Lefteast

INTERVIEW: Tamás Krausz: “Reconstructing Lenin” beyond the lies and distortions

Professor of Russian history at the University of Budapest, Tamás Krausz is the author of an intellectual biography of Lenin. In this interview, Krausz draws a portrait of the October Revolution and the beginning of the Soviet experience, rigorously showing the contemporary relevance of Lenin’s analyses, as well as their limits, without yielding to the simplifications and “superficial theories” that prevent us from understanding that founding event. Alex Anfruns: Your book “Reconstructing Lenin” defends the postulate that Lenin’s theoretical and political legacy continues to b ..

The Helpers of the Afghan Park

Text and photos by Szilárd Kalmár, translated by Arnold Velansits. First published in Mérce. In the spring of 2015, a wave of refugees reached Europe of a size that had not been seen before. The general public – including us – was not informed, or barely were, about this situation and only realized what we are facing when the quickest moving refugees, the relatively wealthier people had reached our borders. In these early stages, Hungary registered those coming via Serbia, then gave them free transit towards the two largest refugee camps, in Debrecen, or Vámosszabadi, near the town of Győr. At th ..

Looking Elsewhere: Weak Actors and Architecture on the Move in Global Socialism

Part 1 of a two-part interview with Łukasz Stanek by Zoltán Ginelli. Transcribed and edited by Zoltán Ginelli. Part 2 can be read HERE. Łukasz Stanek is Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) at the Manchester School of Architecture, The University of Manchester, UK. Stanek authoredHenri Lefebvre on Space: Architecture, Urban Research, and the Production of Theory(2011) and edited Lefebvre’s book Toward an Architecture of Enjoyment (2014). His latest book, Architecture in Global Socialism: Eastern Europe, West Africa, and the Middle East in the Cold War was published by Princeton University Press in 2020. Cu ..

Poland: Demonstrating for Women’s Rights and for an End to the Right-wing Government

Interview conducted by Philippe Alcoy and originally published in Revolution Permanente. Translated from the French by William Coker. Poland has seen enormous demonstrations unfold since October 22 when the Constitutional Court decided to ban abortion in almost all cases. It has been a big movement launched by women and the youth, but which different sectors of society have joined. A movement that has also become a catalyst for the people’s anger with the ultraconservative Law and Justice Party (PiS) government. Proof of that widespread anger came last Friday, when one demonstration gathered more than 80,000 pe ..

From solidarity to politics: Transformative action along the Balkan migration route

Note from the LeftEast editors:The present text,which we co-publish together with TSSis part of a series of publications and webinars on the topics of social reproduction, (women’s) labour and migration in East-Central Europe and beyond. The video from the first webinarResponses to Covid19 and (post)pandemic: social reproduction, migrants and women in Central/Eastern Europe and beyond, where this text was first presentedcan be seen here. The aim of the series is to raise awareness about struggles for labour, reproduction and migrant rights, as well as of the condition of women in society and how these have been ..

Serbia and Kosovo go to Jerusalem: Passing Trump circus, or profound geopolitical shake-up?

A bizarre Trumpist ceremony in the White House on September 4 saw the leaders of Serbia and Kosovo signing two separate documents with the United States involving American-funded economic agreements between the two estranged countries. Especially bizarre is Trump’s claim to have ended “hundreds of years” of “mass killings” between Serbia and Kosovo; apart from a two-day outbreak in 2004, there have been no mass killings since 1999. In contrast, his Balkan envoy, Richard Grenell, thought the Kosovo war was merely a “perceived conflict, which in some ways is a conflict.” Believing that Serbia and Koso ..

The crushing of Chechnya’s aspirations for independence: An interview with Tony Wood

The murder of French teacher Samuel Paty earlier this month by a young man of Chechen origin was the occasion for an Islamophobic and xenophobic campaign joined not only by the right but also by left-wing leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon. Mélenchon has since retracted his stigmatizing references to the “Chechen community,” but not his simplistic characterization of Chechen veterans as “partisans of a religious wars,” an assessment as absurd as it is in line with the official line from Moscow. To bring some nuance to this discussion, Philippe Alcoy interviewed historian Tony Wood, who has worked on Russia for m ..

Our Strike is Essential! Together with Polish Women for Freedom of Abortion

by E.A.S.T. – ESSENTIAL AUTONOMOUS STRUGGLES TRANSNATIONAL On the 22nd of October, the Polish Constitutional Tribunal declared abortion for foetal malformation – one of the few remaining grounds for legal abortion – unconstitutional. By doing so the Tribunal is paving the way for an almost complete ban of abortion in Poland. During the global pandemic, this means making abortion abroad the only option, even more unsafe and costly for women* living in Poland. This sentence reactivated the anger of the Black Protest, setting off a huge wave of revolt and blockades all over the country, defying the restriction ..

Armenian leftists: We consciously choose peace

Note from the editors: Three weeks ago LeftEast published an anti-war statement of the Azerbaijani left. Now we are proud to publish the response of the anti-war Armenian leftists. In the meantime, the war has continued despite two ceasefires. The numbers of killed are hard to estimate, but are in the thousands by now, military as well as civilian. When reading texts like this it is necessary to, first and foremost, take into account the fact that their real impact is insignificant, even compared to the most powerless statements of the OSCE Minsk group and other international organisations. And therefore, the tar ..

How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love Milo

Note from LeftEast editors: this article is published in cooperation with the web portal Bilten.Org. On September 23rd, the Parliament of Montenegro had its first, quite uncertain post-election session, which saw Aleksa Bečić, a leader of the opposition, elected as its president. The session, as well as its outcome, was mired in uncertainty due to previous tensions among Montenegrin opposition groups on how to share the spoils of victory and who to put forward as a possible prime minister. With Bečić as its leader, the new parliamentary majority is finally complete, excluding, for the first time in 30 years, ..