Revolutionary Groups Research Articles

Lobizona by Romina Garber

Reviewed by: Lobizona by Romina Garber Fiona Hartley-Kroeger Garber, Romina Lobizona. Wednesday/St. Martin's, 2020 [400p] (Wolves of No World) Trade ed. ISBN 978-1-250-23912-9 $18.99 E-book ed. ISBN 978-1-250-23914-3 $9.99 Reviewed from galleys R Gr. 8-12 An ICE raid on her undocumented mother's workplace sends sixteen-year-old Manuela Azul on the run, and she's astonished to find her way to a secret magical school in the Everglades where her extraordinary, conspicuous gold-and-silver eyes fit right in. The girls there are brujas (witches), the boys are lobizones (werewolves), and parts of her secretive human mother's past begin to make sense as Manu learns about a magical world. The magical society's rigid gender binary, already under question by its younger generation, is threatened when half-human Manu turns out to be not a bruja but a lobizona, and her existence attracts the attention of both Cazadores (magical law enforcement) and a secret group of would-be revolutionaries who follow in the footsteps of a mysterious missing man named Fierro. As a politically exigent #ownvoices novel (inspired by the folklore of Garber's Argentinian birthplace) with a rich exploration of hybrid identities, it's an astute and absorbing piece of magical realism. The magical school story, complete with a first romance and a girl-joins-the-boys'-sportsball-team plot, treads well-worn territory, but it will nonetheless appeal to a broad audience. There's certainly no lack of timely, discussion-worthy material here; Garber's interweaving of Spanish and English dialogue is utterly seamless; and a girl werewolf book to offer alongside Klause's Blood and Chocolate (BCCB 7/97) is always very welcome indeed. Copyright © 2020 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

MODERN RUSSIAN HISTORIOGRAPHY ABOUT THE PLACE AND ROLE OF THE JEWS IN REVOLUTIONARY RUSSIA IN THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE

More than a hundred years have passed since the largest continental empire in the world has fallen. The Russian Revolution of 1917, which stopped three hundred-year rule of the Romanov dynasty, ripened in the depths of the Russian revolutionary movement, the problems of the formation and development of which are of vital interest to contemporary researchers. A significant participation of the Jews in the history of the revolutionary movement in the Russian Empire is considered one of the understudied problems, although the Jews together with the Poles, Armenians and Latvians tried to break the autocratic regime at the beginning of the 20th century.Over the past quarter of the century the representatives of contemporary Russian historiography have managed to catch up with the study of those problems of the historical past, which, in the Soviet times, were considered ideologically incorrect themes in the development of the Soviet historical science.The main idea of the article is to determine the priority directions and the most urgent problems in contemporary Russian historiography of the participation of the Jews in the revolutionary movement in the Russian Empire, on the basis of a critical analysis of the results of the latest research of the Russian historians.The notion of “revolutionary movement in the Russian Empire” is understood by the author as the development of all known at that time all-Russian revolutionary organizations that were distinguished by their activity, especially at the beginning of the 20th century, which aimed at overthrowing autocracy.It is proved that among contemporary Russian historians who studied the processes of formation and development of the revolutionary movement in Russia, only a small group of them paid appropriate attention to the active participation of the Jews in the activities of the Russian revolutionary organizations.The scientific works of O. V. Budnitsky, B. M. Mironov, Yu.V. Anisina, Yu. V. Varfolomeyev and others should be noted among such researchers, who were convinced that the Jews played an important, though not a key role in the development of the revolutionary movement in the Russian Empire.The Russian researchers did not deny the fact that the Jews were active participants in both Russian revolutions in 1905 and 1917, which by their nature were not exclusively “Jewish”. Accordingly, the Russian revolutionary movement had its own historical logic of development. Priority directions in contemporary Russian historiography were the problems of determining the number of the Jews in the leading revolutionary groups and parties, the attitude of the Russian and Jewish revolutionary figures towards the Jewish pogroms, finding out the reasons that pushed the Jews into the ranks of the Russian revolutionary movement, as well as analyzing their role in the revolutionary processes in general.At the same time, little attention was paid to the problems of personal motivation of the Jewish revolutionaries. In the history of the revolutionary movement in the Russian Empire there is almost underestimated, rather complex phenomenon as a revolutionary nature of the Jews, the emergence of which, from our point of view, was associated with certain socio-cultural changes within the Jewish ethnic group on the one hand, but on the other hand, was the consequence of the exacerbation of the Jewish question in the Russian Empire.

