Articles En

Texts

Editorial collective

“Don’t Keep Your Passport at Home”

How do the security forces function in Russia? Is resistance possible despite the harsh political repression? Dima Starover talks about how he turned the slogan “Freedom to Political Prisoners” into everyday practice

David Khumaryan

Andrey Shevchuk

Wartime Gigonomics: Labor and State Capitalism in Russia

The fourth piece in the “Labor Rights” series: social researchers David Humarian and Andrey Shevchuk on platform workers and the war’s impact on the industry

Editorial collective

“Regionalism is the Perception of the World and the Space Around Us”

How do you defend indigenous peoples without becoming a traditionalist? What is regionalism and what it its political stake today? Journalist and regional activist Todar Baktemir on minority languages and separatist sentiments during the war

Konstantin Kharitonov

“We Have Already Had Hard Times.” How War and Mobilization Have Affected the Lives of Retail Sales Workers

The third article in the Labor Rights series addresses retail sector in a time of war

Lilia Yuldasheva

On Chechen Resistance and Postcolonial Solidarity

What lessons can we learn from the history of the Chechen wars? How did people fight for their freedom and independence? Activist and researcher Lilia Yuldasheva on colonization of the Northern Caucasus and resistance in the Chechen Republic

Azamat Ismailov

“The Damage of Mobilization Hasn’t So Far Outdone the ‘Optimization’ and Underfunding.” Healthcare in Time of War

We continue the “Labor Rights” series with an article on the condition of medical workers

Editorial collective

Goodbye, “Russian Romance!”: an Interview with Kavita Krishnan. Part 2

In this part of her interview, Kavita Krishnan, Indian feminist activist, Marxist and editor, spells out why Indians do not see Russia as an empire, links the struggle against the Russian aggression with feminist movements, and insists on universalism in the struggle against oppression

Editorial collective

Goodbye, “Russian Romance!”: an Interview with Kavita Krishnan. Part 1

Kavita Krishnan, Indian feminist activist, Marxist and editor, explains why international emancipatory movements should stand with Ukraine, why supporting Putin benefits the global far right, and how to challenge the geopolitical approach to the leftist politics

Karl Lebt

The Karabakh Fault Line

How has the Russian invasion of Ukraine affected the dynamics of the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan? What choice did the Armenian leadership face? Expert in international law Karl Lebt on the prospects for a Nagorno-Karabakh settlement

No items found.

“Art Has Taken On a Therapeutic Role”

An interview with Ukrainian artist Mykola Ridnyi about the end of a common post-Soviet space, the new position of culture in wartime Ukraine, and the possibility of a democratic and pluralistic future for his country

Kirill Medvedev

“If There Is No People, There Is No Left either”: Progressive History and Patriotism from Below

What could unite society split by war and inequality? What are the alternatives to major post-soviet historical narratives? Poet and activist Kirill Medvedev reflects on anti-imperial solidarity and a new idea of a civic consciousness

Ivan Beletsky

Music and the USSR: Two Poles of Nostalgia for the Soviet era?

How does nostalgia for Soviet culture manifest itself in contemporary Russian music? Is there a connection between aesthetics and political stance? Ivan Beletsky discusses these questions using the examples of Sovietwave and Russian rock

Dan La Botz

The American Left and Ukraine

What divides the U.S. left on the war in Ukraine? Union activist and New Politics editor Dan La Botz traces the positions of the leftist scene in the United States

Konstantin Kharitonov

Decision

How did the call to arms become the call to leave the country? What happened at the border during the mass exodus of Russians fleeing "partial mobilization"? Activist Konstantin Kharitonov shares his story and observations

Azamat Ismailov

“Bureaucrats Are the New Kings.” How War and Mobilization have Affected the Lives of Industrial Workers

The first piece in the Labor Rights series gives an overview of the car industry

Editorial collective

“In Russia, We are Experiencing Shame, Voicelessness, and the Collapse of All the Values”

A dialogue with artist Dmitry Vilensky of the “Chto Delat” (“What is to Be Done”) platform about the war in Ukraine, the transformation of the Russian regime, and what Russian cultural workers can (and should) do today

