Building Blocks for the Left

Regional Political Forum on Marxist Theory and Practice in the Southeast Europe

The period after the disappointment from SYRIZA's government and the (re)enacting of the debates on the level of intervention, European or national, that new socialist strategies should concentrate, was ruptured by the ›Brexit‹ with a deeper debate on the very position of the Left towards the European Union. The Balkan case with some countries already members and some aspiring is a peculiar space for political discussions among the anti-capitalist left and progressive emancipatory groups on how to devise a socialist strategy that works. It is in this context that the »School for Politics and Critique« was organized in Ohrid, Macedonia between 23^rd and 27^th of June 2016. The title of this year's school - »Regional Political Forum on Marxist Theory and Practice in the Southeast Europe« marks the challenge that the new left is nowadays facing in the region, that is: how to reinvent the Marxist theory and practice in a post-socialist context inside a region that is probably the most peripherized one in relation to the European Union's core countries of capital.

The »School for Politics and Critique« is an educational and emancipatory platform of the Institute of Social Sciences and Humanities – Skopje supported by the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung Southeast Europe. The School started in 2014 and aimed to strengthen the Marxist and social critique in Macedonia through a series of workshops and lectures dedicated to activists and theorists from the region, but also from other parts of Europe. It total, there were 17 workshops organized until 2016 with more than 500 participating activists and 25 lecturers including theorists, philosophers, political activists, journalists and public intellectuals. This year, intending to connect the local and regional activist and theoretical scenes in one Forum, we succeeded in enabling an exchange of experiences of action and in thinking and rethinking conceptual frameworks of political strategies. Thus the Forum, also contributed to the process of developing a regional political reference for new emancipatory left movements.

The »School for Politics and Critique« in 2016 was dedicated to current political issues in the region, questions related to its shared communist past and the possibilities of thinking Marxism based on the intersections of our once Eastern and now Western legacies of socialist theory and praxis. By bringing together activists and scholars, the event addressed the issues on political strategies for future action that are being discussed simultaneously by various groups in the region and which bring forward political and theoretical content that is globally relevant. The this year »School for Politics and Critique« also explored the current Marxist and feminist thought relevant to devising political actions of various activist/political groups. All this towards strengthening emancipatory knowledge in times of both neoliberal attack via the economy and social depletion of the working people and the reintroduction of much cruder patriarchic and traditional values through various sets of conservative policies.

Acknowledging the emancipatory potential of the interplay of theory and practice, the event contributed to the rethinking of emancipatory practices in the Balkans by opening a discussion within the contemporary Marxist thought. The most significant merits for the success of this endeavor are to be assigned to the three distinguished scholars and activists shared their thoughts with the participants of the School, Silvia Federici, Santiago Zabala and Gal Kirn. The event brought together 32 Macedonian and regional activists and scholars from Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Greece, Hungary, Romania and Albania in an engaged debate on contemporary socialist and Marxist thought on political strategies of emancipation.

Silvia Federici delivered two lectures through which she analyzed the pertinence of the primitive accumulation and dispossession in the 21^st century focusing on the strong gender elements of the two continuous processes. In the first lecture »Reproduction, Globalization and the New War Against Women« she presented the global tendencies in times of modern austerity policies that re-enact a new war against women in various modes, from the encirclements in Africa to cutting on social transfers in Great Britain. In the second lecture named »Women, Witch-hunting and Originary Accumulation: Past and Present«, Federici brought forward arguments from her theory on the very initiation of capitalist exploitation in which she attempts to correct Marx's analysis through inscribing into it a gender perspective.

The second speaker, Gal Kirn, spoke about the possibilities to find potential political lessons in the revolutionary partisan experience created before the formation of the Yugoslav socialist state. His lecture »Disentangling Partisan Memory: What Can Partisan Legacy Tell Us in the (Post)Yugoslav Context?« also ventured in the different models of partisan revolutionary art production to find the social visions that were embedded in their collective struggle. His second lecture »Notes on Developments and Failures in the Balkan Left: From Slovenian Uprising to Party Formation« took the Initiative for Democratic Socialism in Slovenia as a case study for a concrete analysis of political practice with representative democracy for anti-capitalist movements and structures. As it is already known from different other contexts, this path is marred with contradictions the Left must confront.

Santiago Zabala's lecture »Philosophical Foundations of Hermeneutic Communism: Ontology, Hermeneutics, Conversation« focused on presenting the philosophical concepts of his theory of hermeneutic communism and how hermeneutics functions in devising a new philosophical reading of events and developments within the political sphere. In the next session, Zabala provided an overview of the different forms of political presence of communist tendencies that result from such a reading of tendencies. His lecture on »Political consequences of Hermeneutic Communism: Occupy, Podemos, Pope Francis« claimed that the formation of formal political structures is of utmost importance for the communist path and that even the emancipatory claims of pope Francis should be welcomed and embraced by the new left.