Panislamist and Pantyurkist Motion of Crimean Tatars at the Beginning of XX Century

A problem which is examined in the article before was not the article of scientific illumination. It served reason of appeal of author to the archived sources which are first entered in a scientific turn. Actuality of the article consists in that displays of panislamizm and pantyurkizm, having deep roots in the past, in one or another degree take place and now. Research is based on the documents of the Record Office of Republic Crimea, which were at one time geared-up Department of police and his Crimean structures. An author comes in to the conclusion, that in Crimea, as well as in other regions of the Russian empire, where a moslem population lived compact, panislamist and pantyurkist motion was got by development. This motion was headed the representatives of intelligentsia, well-off and influential persons. One of them was IsmaelGasprinskiy, leader of pantyurkist motion of all-russian scale. Panislamizm in Crimea was organizationally designed as organizations of «Conscience». This structure can be considered the first national political party of Crimean Tatars. Crimean pantyurkists and panislamists had regular connections with the centers of Russian, Turkish, Romanian moslem motions. The fact of organization of group of the Crimean national revolutionaries in the capital of Turkey deserves attention. It is the important certificate of the close interlacing revolutionary and panislamist activity.

German New Lefts

Abstract The New Left that arose in West Germany during the 1960s mimicked the antifascist reformations of the 1930s. For grassroots campaigns, extraparliamentary opposition groups, and radical student organizations of the postwar decades, the Marxist humanist theories and revolutionary socialist splinter groups of the interwar years served as attractive models. At the same time, the Sixty-eighter generation rebelled against a political establishment now represented by that earlier generation of neoleftist pioneers, their parents. But generational conflict was just the symptom of a deeper problem in the history of the midcentury Left: a succession of radical new lefts arose out of periodic frustration at institutionalized politics. This article explores the missing link between Germany’s antifascist and antiauthoritarian new lefts: the so-called left socialists of the 1950s. In particular, Ossip K. Flechtheim’s science of futurology and Wolfgang Abendroth’s theory of antagonistic society translated antifascism’s legacies into a new paradigm of social protest. The left socialists’ support for the embattled Socialist German Student League laid the organizational and intellectual foundation for the sixties New Left. Recent studies of the “global sixties” have shown the transnational connections between new lefts across space; this article explains their continuity across time.

Paradiplomacy Management and Local Political Movement in Aceh, Indonesia, and Catalonia, Spain

Abstract This article focuses on paradiplomatic management in Aceh, Indonesia, and Catalonia, Spain, as a comparative study. The two different regions have at least two similar characteristics: both are recognised by central government as widely autonomous provinces compared to other provinces, and both obtained the wider autonomy in the same period, 2006; they also have same problems with revolutionary groups that attempt to withdraw from central government. This qualitative research aims to examine paradiplomatic management in both local governments. The main objective is to identify similarities and differences in paradiplomatic patterns and to scrutinise paradiplomatic activism pertaining to the instrument of political movements in both regions. The findings confirm that patterns of paradiplomacy management are typically similar, and influenced by the dynamic of local political movements, and that paradiplomatic activism is an instrument in political movements. It is argued that paradiplomatic management by secessionist regions performs the same pattern both in federal and unitary systems, and is reflected in the changes of regional laws on paradiplomatic affairs.

