rifondazione Comunista is one of the most interesting cases of a Marxist current operating in a broad party. What does not emerge in this presentation, but was raised in the subsequent workshop, is that there was a significant debate among Sinistra Critica's supporters around the timing of their decision to establish a new organisation.

 

 

Joseph Healey is the Green Party's international coordinator and the co-convenor of the Green Left. In this talk to the Socialist Resistance seminar on broad parties he surveys the European Greens.