Dear comrades!
We invite you to take part in our conference “The Left and Maidan” to be held in Kiev on 12-13 April 2014 in the Blue Hall of Cinema House (6 Saksaganskogo Street).
The events of the last few months raise difficult questions for the left movement. Should we participate in the Maidan events on public squares and in what way? Should we participate or not in the “Anti-Maidan” and the so-called “pro-Russian” protests? If we do, in what form should we take part? Is it really possible to promote the left agenda in these protests? Was the hegemony of the right in the Maidan inevitable? What results have we achieved for the independent movement of the left? What are the lessons to be learned and how should the left act when the next mass mobilization happens? What kind of mobilization could it be?
All these questions have caused severe internal disputes, conflicts and discussions. The conference will provide an opportunity for sober analysis, constructive discussion and practical consideration about possible joint actions of the left within the following areas:
- Lessons from the Maidan for the left : successes and failures.
- Possibilities for left propaganda on the Maidan and the Anti-Maidan.
- The Maidan as public square in the context of global protest movements (compared with the Russian “marsh” protests, the Arab Spring, the Occupy movement, protests in the European Union, Turkey, Bosnia, Thailand and Venezuela).
- International influences on the Maidan and Anti-Maidan.
- A strengthened extreme right: consequences for the left.
- Attacks against the CPU and the fall of Lenin statues: new opportunities or a threat to the New Left?
- Left strategy under conditions of the Russian intervention.
- Prospects for forming a left-wing political party.
The conference organisers are inviting leftist activists from different regions of Ukraine, as well as comrades from the Russian Federation, Bosnia and Herzegovina, who have participated in similar mass protests in their own countries.
The following may join the Organizing Committee of the conference: left-wing organizations and initiatives that condemn national chauvinism, sexism, homophobia, xenophobia, and at that equally condemn the Russian intervention and any violent action against leftist or trade union activists or unarmed protesters.
The Rosa Luxemburg Foundation is a sponsor of the conference.
Applications to participate in the conference should be sent by March 30 to Nina Potarska by email nina.potarska@gmail.com. Submissions should include the title of the paper, a short description (up to 500 characters), the name of presenter, place of residence and organizational membership (optional). The Organizing Committee will consider, but cannot guarantee, reimbursement of the cost of travel and accommodation in Kiev.
Presentations can be fine-tuned into analytical articles for publication in the upcoming issue of the journal of social critique Commons: http://commons.com.ua/?p=17376.
Organizing Committee of the conference:
Centre for Society Research
Centre for Social and Labour Research
Journal of social critique Commons
Socialist movement Left Opposition