The nature of ‘document work’, and its implications for radical community archives and their holdings

Around fifty years ago, much of the world experienced a new cycle of mass social unrest. In their wake, the movements of that time have left a mass of records and other documents (typically leaflets, journals, newspapers, posters and bulletins). Today, many of these materials are curated by community-based archives that continue to identify in some manner both with those movements and their successors. But what might these materials be able to tell us about the ‘document work’ (to use Ciaran Trace’s useful concept) that originally led to their creation and use – and, in a broader sense, the experiences of the movement participants who utilised them as integral components of their political engagement? This paper will explore the meaning of document work within the practices of members of Potere Operaio [Potop], one of the most influential of the revolutionary groups formed in Italy during the late 1960s, before concluding with some brief reflections as to the implications of this for the present day work of radical community archives

The Housing Struggle in Milan in the 1970s: Influences and Particularities

The article examines the housing occupation movements in Milan in 1969-1975, relating them to the restricted supply of cheap housing—a situation that created difficulties for newly arrived immigrant. Housing occupation activists were influenced by the experience of squatting in other European cities, a phenomenon that particularly fascinated the educated young, who participated in the movement, supported by organizations of the radical left. The movement’s political project was to take the class struggle outside the factories, to attack “urban income growth” as a tool of capitalist domination. Compared with other Italian experiences, there was less involvement from the underclass, and the aim of obtaining a house was secondary to the project of maintaining political conflict at a high level. The movement waned in the late 1970s, due to the fact that the revolutionary groups’ drive for political mobilization no longer coincided with the social housing needs of young people.

Targeting Decisions and Consequences for Civilians in the Colombian Civil Strife

Although the intentional and indiscriminate targeting of civilians is extremely common in non-international armed conflicts by national armed forces and irregular militias alike, it is now commonly represented that all or nearly all of the international laws of war – including the rule of proportionality – apply with equal vigor and scope to internal conflicts. Yet, these conclusions have little evidentiary foundation. In the absence of specific targeting rules in a treaty relating to non-international armed conflicts, the only source for more detailed guidance under international law would be customary international law. For a practice to become binding international custom, it must be sufficiently longstanding, consistent, and universal. The practice must also be accompanied by the belief that it is mandated by international law (opinio iuris sive necessitatis), as opposed to being merely optional or advisable. Better evidence is needed of whether the laws of war are aligned with state practice in non-international conflicts. In pursuit of this evidence, we have chosen to examine one specific aspect of the laws of war - the doctrine of proportionality. We are engaged in a multinational study of state customary practice of proportionality since 1945. As traditionally understood, proportionality requires military commanders to consider whether striking a given target is “expected to cause incidental loss of life, injury to civilians, damage to civilian objections or a combination thereof, which would be excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated.” The study will examine how the principle has played out - specifically, the role it plays in targeting and planning decisions as well as state responses to obvious violations of the rule - in many armed conflicts in many countries. To better understand state practice, we are using a methodology designed to gather empirical information beyond official governmental and NGO publications and news reports. Our goal for the present chapter is to examine state practice in applying this proportionality doctrine in the civil strife between the Colombian government and two armed subversive groups - the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the National Liberation Army (ELN) - from 1982 to present. This vicious and bloody war, waged since 1982 and ongoing today, is notable for the large number of intentional civilian deaths and property damage, but it also involves numerous incidents of allegedly indiscriminate or disproportionate attacks resulting in accidental but avoidable civilian casualties and property damage. In the end, we sought to determine, in part, whether the practice of Colombia in its war with the FARC confirms that proportionality has a customary law meaning either consistent with or divergent from traditional understandings in international conflicts. By examining incidents from this conflict it is at least possible to gain insight into the role that proportionality considerations play in targeting decisions made by the Colombian military.

Praying for Justice: The World Council of Churches and the Program to Combat Racism

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, individuals around the world, particularly those in newly decolonized African countries, called on churches, both Protestant and Catholic, to rethink their mission and the role of Christianity in the world. This article explores these years and how they played out in Angola. A main forum for global discussion was the World Council of Churches (WCC), an ecumenical society founded alongside the United Nations after World War II. In 1968 the WCC devised a Program to Combat Racism (PCR), with a particular focus on southern Africa. The PCR's approach to combating racism proved controversial. The WCC began supporting anti-colonial organizations against white minority regimes, even though many of these organizations relied on violence. Far from disavowing violent groups, the PCR's architects explicitly argued that, at times, violent action was justified. Much of the PCR funding went to Angolan revolutionary groups and to individuals who had been educated in U.S. and Canadian foreign missions. The article situates global conversations within local debates between missionaries and Angolans about the role of the missions in the colonial project and the future of the church in Africa.

