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MARXISM SPECIALIST GROUP
ANNUAL REPORT 2007

The Marxism Specialist Group was founded in 1983 to promote the study of Marxism, i.e. discussions of the writings of Marx, Engels and subsequent Marxist authors, and discussion of the possible contribution of a perspective informed by Marxism to the understanding of political issues. The Group is happy to accept members of any political persuasion, its only collective commitment being to academic quality. The group produces a (usually!) annual journal, Studies in Marxism. Each volume contains several refereed articles and a substantial and very useful collection of book reviews.

Each year since its foundation the group has run sessions at the PSA Annual Conference and a one-day Conference in September. In 2007 there was one session and three papers at the PSA Annual Conference at Bath. The September conference was again held as  one of the streams of the Manchester Workshops in Political Theory, September 3-5, 2007. This worked very well. Eleven papers were given and the sessions were very well attended.

Our membership list currently numbers about 200, although not all of these are active. The group charges £5 annual subscription, included in which members get a free copy of that year's Studies. Studies 11 appeared in 2007.

One session is are planned for the PSA Annual Conference in Swansea. We are again planning to hold our one day conference as part of the Workshops in Political Theory in September at Manchester Metropolitan University.

Specific Information Requested.

We received £650 from the PSA. This was used to support two unfunded delegates at the Manchester Workshops in Political Theory and to support Studies in Marxism.

Membership: not everyone on our mailing list is a PSA member. This seems reasonable for people in Greece, the USA, Australia, Germany, China etc, and also for BSA members. Marxism Specialist Group members are not currently getting major financial benefits from the PSA, so I do not think this is a big problem. I have also been deliberately fairly lax about lapsing people from our mailing list who have failed to subscribe. Particularly if they are on email it costs nothing at all to keep them in touch, and they may become more active in the future.

The question of how the group is run is always discussed briefly at the annual one-day conference. I have been convenor since the foundation of the group. I make it clear that conference papers are not refereed and that access to giving conference papers is open, subject to any administrative problems. Access to Studies is on the basis of academic merit as determined by the refereeing process. Both of these have needed occasional fine judgements at the margins. We have a notional secretary and treasurer, but the reality of the group is that the convenor is its administration, helped out by local conference convenors, and our referees for Studies. These arrangements are not strictly democratic, but given that the outcome would be very similar whoever was doing the administration there has never really been any controversy about them. My own view is that the major danger to a specialist group is not lack of democracy but the failure of one person or a very few people at its centre to do what is needed to keep it going. There is, of course, nothing to stop members of any group from leaving and forming another group, publishing outside the framework of the group or arranging a coup at the annual business meeting.

Liaison with members takes place via email. Information is sent out as necessary to invite contributions to conferences, solicit subscriptions, keep members informed etc. On average members could expect to get about five emails a year.

A financial report is attached.

Mark Cowling,
School of Social Sciences and Law,
University of Teesside,
Middlesbrough,
Cleveland,
TS1 3BA

PSA MARXISM SPECIALIST GROUP - FINANCIAL REPORT 2007