Początek: 11-06-2009 10:00

Koniec: 20-06-2009 18:00

Opis

International Conference with Film Screenings and Exhibitions.

Date: 11-12 June 2009

Venue: University of East London, London, Docklands Campus, 4-6 University Way, E16 2RD.


This conference will reflect on the past and present connections of Communism and post-Communism in everyday life. We would like to look upon different
sides of everyday-life practices where culture and politics meet. We will debate on how Communism has affected social and psychological life in the Eastern and Western world before and after 1989 and how its impact is
manifested today through the mundane and the quotidian. We want to follow the current versions of Communism around the world - in both radical and
nostalgic forms.

The ghosts of Communism, the system blamed for cutting-off half of Europe from 'democratic evolution', have officially been buried in post-Soviet countries. But have they really left the stage of politics, economy and
culture; have they really disappeared from everyday life of the people who lived under Communism? During this conference we will observe the everyday before and after 1989 through the lens of the connection with the past which has influenced the present. Where is Communism today and how can we identify it practically? What does it mean today to be a national of the post-Soviet Republics? Do these people have anything in common today? Is their understanding of culture, politics, ethics, or religion underpinned by their experience of the Soviet regime? What does the anniversary of the fall of
Communism mean in those countries? Who is going to celebrate? And finally: Is it important to forget or to remember that past and why?

The conference will be organised into two streams:

Stream I: will focus on the internal problems of the post-Soviet countries and their life under and after Communism. It will explore the following questions: How is Communism in post-Communist Europe to be remembered? In terms of the destruction and death of millions under Stalin, or in terms of a nostalgic memory of collectivity, public good and shared values? What has happened to communist ideals and practices today? Since its fall was
spectacularly announced with the collapse of the Berlin Wall, has communism been erased from memory, social structures and people's mentality in the post-Soviet countries?

Stream II: will examine the critical ideology of communism, its historical aspects and its contemporary applications worldwide. Questions that will be investigated include: to what extent has the world managed to overcome the
problems Marx and Lenin originally posed in relation to labour, workers' rights and human relationships, and most of all the value of sociality in human experience? If Marxism allegedly died from the blows it suffered under
the Soviet model, do we need to replace it with another political philosophy which will help us address such questions?

We seek submissions from academics, artists, journalists, activists and politicians who are invited to present a paper, poster, panel discussion, round table, performance, film screening, happening, or exhibition.
Presentations are encouraged from different disciplines also from the outside of the post-Communist Block, especially from those countries which have experienced or try to introduce Communist solutions to their politics,
policies, and societal life.

Abstracts 350 words to be sent to m.rabikowska@uel.ac.uk
till 28 February 2009. A proposal of 350 words is also required for any other presentation format which is not a paper and needs to be sent till 28th February 2009 to
m.rabikowska@uel.ac.uk.
We accept submission in the Russian language.

For more information and the current Programme go to:

Join the conference on 'The Everyday Life 20 Years after the Fall of Communism' at the University of East London 11-12.06.2009:
http://www.uel.ac.uk/ghosts/index.htm
Contact Details
Email:
Location:
4-6 University Way, E16 2RD
London, United Kingdom

Cennik

Conference rates

* Full: £100 for 2 days.
* Students: £50 for 2 days.
* UEl staff £25 per day
* Extra booking for a conference dinner on 11th June 2009: £30 per person
* Registration online until 25 March 2009

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