Of 'Rage of Party' and the Coming of Civility

Of 'Rage of Party' and the Coming of Civility

Of Traitors and Saints: Foreign Consorts between Accusations and Propaganda in the First World War

The rumours about the German descent and sexual promiscuity of the Russian Tsarina Alexandra contributed to the fall of the Romanov regime in 1917 as foreignness and gender narratives were used by revolutionary groups to undermine the sacrosanct aura of the Russian dynasty. However, the utilisation of gender norms and the foreign descent of a royal consort for political purposes was not a uniquely Russian phenomenon. In fact, similar allegations of treason and depravity against foreign consorts existed in many First World War monarchies. This article puts the stereotype of the ‘evil foreign queen’ in an historical context and analyses the functionality and motives of these rumours in the conduct of the war. The article also examines the success and failure of wartime counter-narratives and, thereby, contributes a new aspect to the impact of the war on European monarchy.

Fearing for Merseyside: Liverpool, its Defences and the French Invasion Scare of 1858–1859

From the spring of 1858 to the winter of 1859, Britain was gripped by fears of a French invasion. These were prompted by a fraying of Anglo-French relations, following the attempted assassination of the French Emperor Napoleon III by a group of revolutionaries that included British citizens. The fear that Napoleon might take military action against Britain in response first arose in the spring of 1858, whereafter the national feeling intensified over the summer of 1859, when the emperor launched a successful invasion of Italy, raising the spectre of Britain having to deal with a new Bonaparte who could match his famous namesake both ambition and martial ability. The purpose of this article is to re-assess the French invasion scare of 1858–59, focusing on how the fear was both nurtured and responded to, not at a national, but at a local, level. Specifically, the focus here is on one of Britain’s key port cities, Liverpool which, as a maritime and commercial centre, seemed to many on Merseyside as a probable target for a waterborne attack. By analysing how the press and public of the greater Merseyside region responded to this perceived threat, this article sheds light on the division between fears and reality in public perceptions, and the understudied, localised reaction of Liverpudlians to this apparent national crisis.

Whose Bosnia? Nationalism and Political Imagination in the Balkans, 1840–1914 by Edin Hajdarpasic

