(Online conference) Boris Kagarlitsky and the challenges of the left today

Ever defiant in the face of repression and a five-year jail term, Boris Kagarlitsky, Russia’s best-known socialist thinker, has just published his latest book, The Long Retreat: Strategies to Reverse the Decline of the Left.

In Kagarlitsky’s honour, a special online conference will be held on October 8 to address the double aspect of his invaluable contribution to the left: his wide-ranging analysis of the left’s dilemmas in the face of multiple global crises and the advance of the far right; and his resistance — together with other persecuted anti-war activists in the Russian Federation — to the authoritarianism of the regime of Vladimir Putin.

Register here

Speakers include:

• Nancy Fraser American philosopher, critical theorist, feminist, professor of philosophy at the New School in New York City. Fraser is widely known for her critique of identity politics and her work on the concept of justice.
• Patrick Bond Distinguished Professor at the University of Johannesburg Department of Sociology, where he directs the Centre for Social Change.
• Greg Yudin Russian sociologist, expert on public opinion and polls in Russia. Candidate of Philosophical Sciences. Professor at the Moscow Higher School of Social and Economic Sciences.
• Alex Callinicos Rhodesian-born British political theorist and activist. An adherent of Trotskyism, he is a member of the Central Committee of the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) and serves as its International Secretary.
• Hanna Perekhoda Member of solidaritéS in Vaud Canton, Switzerland, and a PhD candidate in Political Science (University of Lausanne).
• Robert Brenner American economic historian. He is a professor emeritus of history and director of the Center for Social Theory and Comparative History at UCLA, editor of the socialist journal Against the Current, and editorial committee member of New Left Review.
• Ilya Matveev Political scientist formerly based in St Petersburg, Russia. Currently a visiting scholar at UC Berkeley.
• Ilya Budraitskis Moscow-based historian and political writer. He is current member of editorial board of Moscow Art Magazine, Openleft.ru and LeftEast.
• Bill Fletcher Jr Former president of TransAfrica Forum; a Senior Scholar with the Institute for Policy Studies; and in the leadership of several other projects.
• Ksenia Kagarlitskaia Daughter of Boris Kagarlitsky, organizer of the international festival in support of political prisoners "Freedom Zone".
• Speaker from Feminist Anti-War Resistance Group of Russian feminists founded in February 2022 to protest against the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.
• Speaker from Memorial Non-profit organization engaged in the study of political repression in the USSR and modern Russia, promoting the moral and legal rehabilitation of persons subjected to political repression.
• Trevor Ngwane South African socialist, anti-apartheid activist, author and teacher at the University of Johannesburg.
• Pavel Kudyukin Co-chair of the University Solidarity Trade Union, a member of the Council of the Confederation of Labour of Russia, and was the Deputy Minister of Labour of Russia (1991-1993)
• Jayati Ghosh Professor of Economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst (US) since January 2021. Her latest book is The Making of a Catastrophe: The Disastrous Economic Fallout of the Covid-19 Pandemic in India.

Conference program

Note on format: Each session will run for 90 minutes, made up of a 10-minute introduction by the moderator, 20-minute presentations by the speakers and 20 minutes discussion. The main time given is Eastern Daylight Time (US and Canada), while the times in parentheses are, respectively, Central European Time, Indian Standard Time and Australian Eastern Standard Time.