Tag Archives: Europe

August 28, 2019

“Red Tape”: the Labor Crisis in Europe’s Most Unequal Country

by Aleksandar Matkovic  

Note from LeftEast editors: This is Part I of “Serbia’s Labor Law: a Counter-Proposal” reprinted from the author’s blog with his kind permission. I went to work in the morning and returned late in the evening. And on Sunday I had to go to work. I did not have any free time anymore. The owner of the company increased the volume of work but did not increase the number of us who are working. For every mistake, he took a part of our salaries, so I often did not get even the minimum (wage). He never paid out our hot meals, vacation and travel expenses, although we all signed that we had received them. We h ..

August 1, 2017

The Contradictions of European Capitalism: An interview with Joachim Becker – Part I

by Domagoj Mihaljevic  

The following two-part interview with Joachim Becker,, professor of Economics and Business at Vienna University and deputy head of the Institute for International Economics and Development, was conducted by the Croatian activist and writer Domagoj Mihaljević. Mihaljević: For the time being, it seems the process of capital accumulation in Europe has been stabilized through policies of fiscal stability and structural reforms. In doing this, the central focus of European ruling classes was to secure the survival of monetary union at any cost necessary. In turn, this has made the fragmentation between the core and ..

May 17, 2016

Unorthodox communism in Italy and the experience of Il Manifesto group (II): an Interview with Rossana Rossanda

by Rossana Rossanda  

Note from the LeftEast editors: this is the second in the series of two interviews, carried out by George Souvlis on the history of the circle around the newspaper Il Manifesto and Italian unorthodox communism. It has been translated from the Italian by Chiara Bonfiglioli. The interview was conducted via email in January 2015. — First of all, let me apologize for my delay in answering, due to my health state and to a number of difficulties related to Italian politics. Your questions would require me to answer with full essays to each of them. In the course of recent years, I have tried to answer such que ..

April 13, 2016

On Marxism, barbarism, Russia, Greece and more: Interview with Kees van der Pijl

by admin  

Kees van der Pijl is a Dutch political scientist who is emeritus professor of international relations at the University of Sussex. He is known for his critical approach to global political economy and has published, amongst others, a trilogy on Modes of Foreign Relations and Political Economy (2007, 2010, 2014); Global Rivalries from the Cold War to Iraq (2006); Transnational Classes and International Relations (1998); and The Making of an Atlantic Ruling Class. Kees van der Pijl was interviewed by George Souvlis and Yulia Yurchenko. Q1: Would you like to present yourself by focusing on the formative experience ..

April 2, 2016

What’s DiEM25, really? Reply to Open Letter by Souvlis & Mazzolini

by Yanis Varoufakis  

Note from the LeftEast editors: this is the reply of Yanis Varoufakis to the Open Letter by George Souvlis and Samuele Mazzolini about the Democracy in Europe Movement 2015 DiEM25, which appeared earlier this week on LeftEast. Varoufakis’s reply first appeared on the personal blog of Yanis Varoufakis. Shortly after DiEM25’s Rome launch, I received a splendid Open Letter from George Souvlis and Samuele Mazzolini. It reminded me of another such letter I had received from John Malamatinas prior to DiEM25’s Berlin launch. George and Samuele raise crucial questions about DiEM25 and our project to democrat ..

February 15, 2016

An Austere Place of Refuge

by Joseph Grim Feinberg  

Nations in their barbarous condition are impenetrable; they must be broken into… Vico, The New Science, Book I, Axiom CII, proposition 303 (trans. Thomas Goddard Bergin and Max Harold Fisch) On February 6, Europe witnessed what might be the boldest attempt to date to mobilize the continent’s masses against immigration and Islam. An international movement is emerging, uniting Europeans across borders—to call for the strengthening of the continent’s outer borders. The movement is overcoming old national hatred—but it is driven by a hatred that is international. It has even begun to articulate a critique o ..

January 11, 2016

VIDEO: TalkReal in Vienna: Towards a Plan ‘D’ for Democracy in Europe

by admin  

Note from the LeftEast editors: In this video of European Alternatives’ ‘TalkReal’ series the debate is on how to go beyond the pessimism that has taken over our contemporary political climate. TalkReal is published in co-operation with OpenDemocracy and Roarmag. For years we have been told ‘There is No Alternative’, that the status quo is both healthy and here to stay. But as neoliberal institutions struggle to contain a complex and multi-headed crisis it is clearer than ever that radical change represents our only chance of a better future. In this episode of TalkReal from the end of 2015 European A ..

November 10, 2015

Greece: A call for support of the struggle of VIOME workers

by admin  

Note from the LeftEast editors: we publish this call, sent around by the general assembly of the workers at VIOME, in solidarity with their plight and struggle.  — Dear friends: As a result of the legal battle waged against the VIOME workers collective, the state-appointed trustee is now organising a series of auctions with the aim of liquidating the plot of land on which the VIOME factory is located. A possible sale of the land would create the legal ground for evicting the workers from the factory. Although the workers and the solidarity assembly are decided to stand their ground and defend the fac ..

August 31, 2015

The escalation of the refugee crisis and European imperialism. An interview with Vijay Prashad.

by admin  

Note from the LeftEast editors: This is a publication of two related materials. Below we repost the transcript of an interview of Vijay Prashad with Sharmini Peries from The Real News Network on the current escalation of the migrant crisis. As some of the ideas have been developed in Vijay’s recent work, among which this talk in Dublin kindly hosted by Irish development NGO Comhlamh, we also post the link to the audio recording of the talk.  The Real News: The International Organization for Migration says at least 2,400 people have died this year while attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea to Europe. ..

August 25, 2015

Jobbik agrees with the Migrant Solidarity network? (No, not really.)

by admin  

source: MigSzol.Com UPDATE: Since the writing of this article it has been reported that the German state has suspended Dublin deportations of Syrian refugees, even if they have their fingerprints and asylum claims in countries like Hungary. This is a great victory for the rights of refugees in Europe.  This also begs the question of why Syrians are now ‘privileged’ in this absurd system but not Afghans, Iraqis, Somalis and others fleeing brutal wars? Right extreme party Jobbik recently called on the Fidesz Party-led Hungarian govt to suspend the EU’s Dublin III Regulation. MigSzol [Migrant Solidarity ne ..