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Czechia: A Lucky Break from Populism?

While the defeat of Prime Minister Andrej Babiš at the hands of a right-wing coalition surprised everyone, the electoral results can hardly be heralded as the end of populism. They do mark the demise of the billionaire oligarch Babiš, but they also show how far the political scene has shifted towards xenophobic and authoritarian tendencies, […]

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Kareem Rabie’s “Palestine is Throwing a Party and the Whole World is Invited”: Book talk & review

Note from LeftEast Editors: The below interview with author Kareem Rabie was co-sponsored by the Center for Place, Culture, and Politics, the Department of Anthropology at the Graduate Center CUNY and LeftEast. The review of the book, by LeftEast collective member Matan Kaminer, was first published by +972 Magazine and is reprinted with permission. “Palestine is […]

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The Transformative Potential of Pedagogy: Review of Fordulat Journal Issue #28 on Critical Pedagogy

The aim of pedagogy should be the emancipation of people by evoking critical thinking and political action. Too often, however, when we hear the word pedagogy, the first thing that comes to our minds is the smell of chalk and educational systems that reproduce the class hierarchy. It is about time we start thinking about […]

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How to understand Chinese investments in EE beyond the “China threat” narrative

Note from LeftEast editors: This article is published in a collaboration with Eastern-European leftist media platforms ELMO – East Left Media Outlet. A panel discussion organized by the Transnational Institute will address aspects of Chinese investments in Eastern Europe which are not grasped by mainstream accounts Experts will discuss key political-economic issues regarding Chinese investments […]

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And all walls shall fall? Humanitarian crisis on the EU’s frontier leaves asylum-seekers stranded, six dead

Popular among the anti-communist dissidents in Poland, Mury (English: Walls) was a protest song written by singer songwriter Jacek Kaczmarski in 1978 to the music composed by a Catalan, Lluís Llach. Mury/Walls was an anthem of those yearning for political freedom and civil liberties. “Pull the teeth of the bars from the walls! Tear off […]

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The Magic Tricks of Russian Elections

Elections in Putin’s Russia are usually predictable and rarely bring out any surprises. Even when the ratings of the ever-incumbent president or his subservient ruling party are down, media propaganda and widespread systemic election fraud ensure they remain in power. As the common saying goes: “The people who cast the votes decide nothing. The people […]

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Fake News, Refugees, and Armaments: Christian Democrats and Islamists Join Forces in the German Election

Germany’s ruling center-right CDU (Christian-Democratic Union) has the lowest number of politicians with immigrant backgrounds, yet it looks like in this election the party will be supported by immigrants and their descendants to an unprecedented degree. A study conducted this year has shown that in recent years the percentage of Turks who would vote for […]

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Like an Oasis in a Desert: The Importance of Replika Open University in Hungary

Note from the LeftEast editors: In an effort to circulate information about local events and initiatives, we invite the submission of other reports such as this one in the future. Critical, self-reflective, interactive, communal, free, and open – these were the promises of Replika Open University, the series of online sociological presentations and discussions between […]

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“We have to stick together”

Note from LeftEast editors: We share a brief article about a strike at the automotive supplier plant in Beluša, Slovakia. The article was originally published on the Karmina.red blog on September 13, 2021, in Slovak and English. This brief article also contains the links where you can dowload the informative pamphlet outlining the background story of the […]

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Art and Politics in Cuba Today: Amilcar Navarro and Mary Taylor in conversation

Mary Taylor: Envisioned by Fidel Castro and Che Guevara as an important revolutionary institution, The National School of the Arts (la ENA, Escuelas Nationales De Arte- also known as “the City of Arts”) was founded in March 1962 in the Cubanacan neighborhood of Havana. The campus, with five buildings set on the grounds of what was once […]