John Rees (born 1957) is a British political activist, academic, journalist
and writer who is a national officer of the
Stop the War Coalition
The Stop the War Coalition (StWC), informally known simply as Stop the War, is a British group established on 21 September 2001, shortly after the September 11 attacks, to campaign against what it believes are unjust wars.
The Coalition has c ...
, and founding member of ''Counterfire''. He is currently a Visiting Research Fellow at
Goldsmiths, University of London
Goldsmiths, University of London, officially the Goldsmiths' College, is a constituent research university of the University of London in England. It was originally founded in 1891 as The Goldsmiths' Technical and Recreative Institute by the Wor ...
.
He was formerly a leading member of the
Socialist Workers Party and, as an SWP member, was heavily involved in
Respect – The Unity Coalition
The Respect Party was a left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left, Socialism, socialist political party active in the United Kingdom between 2004 and 2016. At the height of its success in 2007, the party had one Member of Par ...
. His books include ''Timelines, a political history of the modern world'' and ''A People's History of London'', co-authored with his partner
Lindsey German
Lindsey Ann German
''Evening Standard'' (This is London), 14 May 2004 (born 1951) is a ...
. He also produces documentaries and presents current affairs programmes for the
Islam Channel
Islam Channel is a UK-based, free-to-air, English language, Islamic-focused satellite television channel and online media platform funded by advertising and donations. It was founded in 2004 by Mohamed Ali Harrath (born 1963), a Tunisian acti ...
.
Early life and education
Rees was born in
Wiltshire
Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...
, in South-West England, and was brought up and educated in
Chippenham
Chippenham is a market town
A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village ...
. His father, William Rees was from
Aberdare
Aberdare ( ; cy, Aberdâr) is a town in the Cynon Valley area of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, at the confluence of the Rivers Dare (Dâr) and Cynon. Aberdare has a population of 39,550 (mid-2017 estimate). Aberdare is south-west of Merthyr Tyd ...
,
South Wales
South Wales ( cy, De Cymru) is a loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, south Wales extends westwards ...
, and was a lifelong trade union activist and Labour Party member. His mother, Margaret Rees (Shipley) Rees was from
Darlington
Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town.
In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...
.
Rees' first degree was in Politics from
Portsmouth Polytechnic
, mottoeng = Let us follow the Light
, established = 1870 (Portsmouth and Gosport School of Science and Art)
, type = Public
, budget = £282.5 million (2020/21)
, chancellor ...
and he subsequently undertook research on
Hegel
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (; ; 27 August 1770 – 14 November 1831) was a German philosopher. He is one of the most important figures in German idealism and one of the founding figures of modern Western philosophy. His influence extends a ...
and
Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 p ...
at
Hull University
, mottoeng = Bearing the Torch f learning, established = 1927 – University College Hull1954 – university status
, type = Public
, endowment = £18.8 million (2016)
, budget = £190 million ...
under Dr (now Lord)
Bhikhu Parekh
Bhikhu Chotalal Parekh, Baron Parekh, (born 4 January 1935) is a British political theorist, academic, and life peer. He is a Labour Party member of the House of Lords. He was Professor of Political Theory at the University of Hull from 1982 ...
. The result of that research, ''The Algebra of Revolution'', was published by
Routledge
Routledge () is a British multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanities, behavioural science, education, law, and ...
in 1998. When
Georg Lukacs
Georg may refer to:
* ''Georg'' (film), 1997
*Georg (musical), Estonian musical
* Georg (given name)
* Georg (surname)
* , a Kriegsmarine coastal tanker
See also
* George (disambiguation)
George may refer to:
People
* George (given name)
* G ...
' unknown manuscript "Tailism and the Dialectic" was discovered and published by
Verso Books
Verso Books (formerly New Left Books) is a left-wing publishing house based in London and New York City, founded in 1970 by the staff of ''New Left Review''.