Angela Klein

“Stop the War!” Discussions of the German Left

What does the war in Ukraine mean for Germany? How does it look for the Left, and what are the key issues on the ground? Angela Klein from Sozialistische Zeitung analyses the leftist debate in Germany

Editorial collective

“In Almost Every Village Someone Was Killed”

What prompted Dagestani people to oppose “partial mobilization”? Why did the protests have a female voice? What influenced the course of the events? What’s spiritual and political life in the republic like? Saida Sirazhudinova and Khazbi Budunov discuss the anti-war protest in Russia’s Dagestan and its conditions

Editorial collective

Partial Mobilization: Six Stories. Part 2

What can we do in the face of conscription? What does “patriotic duty” mean in a country waging a criminal war? Remarks from six Russian men and women about their choices and their ideas of patriotism

Editorial collective

Partial Mobilization: Six Stories. Part 1

What can we do in the face of conscription? What does “patriotic duty” mean in a country waging a criminal war? Remarks from six Russian men and women about their choices and their ideas of patriotism

Editorial collective

“At Some Point, Everything You Do Becomes Activism”

How do you organize a cooperative in Ukraine after 2014? What’s it like to be a seamstress engaged with feminist and LGBTQ+ activism? Where are the boundaries between production, art, and activist work? The Kyiv seamstress collective ReSew talks about work ethics, migration, and self-organization in the time of war

Editorial collective

Not a Single Soldier for the Criminal War!

“Posle” on mobilization: what to expect and what is to be done

Francesco Brusa

Elisabetta Michielin

Pietro Maestri

Putin’s Invasion in Ukraine, or the Broken Identity of the Italian Left

A group of journalists and activists from Italy discuss the crisis that the war in Ukraine provoked among the Italian left and trace its historical roots

Sasha Talaver

A Reward for Nobody

The return of the awarded title of “Mother Heroine” is another attempt by Russia to dress up the invasion of Ukraine in the uniform of the Great Patriotic War. What principles underlay the Soviet version of the order? What does its recovery say today? Gender studies researcher Sasha Talaver analyzes the history and relevance of the award

Editorial collective

“In Politics, There Are No Strategies You Can Copy Paste”

What are the main issues at stake for the Finnish left? How did people in Finland react to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine? Why is ecology a top priority on the agenda? Mia Haglund, a deputy of the Left Alliance and a secretary general of the NGLA, discusses left politics in the party and beyond

Grusha Gilayeva

Did Lenin Сreate Ukraine? On the Right of Nations to Self-Determination and Marxism

Why do Marxists defend the right of nations to self-determination? What does the struggle for national liberation have to do with the workers' struggle? Social researcher Grusha Gilayeva analyzes the positions of Marx and Lenin on the national question and explains why the left movement must support the anti-colonial struggle of Ukraine

Andrei Kartashov

The Unwritten History of the Defeated

How can we stop taking a view of history from the lofty altitude of the Kremlin’s towers? Can we learn anything from documentaries in this regard? Film critic Andrei Kartashov discusses new cinematic languages in search of the past and the strategies taken by today's filmmakers

Editorial collective

“Putin Doesn’t Know Any War Except Class War”

How has the war (once again) made the Russian Communist Party a conservative force? Why should the left in Russia participate in municipal elections? Will mass political movements appear in Russia? Activist and professor of sociology Aleksandra Zapolski and co-founder of the “Nomination” platform and Moscow State University lecturer Mikhail Lobanov share their predictions ahead of the September elections

Sergey Abashin

“Brotherly Peoples:” The System of Kinship in Russian Politics

Why is the description of political and social relations in Russia often couched in the language of kinship? How did the idea of fraternal relations become part of imperial, Soviet, and later, Russian ideology? Anthropologist Sergey Abashin sheds light on where the formula “brotherhood of peoples” came from and what it implies

Editorial collective

“The Worker Is Always Vulnerable”

How has the situation of wage-earners changed since the outbreak of war? Who is most often fired for an anti-war stance? Are Russians uniting to defend their labor rights, and what methods are they using? Participants in the Antijob and Antifund projects talked about their work and the prospects for the labor movement in light of the war and mass layoffs

