200 Years of Socialism:
Revisiting the Old Dilemmas
Following GRIP’s Annual Lecture 2023 held by Marcel van der Linden, a two-day academic workshop will be held focusing on themes outlined in the “200 Years of Socialism: Revisiting the Old Dilemmas” lecture. You can read the concept note here!
The workshop will take place on Thursday June 1 and Friday June 2 at Ulrikes Aula, the University of Bergen. This is an in-person only event and will not be streamed.
The workshop will gather a group of prominent labour and socialism scholars among them:
All interested are welcome to attend in person by registering using this link! Please note the event will not be live-streamed.
WORKSHOP PROGRAMME
THURSDAY 1 June, Ulrikes Aula, University of Bergen
09:15 Opening statements by Synnøve Bendixsen (Univeristy of Bergen) and Don Kalb (GRIP/University of Bergen)
09:30 – 10:45 Session “Long Arch”
Chair: Svati Shah (University of Massachusetts Amherst)
- David Meyer (University of Vienna) – “Cycles Upon cycles – Labour’s 200-Year Arch in Connection with “Political Ecology”
- John Barzman (Université Le Havre Normandie) – “Questions on 200 Years of Socialism”
11:00 – 12:15 Session “Forms”
Chair: Christopher Senf (University of Bergen)
- Sjaak Van der Velden (International Institute of Social History) – “The Future of Strikes and Trade Unions”
- Rohini Hensman (independent scholar) – “How the Abandonment of Democracy and Internationalism has Decimated the Socialist Movement” On Zoom.
12:30 – 14:00 Lunch
14:00 – 17:15 Session “Revolutions”
Chair: Ernesto Semán (University of Bergen) and Don Kalb (GRIP/University of Bergen)
- Jairus Banaji (SOAS, Univeristy of London) – “Rethinking the Origins of Stalinism” On Zoom
- Lewis H. Siegelbaum (Michigan State University) – “Soviet Inflection Points – a Play in Three Acts”
- Dilip Simeon (independent scholar) – “Militant Capitalism, Bad Infinity, and the Longing for Total Revolution”
Short pause
- Lucas Poy (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) – “Kautsky’s Unexpected Comeback: Understanding the Reemergence of the Second International in Contemporary Debates”
- Reiner Tosstorff (Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz) – “The Spanish Civil War as a Bifurcation Point for the International Left: Civil war, social revolution or geopolitics (as test run for World War II)?”
FRIDAY 2 JUNE, Ulrikes Aula, University of Bergen
09:15 – 10:30 Session “Countries”
Chair: Greg Ruiters (University of The Western Cape)
- Kate Alexander (University of Johannesburg) – “Mines, Movements and Moments in South African Labour History”
- Geert Van Goethem (Ghent University) – “Social Democracy in Belgium – a Historian-Participant’s Analysis”
10:45 – 12:00 Session “Citizenship”
Chair: Anette Fagertun (Western Norway University of Applied Sciences)
- Ragnheiður Kristjansdottir (University of Iceland) and Silke Neunsinger (Swedish Labour Movement Archives and Library & Uppsala University) – “Socialist Women’s Activism for Equality” On Zoom
- James Wickham (Trinity College Dublin) – “The Long Shadow of the Working Class Movement”
12:00 – 13:00 Session “Predicaments: Closing Reflections”
Chair: Don Kalb (GRIP/University of Bergen)
Closing reflections by:
- Henry Bernstein (University of London)
- Göran Therborn (University of Cambridge)
- Marcel van der Linden (International Institute of Social History).
To prepare for the workshop, you can read the GRIP Academic Workshop – Abstract Overview!
We look forward to seeing you at the event!
GRIP
