International Institute for Research and Education

"These two-week, generally trilingual English-Castilian-French summer schools for leaders of progressive youth organizations have become a regular annual event. They offer a short but intensive introduction to social theory, applied to discussions of issues in e.g. European anti-racist organizing. 

There is every reason for alternative educational facilities for young people like the ones we provide at the IIRE. Mainstream educational systems are hardly focussed on critical intellectual stimulation, let alone on learning and thinking about strategies to change the world. Moreover, the involvement of young activists in all our discussions is crucial if we want to grasp the enormous pace at which social and political change happens. 

That is why the IIRE, organises it's annual Youth Schools, as part of a tradition which started in 1994 when we decided we needed to do more to help young activists learn from other generations, as well as the other way around. The end of 'really existing socialism' in the Soviet Union and its satellites had triggered new discussions about the viability of alternatives for capitalism; the dominance of neoliberalism seemed unending; and all the different currents and tendencies of the left found themselves in crisis. The situation posed new questions, not only for young activists, but also for all who were concerned with strategies for changing the world. Today, the challenges posed by the new youth movements and the deepening of the capitalist crisis make this school a crucial meeting point for the new generations of activists