Renaming, new brand and logo
Verso Books was originally known as New Left Books. The ...
in 2000, Rees provided the introduction to the volume. He holds a doctorate on 'Leveller organisation and the dynamic of the English Revolution' from
Goldsmiths, University of London
Goldsmiths, University of London, officially the Goldsmiths' College, is a constituent research university of the University of London in England. It was originally founded in 1891 as The Goldsmiths' Technical and Recreative Institute by the Wor ...
.
Politics
Elected a member of the National Executive of the
National Union of Students in the early 1980s, Rees is a former member of the
Socialist Workers Party, and was for many years on its Central Committee. He was editor of the quarterly journal ''
International Socialism
Proletarian internationalism, sometimes referred to as international socialism, is the perception of all communist revolutions as being part of a single global class struggle rather than separate localized events. It is based on the theory that ...
'' for ten years and the organiser of the SWP's annual Marxism festival in 1982–1983 and again from 1992–2002.
A co-founder and a current national officer for the
Stop the War Coalition
The Stop the War Coalition (StWC), informally known simply as Stop the War, is a British group established on 21 September 2001, shortly after the September 11 attacks, to campaign against what it believes are unjust wars.
The Coalition has c ...
, he has been a central organiser of all its marches including that of 15 February 2003. According to Rees, "Socialists should unconditionally stand with the oppressed against the oppressor, even if the people who run the oppressed country are undemocratic and persecute minorities, like
Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolution ...
." At the same time Rees has always advocated an unrelenting struggle against pro-Western dictators by the people of oppressed countries and to that end Rees became vice president (Europe) of the
Cairo Anti-war Conference
The Cairo Conference against U.S. hegemony and war on Iraq and in solidarity with Palestine (later: Popular Campaign for the Support of Resistance in Palestine and Iraq and Against Globalization), generally known simply as Cairo Anti-war Conference ...
which rallied opposition forces against the Mubarak dictatorship in Egypt.
He was at the top of
Respect – The Unity Coalition
The Respect Party was a left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left, Socialism, socialist political party active in the United Kingdom between 2004 and 2016. At the height of its success in 2007, the party had one Member of Par ...
's list in the
West Midlands
West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth.
Etymology
The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...
region for the
2004 European election and the Respect candidate for the
Birmingham Hodge Hill by-election. He also stood for Respect in the
2006 local election in the Bethnal Green South ward of
Tower Hamlets
The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a London borough covering much of the traditional East End. It was formed in 1965 from the merger of the former metropolitan boroughs of Stepney, Poplar, and Bethnal Green. 'Tower Hamlets' was originally ...
in East London, where he came second to Labour. Rees was not selected by the SWP Central Committee to be on the slate for re-election and did not stand independently at the January 2009 conference. Shortly after his partner
Lindsey German
Lindsey Ann German
''Evening Standard'' (This is London), 14 May 2004 (born 1951) is a ...
resigned from the SWP in 2010, Rees and 41 other members followed disenchanted with the party's direction, internal regime and approach to united fronts (18 others who had resigned in weeks prior also supported the resignations).
In 2012, ''A People's History of London'', which Rees co-authored with
Lindsey German
Lindsey Ann German
''Evening Standard'' (This is London), 14 May 2004 (born 1951) is a ...
, was published. The book is a history of London radicalism which documents working (or lower) class struggles in London from the Romans to the present day.
Jerry White in ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' wrote: "Those who continue to uphold London's living traditions of protest will be able to take heart from this fresh and welcome look at the city's history."
White described the book as "a very selective people's history" which does not cover the bombings committed by the
IRA
Ira or IRA may refer to:
*Ira (name), a Hebrew, Sanskrit, Russian or Finnish language personal name
*Ira (surname), a rare Estonian and some other language family name
*Iran, UNDP code IRA
Law
*Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, US, on status of ...
and by
Islamists
Islamism (also often called political Islam or Islamic fundamentalism) is a political ideology which posits that modern states and regions should be reconstituted in constitutional, economic and judicial terms, in accordance with what is c ...
on
7 July 2005.
Jo Lo Dicio in ''The Independent on Sunday'' wrote: "Had these two been political pamphleteers through the ages, one doubts many revolutionary sparks would ever have been lit."