Whose Bosnia? Nationalism and Political Imagination in the Balkans, 1840–1914 by Edin Hajdarpasic Charles Wukasch (bio) Hajdarpasic, Edin. Whose Bosnia? Nationalism and Political Imagination in the Balkans,1840–1914. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2015. Notes. Index. xii + 271 pp. $45.00 (cloth). On two occasions in recent years, I've chatted with young Bosnians. I asked each one if he or she was a Serbian, Croatian, or Muslim Bosnian. In both cases, the person replied adamantly "I'm Bosnian!" Now one can hardly generalize from two instances. However, it does make one wonder, at least based on these two brief conversations, whether the younger generation is moving away from the ethnic and religious labels of the past. One is reminded of the old joke about the census taker in Belfast, Northern Ireland, who asked a house owner what his religion was, Catholic or Protestant? When the reply was "neither—I'm an atheist," the census taker then asked "yes, but are you a Catholic or Protestant atheist." Whose Bosnia? comprises five chapters ("The Land of the People," "The Land of Suffering," "Nationalization and Its Discontents," "Year X, or 1914?", "Another Problem," plus an introduction and epilogue. Hajdarpasic's work is detailed and carefully researched. He recognizes the problem of defining terms which are often used loosely both in the media and even by academics: state, nation-state, nation, ethnic group, etc. One of his major contributions is the concept of the Muslim Bosnian as the "(br)other." In other words, the Bosniac, as viewed by the "true" Serb or Croat, is a fellow South Slav, yet has not been fully accepted as such. In "The Land of the People," Hajdarpasic comments "in the South Slavic context alone, thousands of pages were filled by debates over the implications of the term narod, which has been variously translated as the people, nation, folk, population, ethnic community, and so on; […] In Croatia, nineteenth-century scholars published lengthy accounts comparing different connotations of the term narod in different Slavic languages" (18). An integral element in defining a narod is, of course, language. Tied in with language is religion, folklore, history, etc. The emphasis in this chapter is on the life and work of Vuk Stefanović Karadžić, although other important literary and cultural figures, e.g., Ivan Lukić, are dealt with. Hajdarpasic posits the question "who exactly were 'the Turks' in Bosnia, given that Serbian and Croatian activists used the same term both for their 'brothers of the Turkish faith' and for the hated Ottoman oppressors? Could any 'Turk' be a Serbian brother?" (32). Karadžić also posited the question "and where do they speak the purest Serbian?" (23). Ironically, Karadžić, although he felt that the "best" Serbian was spoken in Herzegovina, never visited either Bosnia or Herzegovina, citing as one reason lack of funds. Of course, it must be remembered that the [End Page 156] researchers of the nineteenth century (e.g., the Great Team of British folklorists) did not have universities and academic foundations to support their travel and research with grants. "The Land of Suffering" is largely concerned with what would today be called Islamophobia. Hajdarpasic discusses the portrayal in nineteenth-century South Slavic literature and art of the Muslim as a sadist who covets Christian woman. Ivan Mažuraić's epic poem Smrt Smail-age Čengića is undoubtedly the best example of the Turks' supposed propensity for torture by impalement (71). The Czech poet Jaroslav Čermák's painting The Abduction of a Herzegovinian Woman can only be described as Islamophobic and racist. As Hajdarpasic quotes a reviewer, "the sensational 'whiteness of the victim' contrasted with the 'swarthy Satanic ravager [i.e., of the Turks]" (76). One is also reminded of the U.S.'s racist past, when African-American men were stereotyped as lusting after white women. Chapters three through five ("Nationalization and Its Discontents," "Year X, or 1914?", "Another Problem") can be treated as a unit. Hajdarpasic catches the reader's attention with the opening line of chapter III: "One winter day in 1840, a small group of revolutionaries crossed the River Sava … vowing to 'liberate the Raya' [i.e., the Christian Muslims of Bosnia...

Kwestie wojskowe w polityce administracyjnej resortu spraw wewnętrznych Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej w latach 1918–1926

Resort spraw wewnętrznych był jedną z największych i najbardziej złożonych struktur administracyjnych II Rzeczypospolitej. Natomiast jego najważniejszym działem była administracja ogólna. Dlatego też, wykonywanie zadań administracji spraw wewnętrznych w zakresie spraw wojskowych zaprezentowane zostało poprzez działalność jej najważniejszego działu czyli administracji ogólnej, którą tworzyli wojewodowie i starostowie. Wykonywanie tych zadań odbywało się w kontekście obowiązującej w resorcie, w danym okresie historycznym, polityki administracyjnej. Do najważniejszych obszarów pracy resortu w kwestiach wojskowych należały, w pierwszej kolejności, zagadnienia poboru rekrutów do wojska, a w latach 1918–1920 zwalczanie propagandy antypoborowej prowadzonej przez ugrupowania wywrotowe (KPRP/KPP). Po zakończeniu wojny polsko-bolszewickiej w 1920 r. jego organy pracowały na rzecz zabezpieczenia podstaw bytowych tysiącom zdemobilizowanych żołnierzy. Wiele uwagi poświęcały problemom mobilizacji i jej osłonie oraz sprawom przysposobienia wojskowego. Działały też na polu tzw. biernej obrony przeciwlotniczej i przeciwgazowej, angażując w nią organizacje i stowarzyszenia społeczne. Wypłacały zasiłki dla rodzin poborowych oraz sierotom i wdowom po żołnierzach, którzy zginęli podczas I wojny światowej i wojny polsko-bolszewickiej. Resort spraw wewnętrznych, realizując przynależne mu zadania w kwestiach wojskowych, ściśle współpracował ze strukturami resortu spraw wojskowych, w szczególności z Ministerstwem Spraw Wojskowych, Sztabem Generalnym, dowództwami okręgów generalnych/dowództwami okręgów korpusów, dowódcami jednostek wojskowych (dywizji, pułków), powiatowymi komendami uzupełnień.

