However, Jesson struck out on his own, writing a number of polemics such as Traitors to Class and Country: A Study of the Conservative Left and publishing a journal called Te Tao ("The Spear").
[citation needed] As a student he was involved in anti-Royalist activities, and in April 1966 was fined £4O for painting slogans during a visit by the Queen Mother.
[2] The sentence was overturned in June 1966 after a judge found Jesson had been denied the right to legal counsel by police.
Around 1970 he also associated briefly with Trotskyist activists such as Owen Gager and David Bedggood, and he contributed occasionally to journals such as Dispute, New Zealand Monthly Review and Spartacist Spasmodical.
He also published four books about the neo-liberal revolution in New Zealand, and became a fellow of the Auckland University Political Science Department.
[7] An anthology of his later articles has been published posthumously as Bruce Jesson: To Build a Nation – Collected Writings 1975 – 1999 (2005).
Speakers have included David Lange (inaugural lecture in 2000), Brian Easton (2001), Chris Trotter (2002), Ani Mikaere (2004), Laila Harre (2007), Mike Lee (2008), Robert Wade (2009), Annette Sykes (2010), Nicky Hager (2012), Ted Thomas (2013), Mike Joy (2014), and Rod Oram (2015).