A book on the Levellers and the English Revolution based on his doctoral research was published by Verso in 2016. Rees is currently active in the organisation Counterfire for which he has written two short books, ''Strategy and Tactics'' and alongside
Joseph Daher ''The People Demand: A short history of the Arab revolutions''.
Imperialism and the Arab Revolutions
Counterfire Website He participated in and reported on the Egyptian revolution in 2011 about which he made two TV documentaries, ''Inside the Egyptian Revolution'' and ''Egypt in Revolution''. For the Islam Channel
Islam Channel is a UK-based, free-to-air, English language, Islamic-focused satellite television channel and online media platform funded by advertising and donations. It was founded in 2004 by Mohamed Ali Harrath (born 1963), a Tunisian acti ...
, he is the writer and presenter of the political history documentary series
Television documentaries are televised media productions that screen documentaries.
Television documentaries exist either as a television documentary series or as a television documentary film.
*Television documentary series, sometimes called d ...
''Timeline'' and a presenter of ''The Report'' and ''Politics and Media'' current affairs programmes.[ He has appeared as a political commentator in ]Ken Loach
Kenneth Charles Loach (born 17 June 1936) is a British film director and screenwriter. His socially critical directing style and socialist ideals are evident in his film treatment of social issues such as poverty (''Poor Cow'', 1967), homelessne ...
's '' The Spirit of '45'' and in Amir Amarani's ''We Are Many''.
In September 2013, Iain Dale
Iain Campbell Dale (born 15 July 1962) is a British broadcaster, author and political commentator, and a former publisher and book retailer. He has been a blogger since 2002. In 2005, he became the first openly gay Conservative candidate to c ...
and a panel for ''The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally.
It was fo ...
'' placed him at 85 in a list of the 100 most influential British left-wingers. Around this time, Rees was the founder and organising committee member of The People's Assembly.
In 2016, Rees toured the UK to support Jeremy Corbyn
Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who served as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party from 2015 to 2020. On the political left of the Labour Party, Corbyn describes himself as a socialist ...
's bid to become Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
.
Selected works
Articles
"Trotsky and the Dialectic of History"
International Socialism Journal no. 47, Summer 1990, pp. 113–135.
International Socialism 2:65, Winter 1994.
Issue 83 of INTERNATIONAL SOCIALISM JOURNAL Published Summer 1999
International Socialism Journal 87, Summer 2000.
Books
*''Socialism and War'' (1990)
*''The ABC of Socialism'' (1994)
*''Marxism and the New Imperialism'' (1994) (editor and contributor)
*''In Defence of October: A Debate on the Russian Revolution'' (with others including Robin Blackburn
Robin Blackburn (born 1940) is a British historian, a former editor of ''New Left Review'' (1981–1999), and emeritus professor in the department of sociology at Essex University.
Background
Blackburn was educated at Hurstpierpoint College, Ox ...
) (1997)
*''The Algebra of Revolution: The Dialectic and the Classical Marxist Tradition'' (1998)
*''Essays on Historical Materialism'' (editor) (1998)
*''Imperialism and Resistance'' (2006)
*''The People Demand, a short history of the Arab revolutions'' (with Joseph Daher)(2011)
*''Timelines, a political history of the modern world'' (2012)
*''A People's History of London'' (with Lindsey German) (2012)
*'' The Leveller Revolution: Radical Political Organisation in England, 1640-1650'' (2017)
References
External links
John Rees
at ''Socialist Review''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rees, John
1957 births
Living people
British Marxists
British people of Welsh descent
British political party founders
British Trotskyists
British writers
People from Chippenham
Respect Party parliamentary candidates
Socialist Workers Party (UK) members