2018年CRI Marx Memorial Library commemorates Marx bicentenary

 

The Marx Memorial Library in London is marking the bicentenary of Karl Marx with a major international conference on May 5th and a series of events under a project called Marx200. 

00:00/03:23 Housed in a historical building in north London, the Marx Memorial Library was founded in 1933 and has since been the heart of the British labor¹ movement as well as one of the world's most prized collection of books on Marxism. 

Meirian Jump is the manager of the library.

"Our library was dedicated² to promoting knowledge and understanding on Marxism and the history of the trade union movement of socialism in Britain and around the world. We've got a collection of about 60,000 books and periodicals, we also have a number of special collections of archives on subjects such as the peace movement on the Spanish Civil War, on the Russian Revolution but we don't want these precious archives and artifacts to be hidden away in the cupboard with access only by a few academics so we have a broad based education programs, such as lectures, film screenings, workshops and conferences to engage people with the history of the working class struggle in the UK and elsewhere."

The library holds its open-day event on May 1st every year which is also the International Workers' Day. Free tours led by volunteers at the library introduce visitors to its many treasures, including a large size mural by British artist and labor parliamentarian Francis Hastings and the "Lenin Room" where the exiled Russian revolutionary edited the socialist³ journal ISKRA. 

21-year old Daniel Savage⁴, who works at a nearby bakery, is among the library's open-day visitors. 

"It's very interesting they have all the different books on offer and to find out about how Lenin used to edit the socialist newspaper here in 1902 and 1903, I didn't know he'd ever come here and I was here actually two years ago when the Cuban ambassador came here and presented the Marx Memorial Library with this portrait of Fidel Castro."

The library has been trying to reach out to a wider audience and engage young people like Daniel with a variety of programs. Meirian Jump, manager of the library says the science of Marxim is seeing an increase in popularity in the UK.

"There's a new generation who are really talking about socialism and the relevance⁵ of Marxism today and we've certainly noticed greater numbers of young people coming through our doors for example last autumn we had lectures on the 150 years since the publication of Das Kapital and we are overwhelmed with the number of people attending and we also have more people coming to volunteer, we have about 30 regular volunteers many of them are young students and activists⁶ who want to be part of what we are doing here in the library."

To mark bicentenary of Karl Marx's birthday, the library has initiated⁷ a project titled Marx200, which culminates⁸ in an international conference to be held in London on May 5th. With focuses on the contemporary relevance of Marxism and its modern day applications, the conference will feature guest speakers from China, Germany, Cuba, South Africa and the UK.

1 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

2 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

3 socialist   

n.社会主义者；adj.社会主义的

参考例句：

• China is a socialist country,and a developing country as well.中国是一个社会主义国家，也是一个发展中国家。
• His father was an ardent socialist.他父亲是一个热情的社会主义者。

4 savage   

adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人

参考例句：

• The poor man received a savage beating from the thugs.那可怜的人遭到暴徒的痛打。
• He has a savage temper.他脾气粗暴。

5 relevance   

n.中肯，适当，关联，相关性

参考例句：

• Politicians' private lives have no relevance to their public roles.政治家的私生活与他们的公众角色不相关。
• Her ideas have lost all relevance to the modern world.她的想法与现代社会完全脱节。

6 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 initiated   

n. 创始人 adj. 新加入的 vt. 开始，创始，启蒙，介绍加入

参考例句：

• He has not yet been thoroughly initiated into the mysteries of computers. 他对计算机的奥秘尚未入门。
• The artist initiated the girl into the art world in France. 这个艺术家介绍这个女孩加入巴黎艺术界。

8 culminates   

v.达到极点( culminate的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Each civilization is born, it culminates, and it decay. 各种文明都要历经诞生，鼎盛和衰落。 来自《用法词典》
• The tower culminates in a 40-foot spire. 这塔的顶端是一个40英尺高的塔尖。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》