The Praxis Research and Education Centre
International research-practical conference
The anti-totalitarian left, past and future
Moscow, 21-22 June 2003
This conference is being organised to coincide with the re-opening of Moscow’s library of democratic and libertarian socialism, the Victor Serge Library.
The purpose of the conference is to discuss the historical experience of, and perspectives for development of, the social, political and intellectual tendencies comprising the anti-totalitarian left in Russia and internationally.
We invite contributions to the conference on the following themes:
- The left: criteria of (self-)identification, its core values. The scope and differentiation of the left spectrum. The left and the pseudo-left.
- The success and failure of the left in the twentieth century. The historical experience of communism, social democracy and anarchism. Socialist heretics and dissidents.
- Left alternatives in the Russian revolution of 1917-1921. The character and historical fate of Bolshevism. Lessons of thedegeneration of the revolution.
- The struggle of the left against totalitarianism. How socialists understood the totalitarian system.
- The social basis of the left. The evolution and transformation of the working class in the twentieth century.
- The objective conditions of the left’s activity. Capitalism: development or decline? Globalisation: ally or enemy? Alternative strategies for the left in the 21st century.
- The present-day understanding of socialism. The imperative for the renewal of socialist doctrines. New directions in left social and political thought. Is a synthesis of left traditions possible? Integration of the experience of new social movements.
- Perspectives for the revival of democratic and libertarian socialism in Russia. The struggle to influence civil society and overcome marginalisation. Problems of socialist education and political practice.
Those who wish to take part in the conference should contact us by 1 May 2003. To contact the organising committee:
By post: Russia, 109443 Moscow, box 7.
Fax: (7)095 504 4500. Write prominently on the top: Box 385.
E-mail: praxis2001@mail.ru
Telephone (weekdays) (7)095 278 8156.
The Victor Serge Library re-opening in 2003
We are pleased to announce that the Victor Serge Library, Moscow’s library of alternative socialist and radical thought, is reopening in spring 2003 in new premises, within the framework of the Moscow city public library system. The Victor Serge library, named after the socialist writer and fighter against totalitarianism, Victor Serge, aims to acquaint the public with the great wealth of radical and alternative ideas that were forbidden in Soviet times and are hardly heard in present-day Russia, including the many strands of democratic and libertarian socialism which opposed totalitarianism. The Library was set up in May 1997 by a group of Moscow scholars, journalists and political activists with the support of International Victor Serge Foundation. Today its unique collection has grown to 4000 books, pamphlets and journals in Russian, English, French, German, Spanish and Italian. It is the only place in Russia where readers can find works written from critical perspectives on social science, Marxism, anarchism, trade- unionism, human rights, environmentalism, and the history of workers’ and liberation movements in various countries. The Library is thus a unique and invaluable resource for Russian students, academics, activists and young readers who are trying to develop a critical view of the world and thinking about how to change it. The Library is also used as a sort of club where discussions, lectures, seminars and gathering of various left-wing organisations take place. Praxis, the political and publishing group that run the Victor Serge Library, has recently made an agreement with the Moscow public library authority under which its collection of literature (the Victor Serge Memorial Fund) moves from its previous damp, overcrowded premises to the new one, much bigger and with better facilities. We hope that this will provide a new stimulus for the development both of the Library and of Praxis’ activities.
If you visit Moscow, make sure you go to see the library! Address: City Library no.10, ulitsa Verkhnyaya Khokhlovka 39/47. Telephone: (7)095 278 8156. Note: Verkhnyaya Khokhlovka is a small housing estate and the buildings are not in number order. Number 39/47 is behind number 83. Directions: take the metro to Marksistskaya station (on line no.8, the yellow line, interchange with Taganskaya station on the circle line). Get any bus or taxi/minibus along ulitsa Taganskaya, a main road going south- east, which soon changes its name to ulitsa Nizhegorodskaya. Ask for Khokhlovka, the last stop before the road changes its name again, to Ryazansky prospekt. It is 15 minutes by bus and less than 5 minutes by foot from the bus stop.