The overall evaluation of the event is that it succeeded in engaging the regional and local activists in a participatory and provoking discussion and exchange. The inputs from the lecturers enabled a deep exploration of the issues of analysis and strategies to tackle the contemporary regional and global problems. Some of the issues that were discussed include: the level of political organization and strategy – whether there is an European instance or the struggles should concentrate on national level with strong collaborative international bonds; the issue of Brexit and the consequences related to increasing nationalism and xenophobia; the heritage of partisan revolutionary politics and culture production, and what relevance does it have today for the new left; the issue of social movements and their transformation into political parties – examples from Slovenia and Spain, the feminist analysis of exploitation in times of crisis and global aspects of gender related to capitalist expropriation.
The follow up from the »School« will include circulation and publishing of both videos and texts from the deliberations with the wider public in the region through social media and through the publication of the Identities Journal.

Pursuing the production of new political content through such events, the »School« will continue to be one of the most important political engagements of the Institute of Social Sciences and Humanities – Skopje. What remains crucial for the new Left in the Balkan region is to ensure the sustainability of the processes of political production of content and its social reproduction. The School for Politics and Critique will remain committed to this aim.

Author: Artan Sadiku

Tags: Alternative, Feminizam, Politika, Socijalizam

News

07.06.2016.
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Belgrade
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Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung
SAFE FOR WHOM?
The Safe Country of Origin Concept and the Case of Roma Migrants
In September 2014 and October 2015, the German Bundesrat designated first Serbia, Macedonia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina, then Albania, Kosovo, and Montenegro as safe countries of origin. In September 2015, the European Commission proposed to establish a common EU list of safe countries of origin (SCO) mainly including countries in the Western Balkan region.
Tags: Migracija, Romi

21.01.2016.
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Sarajevo
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Centre for the Promotion of Interactive Education and Social Action
Open University: Who’s Afraid of Future?
Questions and dilemmas for the Left
In 2015 we organized Open University in Banja Luka on 26-27 September (dedicated to ‘Future’), and in Sarajevo on 26-29 November (under the title ‘Who’s Afraid of…’). This report will not enumerate the topics of 20 round tables, lectures and open discussions, including a literary reading and a theatre show, followed at each event by an audience ranging between 100 to 180 people, nor the names of more than 40 speakers and participants. All these information, together with audio and video recordings, are available on the pages of our web magazine Otvoreni magazine / Open Magazine (http://otvoreni-magazin.net/). Here we want to concentrate on, in our view, the four major problems (out of many) that were, regardless of concrete discussion topics that ranged from Greek crisis, the Balkans, political economy, Marxism, psychoanalysis, feminism, engaged literature, sexuality, plenums to refugees, constantly addressed by our speakers as well as by the audience. What follows is a presentation (not a summary) of the questions that were asked, the dilemmas that were discussed, and some answers that were offered in relation to these particular four problems.
Tags: Politika

29.05.2015.
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Green Network of Activist Groups
Fine Threads of Local Development
Vandana Shiva on 4th Food Sovereignty Forum in Croatia
“Companies that brought us the poisons are trying to make us believe that without them we would not be able to produce enough food. They want us to forget that all of us can save seeds, that we all can grow our food – no we will not forget!” said dr. Vandana Shiva on 4th food sovereignty forum in Croatia.
Tags: Ekologija

13.05.2015.
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Sofia, Bulgaria
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Collective for Social Interventions
Implications of TTIP in Southeast Europe
A seminar entitled "Implications of TTIP in Southeast Europe" took place on the 07 - 08 April 2015 in Sofia, Bulgaria. It brought together activists and engaged researchers who campaign against TTIP (Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership).

20.04.2015.
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Ljubljana, Slovenia
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Institute for Labor Studies
How Do We Think About Fascism Today?
May Day School, 27 - 30 April 2015
Ever since the rise of Italian fascism and German Nazism in the first part of 20th Century and up till today the term fascism comprised the terminological core of left-wing (especially socialist) theoretical and political projects. In the first part of 20th century this term was used to characterize both Italian and German regimes or even any regimes and movements that mimicked German Nazism or Italian fascism. On the political front the term was used as a swearword, which is why its use probably expanded as much as it did. With regards to this it is instructive to remember Stalin, who angrily denounced social democracy as but the “moderate wing of fascism”. The concept of fascism thus rapidly lost its analytical value: it was either used as such an abstract concept that it could cover an unlimited amount of political actors or phenomena, or it stifled a sober-minded reflection and evoked primarily emotional responses with its denunciatory tone.
Tags: Politika

17.10.2014.
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Zagreb, Croatia
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Center for Labor Studies
Capital, the State and European Integration
Seminar, 17 - 19 October 2015
Until too long ago, even amongst parts of the left the historic decline of the relevance of the state was taken as a 'given'. Under the umbrella of 'globalization theory' far-reaching proclamations on deep tectonic shifts were the height of fashion. At closer inspection, however, the...
Tags: Alternative, Economy