Anarchism in the “Other Europe”

Call for papers

Anarchism in the “Other Europe”: From the fin de siècle to the Present
Workshop, 16–17 September 2022, Prague Keynote speaker: Grzegorz Piotrowski

Convenors: Kristina Andělová (Kontradikce/Contradictions journal), Bohuslav Kuřík (Faculty of Humanities, Charles University), Ondřej Slačálek (Faculty of Arts, Charles University)

Both the history and present of anarchist movements in various Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries have been examined rather little within anarchist studies research. The anarchist histories of, for example, Germany and Russia are well-researched and well represented in anarchist studies debates. However, the majority of anarchist movements in countries historically positioned between the German, Russian and Ottoman empires (in some, but not all, cases on territory that was part of the Austrian-Hungarian empire) are often not left out of this account. Even in synthetic approaches to the anarchist movements’ history, these movements appear only partially and without sufficient context. This is not due to the irrelevance of these histories. Rather, a major factor is the absence or scarcity of easily accessible works that present these movements with adequate attention to country-specific contexts “between Germany, Russia and the Ottoman Empire”. At the same time, authors who focus on various anarchist movements within one or another national framework often overlook the intense communication among movements in the CEE region. Thus, they do not take advantage of the fruitful possibilities for comparison. Last but not least, the recent war in Ukraine, and the diverse leftist responses to it in different parts of the world, have singled out the specificity of CEE anarchism even more strikingly.

The planned workshop will contribute to shared scholarly knowledge while connecting those who study historical or present-day anarchism in the region, providing an occasion for seeking and discussing mutually shared problematics, questions and possibilities for comparisons.

The workshop will be divided into two sections (one per day): The first will be focused on research into anarchism and movements historically close to anarchism from the fin de siècle until Stalinism. The second will focus on anarchist movement from the rise of Communist Party hegemony up to present.

We welcome above all papers focused on the following:

• the relationships of local innovations to global waves of anarchist theory and activity, in the context of the transnational transfer of persons, ideas and tactics (considering the “transnational turn” in anarchist and syndicalist studies);
• movements’ dynamics of development, forms of self-organisation, strategies, tactics and forms of direct action;
• gender, ethnicity, race and generational issues in anarchist ideas and movements;
• relationships of anarchist movements to national or regional political cultures, to the other political streams and to other anarchist movements in the CEE region;
• the theoretical contributions of internationally lesser-known traditions; and
• the historiography of global anarchism and anarchist studies as seen from the CEE region. Selected papers will be published in Kontradikce/Contradictions (https://kontradikce.flu.cas.cz/en).

Please send your abstracts (around 300 words) to the e-mail address workshop-anarchism2022@ff.cuni.cz before 15 June 2022.

We can cover travel and accommodation costs only for some participants, so the principle “from each according to his/her/its abilities, to each according to his/her/their needs” applies. If possible, please use your institution’s resources; otherwise, indicate that you will need our help covering travel or other costs.

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