Corbyn in focus: Successful visit by Richard Seymour

The visit of British writer Richard Seymour to Iceland last week was successful, as he spoke at an open meeting organized by Sósíalistaflokkurinn. The meeting was held at noon on Monday, August 14, and took place in the lecture hall of Þjóðminjasafn Íslands. In his address, Seymour discussed in detail the great and unexpected victories that Corbyn has achieved in British politics, first in the Labour Party leadership election in 2017 and subsequently in the British general election earlier this year.

Seymour mentioned several reasons for Corbyn's success, including how his election campaign utilized new media to reach younger people, but also the fact that his political stance simply resonates very strongly with the British people after decades of neoliberalism, austerity, and militarism. Attempts by the media and Corbyn's political opponents to portray him as outdated quickly backfired on them and ultimately made Corbyn appear humane and honest in comparison to the over-designed image of other politicians.

A number of questions were received from the audience following Seymour's presentation. The discussion was moderated by Sanna Magdalena Mörtudóttir, vice-chair of the interim board of Sósíalistaflokkur Íslands, and Viðar Þorsteinsson, secretary, who also welcomed guests and introduced Seymour.

The meeting was streamed live on Facebook and can be accesseda recording of that broadcaston Facebook. An audio recording in better quality will also be made available soon.

Seymour's address was based on his research into Corbyn's career and politics, as he published the book in 2016Corbyn: The Strange Rebirth of Radical PoliticsThe introductory chapter of the book, „To everyone's surprise“,appeared in Icelandic translationon the website of Sósíalistaflokkurinn a few days before Seymour's arrival. The book is expected to be reissued later this year.

The evening after the lunchtime meeting, Seymour appeared at the Róttæki sumarháskólinn and discussed political issues far and wide, as a number of books have been published by Seymour since 2008. That event was in the form of a dialogue, and Seymour discussed there with Viðar Þorsteinsson and Sólveig Anna Jónsdóttir, a member of the interim board of Sósíalistaflokkurinn. Questions were also taken from the audience. The dialogue was also streamed live on Facebook and can beaccessed there(questions from the audience here).

While Seymour was in the country, journalist Bára Huld Beck interviewed him in detail and then publishedan interview and coverage on KjarninnThe coverage is highly recommended. Also, we would like to remind you of well-written articles by Icelandic authors about Corbyn that have previously appeared on the website of Sósíalistaflokkur Íslands („The Rock Star Jeremy Corbyn“ by Guðmundur Auðunsson and „When the time comes“ by Árni Daníel Júlíusson).

Sósíalistaflokkur Íslands thanks Richard Seymour for his visit, as well as everyone who contributed to making his visit successful. The party hopes to continue to foster discussion about the victories of socialist movements in the West.