The political logic of Russia’s imperialism
Beside my interrupted fieldwork in Ukraine (2021), this contribution to the war debate is based on my fieldwork in Belarus (2015-2017) and my conclusions on how Lukashenka’s ‘Caesarist regime’ mutated when faced with popular and geopolitical challenges to its ‘passive-revolutionary strategy’ (Artiukh 2020, 2021), to use Gramsci’s vocabulary. Drawing on my insights from Ukraine and […]
Social Protection in Postwar Ukraine: Time to Change Approaches
In April 2022, a new consultative body was established under the President of Ukraine: the National Council for the Restoration of Ukraine from the Consequences of War. The Council works on 23 fields of social life. Selected experts are supposed to draft plans for postwar restoration in each of these fields. The fields include social […]
With the resistance of the Ukrainian people for its victory against the aggression
As in the days of the Vietnamese people's liberation struggle, we have always been on the side of the oppressed and aggressed peoples, whether by the United States (and its NATO allies) or by the USSR (and its Warsaw Pact allies). We are aware that, crossing the various oceans and continents, the struggle for national […]
The War in Ukraine, International Security, and the Left
«Let’s not get into the wrong fight! We must support the Ukrainians without thinking twice or holding back»
Since February 24, Vladimir Putin has been waging a war of conquest against Ukraine. His army has been bombing and destroying cities, killing civilians by the thousands, as it did in Chechnya and Syria. The Ukrainians are resisting. We must support them without thinking twice or holding back. In most of our countries, however, too […]
Destruction of signs, signs of destruction
Russia’s president justified his attack on Ukraine by referring to denazification, while Ukrainian inhabitants and authorities compare the behaviour of Russian soldiers with that of German Nazi occupiers. The memory of the Second World War shared by the citizens of both countries could not avoid instrumentalization, especially around the Day of Remembrance and Reconciliation celebrated in Ukraine (May 8) […]
Self-Determination and the War in Ukraine
Two months ago, when I wrote “A Letter to the Western Left from Kyiv,” I hoped that the shock of the Russian invasion and the voices of the Ukrainian left would push Western leftists to reconsider their approach. Unfortunately, too many of them have failed to do so. In their analyses of the war, Ukrainians […]
The war on workers? What is wrong with labor regulations under martial law
After February 24, as Ukraine was showered by deadly Russian missiles, employees faced an unprecedented crisis. Continuing to work became risky in every sense of the word[1]. It was not difficult to predict the reaction of employers to the new challenges. According to business and human rights expert Olena Uvarova, companies put financial survival first. […]
Credit won’t work: Why Ukraine’s state debt must be cancelled
On April 10 the World Bank updated its GDP prognosis for Ukraine to state that the Russian invasion was to shrink Ukraine’s economy by 45% in 2022 alone.[1] But that is a very optimistic prognosis. As by March 29th, the country’s direct one-time losses due to the invasion already exceed $1 trillion. Even prior to […]
Without shelter: housing policy in wartime
"The realtor said that today there were more than 300 requests, with only 5 apartments successfully found." "We searched all over the Lviv oblast, nothing came out in Lviv, but we managed to find an apartment in Lutsk, so we are heading there." "I will probably have to return to Kharkiv." I hear similar words […]