Peacebuilding Model of Third-Party Mediation in the Philippines: Comparing Malaysia and the OIC

Many nation-states have increasingly found themselves in a situation where they are unable to sort out their domestic conflicts without third party mediation. This is particularly true for a country like the Government of the Philippines (GPH) who has been fighting violent protracted internal conflicts for many decades against Bangsamoro revolutionary groups. Therefore, with respect to the above, the purpose of this article is to compare peacebuilding models of third party mediation to the Bangsamoro conflicts with particular focus between Malaysia and the Organization of Islamic Conference, presently Cooperation (OIC). Its approach is primarily an eclectic, by concentrating on the strengths and weaknesses of the peacebuilding models of the third party mediation as employed by both Malaysia and OIC. The article is divided into two major parts. The first part discussed both Malaysia and OIC’s diplomatic approaches in dealing with the Bangsamoro conflict, while the second part explained inclusivity versus exclusivity of both Malaysia and the OIC respectively. The study found that Malaysia’s model is more durable and successful when compared to OIC’s. In fact, Malaysia’s quiet diplomacy and less confrontational approach with greater inclusivity were more effective compared to elitist and confrontational approach of the OIC’s mediation to the Bangsamoro conflicts. Indeed, the Government of the Philippines and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (GPH-MILF) peace process is one of the most inclusive peace processes in the world. It may have some who were left out in the peace process, but they were all consulted by both Manila and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) as opposed to OIC mediated Government of the Republic of the Philippines and the Moro National Liberation Front (GRP-MNLF) peace negotiations. Therefore, it is pertinent to conclude that there is nothing that resembles the inclusivity of the GPH-MILF peace process that characterized the exclusivity of the GRP-MNLF peace process.

Stanowisko Polskiej Partii Socjalistycznej wobec zamachu majowego w 1926 roku

The aim of the article is to present the standpoints of the Polish Socialist Party against the May coup d’Etat in 1926. The paper brings close the actual influence of socialists and dependent on trade unions within the preparation and course on the May coup d’Etat 1926. The author analyses the role and influence of the socialist past of Marshal Jozef Pilsudski in obtaining the support of the leftist forces in the decisive moments of the 1926 coup d’Etat. The article contains a comparative analysis of the political postulates of the Polish Socialist Party as well as the actions taken by the leading groupings aimed at carrying out political and system reforms in the Second Polish Republic. It was shown that the concept of Polish socialists, adopted at the beginning of the 1920s, consisting of achieving program objectives through gradual and non-revolutionary socio-political reforms, paradoxically was abandoned in 1926 in favour of solutions characteristic for revolutionary groups.

