As voted for by the Socialist Students National Conference, February 2026
A world on fire and the struggle for a socialist alternative – next steps for Socialist Students
1. The beginning of 2026 has only confirmed the rottenness of a capitalist system in decay. Trump’s kidnapping of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro, nakedly carried out in pursuit of US capitalist interests; Trump’s demands for the US to take control of Greenland; the ongoing nightmare for the Palestinians in Gaza, and increasingly the West Bank: these are just some signs that capitalism is in an era of heightened volatility and conflict, bringing with it devastating consequences for the mass of the world’s population.
2. Trump is both an accelerator and a product of capitalist crisis. Capitalism has always been a brutal and unequal system, based on the ruthless exploitation of the vast majority of humanity in the name of private profits for a tiny minority, but this is especially clear today. In addition to mounting war and imperialist aggression, life for billions of people is increasingly threatened by environmental breakdown, falling living standards, and pro-capitalist governments resorting to more authoritarian and divisive measures in a desperate attempt to implement their rule.
3. However, the increasing struggle to live is just one side of the coin. In reaction to this situation, the past year has also seen a rise in mass movements and uprisings around the world. This has included fearless action by young people, from Indonesia to Nepal, Madagascar to the Philippines. The working-class and poor masses in Iran have once again risen up against the murderous Iranian regime at the start of this year. And in a series of countries, from Italy to India, the working class has raised its collective voice through generalised strike action. In recent weeks the idea of a general strike has also been taken up by millions throughout the US as means to take on Trump and the US government’s deployment of ICE thugs in Minneapolis and beyond. These events have included thousands of students getting organised and walking out.
4. Socialist Students welcomes every step taken by young people and the working class internationally towards building the mass action that is needed to replace capitalism with a democratically planned socialist system based on meeting the needs of all people. We strive to analyse and understand the processes guiding international developments under capitalism, as a means for better understanding how to take forward the struggle for socialism in Britain, which we recognise must be part of an international struggle. That is why all Socialist Students societies should include meetings and campaigns on international events as a core part of their activities.
5. When Donald Trump came to the UK in September 2025, we helped to organise student walkouts to send a message of solidarity to young people in the US, pointing to the need to fight back against our own capitalist politicians in Britain, and against the capitalist system internationally. Socialist Students should continue to organise action that seeks to unite young people internationally in the fight for a socialist future – for instance, preparing for mass youth walkouts and protests next year when the G20 Summit of capitalist world leaders comes to Britain. We also should continue to engage in and initiate solidarity campaigns which can assist the struggles of youth and workers around the world – as many societies have done through the Nigeria Solidarity Campaign, for example.
6. As outlined in the conference resolution, ‘British capitalism in crisis: we need a youth fightback for socialist change’, the ongoing global crisis of capitalism is laying the ground for new mass movements in Britain. The best way that Socialist Students can encourage the struggle for socialism internationally is by fighting to play a leading role in these developing movements, including by raising the need for the working class in Britain to have its own mass party armed with a programme to end capitalism and transform society along socialist lines. The efforts of workers and young people to get organised and fight for a socialist alternative in Britain – the sixth-richest country in the world, where capitalism is oldest and its ruling class has over centuries wrought brutality on much of the world’s population – can be a powerful pole of attraction inspiring billions around the world to do the same.
Socialist Students 