Centre for the Study of Socialist Theory & Movements

The CSSTM was founded in 1981, having its origins in the late 1970s when students and staff were anxious to provide an outlet for research and teaching around areas of thought not easily provided for in the usual departmental structure. We provide the opportunity for detailed study in the field of socialist theory, particularly in the traditions deriving from the work of Karl Marx, and in the history of the socialist movement of the 19th and 20th centuries. Debate, controversy and the development of conceptual tools are basic to the Centre. There are no other Centres of this kind in the UK.

Until 2009 we supervised students for ESRC-recognised PhD and MLitt research degrees, and maintained a taught MPhil degree. Our PhD students wrote on Ricardo and Marx, Analytical Marxism, the political economy of finance capital, the nature of gold in relation to South Africa and other topics.