Konstantin Kharitonov

The Ecological Scars of War

The human casualties of Russia’s war in Ukraine are counted daily, while the damage done to animals, plants, water, soil, and air gets ignored. How does war impact ecology? What are the most pressing environmental concerns for war-torn areas? Left activist Konstantin Kharitonov discusses the effects of deadly military technology on the natural world

Editorial collective

“The Government Was Concerned About the Birth Rate Before the War”

How does the government regulate the birth rate? Will the war in Ukraine lead to a ban on abortions? What is “gender backlash”? Anastasia Novkunskaya on reproductive policy and gender violence during militarization

Artem Langenburg

The Special Homophobic Operation

Why anti-Ukrainian propaganda is anti-LGBTQ? Will the Russian anti-gay law be tightened up? Why do dictatorships always revert to homophobic oppression? Journalist, culture expert and gay activist Artem Langenburg answers these questions

Editorial collective

“In Russia, People Resist the War Against All Odds”

How has political protest changed since February 24? How are the laws criminalizing the “discrediting of the Russian army” enforced? Varya Mikhailova, a lawyer and human rights activist, discusses the considerable costs of anti-war resistance in Russia

Volodya Vagner

Swedish Left’s Perspectives on the War in Ukraine

Journalist Volodya Vagner on solidarity, campism and the reaction of Swedish Left on the wars in Ukraine and Kurdistan

Editorial collective

Being an Antifa: On Anti-Fascist Activism and Its Fate

What was a grassroots anti-fascist movement like? What can today’s anti-war resistance learn from its members? Antifa-activists on anti-fascism in Russia, Ukraine, and the USA

Editorial collective

“When There’s a Problem, People Come to Us”

Trade union and human rights activist Pavel Lisyansky explains why Russia's presence in the Donbas has proved a disaster for the labor movement, and why defending human and labor rights sometimes goes hand in hand

Eyüp Özer

The War in Ukraine and the Contradictions of Turkish Politics

Eyüp Özer on Turkey's political crisis and the impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine

Editorial collective

“We Were for Peace!” Only They Were Not

What’s going on in the Russian Orthodox Church today? How does it justify the Russian invasion of Ukraine? What’s Patriarch Kirill's role in this justification? How can the church engage people in social action? Andrey Shishkov on the Russian Orthodox Church and its politics during the ongoing war in Ukraine

Sasha Starost

”Black February”: Caring for Political Prisoners Now

Who is being jailed in Russia following the war’s outbreak, and why? How can we help those who find themselves standing “alone” against the repressive state? Sasha Starost explains the idea behind the Black February project and discusses attitudes toward political prisoners in Russia

David Khumaryan

Is Russia Heading Towards Digital Stalinism?

Could the Russian regime lean on the development of digital technologies? Sociologist David Khumaryan discusses the wartime political course and explains why the lack of resources will prevent “Stalin-style” digitalization

Editorial collective

Democracy Means Equal Participation in the Enterprise “Our Common Life”

Why is participation in municipal elections especially important in the face of increasing political repression? How are urban politics and the struggle for democratic change connected? Municipal deputy Alexander Zamyatin answers questions by "Posle"

Editorial collective

"Women Will Not Be Able to Forget Everything and Take the Backseat Again"

Ukrainian human rights activist Nina Potarskaya talks about the situation and role of women in wartime

Svetlana Stephenson

The Lad Said, The Lad Did. Street Gang Culture and the Russian State

Sociologist Svetlana Stephenson on the "patsan" morality that largely determines the logic of Russian foreign policy

Editorial collective

The Deployment of a “Limited Contingent” to Afghanistan Had Practically No Impact on Everyday Life

An interview with human rights activist Vyacheslav Bakhmin about the atmosphere of that critical moment and the relevance of parallels with today's war

Newsletter

SUBSCRIBE
TO POSLE

Get our content first, stay in touch in case we are blocked

Thank you!
Your submission has been received!

Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.

Thank you! Your submission has been received!

Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.

Social media

© Posle Media - All rights reserved

Created by ctrl.art