8 episodes
Marxism Translated Marxism Translated
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In the recent past, there has been an upsurge of interest in socialist ideas - particularly among young people. But these activists, as well as most of those on the Anglophone left, remain cut off from some of the most significant writings of German Marxist socialism that have not yet been translated into English. If you are scandalised by this state of affairs and thirsty to read what thinkers such as Karl Kautsky, Rosa Luxemburg, Heinrich Cunow, Franz Mehring, Clara Zetkin and Rudolf Hilferding had to say on issues from the Anabaptists to alcoholism, from colonialism to Catharge, from genetics to gender - then you are in the right place!
The Marxism Translated podcast is dedicated to our reading group, audio narrations of the newly translated texts and interviews with specialists.
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Balkan Socialism: Interview with Stefan Gužvica
What is understood by the term 'The Balkans' and why is this categorisation occasionally disputed? Which countries, peoples and states belong to the Balkans? What do they have in common, and where do they differ? What was Balkan Socialism (ca. 1890-1914) and what were its intellectual and organisational ties to the Second International? Who were its leading thinkers and how does their theoretical output highlight a distinct, although largely forgotten, Balkan Marxism? What were the two 'Balkan Wars' that are often seen as a precursor to World War I? And why did the anti-imperialist Rosa Luxemburg actually support the first of these conflicts?
In this fascinating podcast discussion, I had the pleasure of interviewing the historian Stefan Gužvica and exploring some of these questions - and many more. Stefan is based in Serbia and is currently editing his PhD dissertation into a book provisionally entitled Sickle without a Hammer: Revolution and Nation-Building in the Balkans, 1900s-1930s. We had actually planned to talk more about the 1920s and 1930s, but there was so much material that we did not really get beyond 1914. Hopefully we can do so in the near future, perhaps in the form of an All-Patron meeting.
If you are interested in Stefan's brilliant research then you can reach out to him via his website: https://stefanguzvica.su/
Significant Figures of Balkan Socialism mentioned in the pod:
Filip Filipović
Triša Kaclerović
Dragiša Lapčević
Dimitrije Tucović
Dimitar Blagoev
Vasil Glavinov
Jeno Rozvany
Jozsef Pogany/John Pepper
Kamilo Horvatin
Milan Gorkić
Josip Broz Tito
Simo Miljuš
Gavrilo Princip
Christian Rakovsky
Constantin Dobrogeanu-Gherea
Further Reading:
Georges Haupt, "Model Party: The Role and Influence of German Social Democracy in South-East Europe,” in Aspects of International Socialism, 1871-1914
https://www.cambridge.org/vi/academic/subjects/history/twentieth-century-european-history/aspects-international-socialism-18711914-essays-georges-haupt?format=PB
Pavlos Hatzopoulos, The Balkans Beyond Nationalism and Identity: International Relations and Ideology
https://library.memoryoftheworld.org/#/book/b1be1dd9-63e7-49f9-b8ca-a8529f1ea039
George D. Jackson, Comintern and Peasant in East Europe, 1919–1930
https://library.memoryoftheworld.org/#/book/767a7352-2d0f-48fc-affa-631d7db51194
Maria Todorova, The Lost World of Socialists at Europe’s Margins: Imagining Utopia, 1870s - 1920s
https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=812A461F10D86338C4944FDDCAB19362
Hilde Haug, Creating a Socialist Yugoslavia: Tito, Communist Leadership and the National Question
https://library.memoryoftheworld.org/#/book/8a66922f-5688-4414-8a43-7df0ac65a3a0
Dragan Plavšić and Andreja Živković, The Balkan Socialist Tradition and the Balkan Federation 1871-1915
https://library.memoryoftheworld.org/#/book/eff13395-e17a-4017-8845-d78f5bae59b1
Mark Mazower, The Balkans: A Short History
https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=33F5DA02E6DFA677AF05155B0262D7B6 -
The Second International (1889-1914) with Mike Taber
The Second International (1889-1914) with Mike Taber
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Framing 'Equality': Initial Thoughts on Clara Zetkin's 'Die Gleichheit' (1892-1917)
Some initial thoughts on the origins, nature and development of the German-language Marxist fortnightly magazine 'For the Interests of Female Workers'. To help podcast become more regular, please consider becoming a Patron at www.patreon.com/marxismtranslated. The original talk was given at an Online Communist Forum on Zoom and can be accessed at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2Bg6Cy0slg. The slides for the talk are attached.
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August Bebel - The Social Position of Women Today (1891)
What is more, to the extent that they are excluded from having an influence on either of these things by our public institutions, women must encourage the men to get involved. For their part, the men must understand what an enormous power factor the women’s support for their efforts represents. The Catholic church understood this better than anybody else: it always sought to achieve its main influence through women. In future, the movement behind which the women stand will be the victorious one.
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Episode 4: Rosa Luxemburg on Republicanism
Episode 4: Rosa Luxemburg on Republicanism
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Episode 3: Translating Rosa Luxemburg in the 21st Century, with Rida Vaquas
Episode 3: Translating Rosa Luxemburg in the 21st Century, with Rida Vaquas