Jewish Pogroms in the Historical Context of the First Russian Revolution

The article studies the place and role of Jewish pogroms in the Russian Empire in thehistorical context of the First Russian Revolution of 1905 – 1907. It was proved that Jewish pogroms were a trigger mechanism used by opposition and revolutionary groups in the Russian Empire and beyond, in order to provoke a political confrontation with the Russian government, which was postfactum declared to be the fault of the «mass murder of peaceful Jews». The corresponding propaganda of the «pogrom policy of autocracy» was supported by the opposition and revolutionary periodical press. According to the logic of the Russian opposition it should, firstly, destabilize the internal situation in the country, and, secondly, discredit the autocracy in the eyes of the world community. The confrontation was critical when both sides of the conflict began to resort to the method of pogroms provocation. If anti-government groups used this method at the beginning of the revolutionary events, the Russian authorities turned to the corresponding «services» of the monarchists and the Russian citizens loyal to the regime at the final stage of the revolution when the government demanded more determination in its suppression. The author believes that the First Russian Revolution failed to solve the Jewish question. Accordingly, Russian Jewry again turned into a hostage in the confrontation of the autocracy with the opposition political groups, and the territory of the Jewish Pale of Settlement remained a human capacity and source of energy in the development of the Russian revolutionary movement in subsequent years as well, because if the autocracy succeeded in breaking out the victory of the hands of Jewish revolutionaries in 1905 – 1907, it was only at the cost of victims of their own citizens.
 Keywords: Jewish pogroms 1905 ‒ 1907, First Russian Revolution, Bund, Jewish self-defence, Russianempire

Trotsky and his role in the revolution of 1905 - 1907 in Russian

Trotsky is dialectic and one of the most important thinkers of socialist thought in modern times. He is a distinguished preacher and influential writer in the labor movements that undermined the cesarean section of Russian both in the Revolution of 1905 and in the revolution of 1917. The research in its first part included the birth and origin of Trotsky ,The second part emphasized Trotsky's political activism until the end of 1898, his joining a group of revolutionaries, The third axis focused on Trotsky's intellectual activity until the dissolution of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party, where he joined in Siberia with the stream of socialist democratic ideas and became a leader in his own name, While the fourth axis dealt with the issue of splitting the Russian Social Democratic Workers Party into Bolsheviks and Mensheviks. The fifth axis dealt with Trotsky's role in the Russian revolution of 1905-1907, his leadership of this revolution and his contribution to supporting workers' councils throughout Russia.

Faeries, Marimachas, Queens, and Lezzies: The Construction of Homosexuality Before the 1969 Stonewall Riots

The Stonewall Riots erupted on a hot night in June 1969 in New York City, when an unlikely group of revolutionaries, a few Black and Puerto Rican drag queens and butch lesbians, turned a routine bar raid into a street fight with the local police. The latter had just taken a payoff from the unlicensed bar owners and arrested the most obvious looking homosexuals. A motley crew of effeminate queers resisted what would otherwise have been a routine raid on a bar that catered to gay people. The conflict attracted an angry crowd of onlookers and supporters who fought into the night with coins, beer bottles, and sticks, and whose struggle ultimately came to symbolize the overthrow of decades of official harassment, repression, and degradation. A simple street fight on June 27th, 1969, changed history and breathed life into the then dormant and internally conflicted homophile movement. In recent years, gays and lesbians have staked out their deserved place in the annals of American legal, social, and political history with a growing body of social and historical accounts of the Stonewall Riots’ and of the pre-Stonewall gay world. Typically, these revisionist histories briefly mention the constant threat of raids and harassment that dictated the closeted lifestyle of most gays and lesbians before the riots. References to the police raids, or to the Riots themselves, however, do not often examine the various social forces converging on that moment when a seedy working-class bar in Manhattan’s West Village, which openly served homosexuals and outrageously dressed Black and ethnic drag queens, became the focal point of a conflict that instigated a national gay civil rights movement.

‘Burn, Baby! Burn!’: Paris, Watts, Brussels, Berlin and Vietnam in the Work of Kommune I, 1967

This study explores the best-known works of West Berlin’s subversive group Kommune I (KI), four flyers which triggered a prosecution for incitement to arson in 1967. The flyers allude to a recent, catastrophic fire in a department store in Brussels in order to comment satirically on the Vietnam conflict. This reading refers to the work of the Situationist International (SI) and Guy Debord, highlighting correspondences between the thought and practice of the SI and KI’s flyers. Mobilizing some of the SI’s key concepts, such as the spectacle and detournement, this study considers how KI’s flyers exploit and challenge some of the era’s most significant discourses about Vietnam, from both the political mainstream and the anti-war movement, at times moving them onto new, unsettling ground. The essay thus contributes to an analysis of the ways in which KI achieved its profoundly disturbing effects.