Revolutionary Action Research Articles

Beatriz Allende: A Revolutionary Life in Cold War Latin America

Beatriz Allende: A Revolutionary Life in Cold War Latin America

The Illusionist

The Illusionist

От «Русского Манчестера» к «Красному Вердену»: Царицын и Гражданская война в России (1917–1920 гг.) (по материалам периодической печати)

Introduction. The history of Tsaritsyn as a frontier is a unique example of urbanization, the struggle for which was both ideological and strategic. Since the Russian Revolution of 1917, the city has been under pressure from the ideological systems of the “fiery revolutionaries” of 1917, the Bolsheviks and their opponents in 1917–1920. Methods. Using the accumulated historiographical material, based on the material of the local periodical press, practically not put into circulation, an attempt is made to reconstruct the life of Tsaritsyn in 1917–1920. Analysis. The analysis revealed a number of important problems. The central problem of the city was the food issue, which reached a crisis stage under the influence of public criticism of the government’s actions to introduce food appropriation (1916) and was not resolved until the end of the war. The crisis, aggravated by revolutionary actions, introduced the public into (2) a spiritual crisis, which manifested itself in the unwillingness of people to participate in the activities of self-government. Fuel, crime, epidemiological and budgetary problems led to the breakdown of the urban economy and the lack of combat capability of the military. The capture of the city by the Whites in 1919 only worsened the urban economy. The public was in crisis and quickly panicked at reports of the threat of a fall in volunteer power. The return of the city to the leadership of the Red Army and the creation of an independent province with its center in Tsaritsyn led to the gradual restoration of the city on the basis of an industrial base established in the 19th century. Results. Research into the history of Tsaritsyn during the transition years has shown that radical transformations and the inconsistent policy of successive regimes led to the deformation of urban structures, bringing them into a state of permanent crisis. Only the end of hostilities and the establishment of a stable state course of development can provide the potential for the functioning of the city within the state.

Sun Through Broken Screen: Murakami and Gutai

Sun Through Broken Screen: Murakami and Gutai

ОБҐРУНТУВАННЯ СПОСОБІВ ПОШУКУ ДИВЕРСІЙНО-РОЗВІДУВАЛЬНИХ ГРУП ПРОТИВНИКА ТА НЕЗАКОННИХ ЗБРОЙНИХ ФОРМУВАНЬ

The implementation of the measures of the joint forces operation to contain and repulse Russian armed aggression in the territory of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, the national security of Ukraine provides a set of multifaceted political, diplomatic, economic, technological, ideological and military measures. Of decisive importance among them are political measures aimed at creating favorable conditions for the state, eliminating existing and potential threats, and localizing them. The experience of conducting combat operations in the Joint Forces operation, namely, the performance of tasks by units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other components of the defense forces in stabilization operations while strengthening the protection of the state border, isolating the armed conflict, combating enemy sabotage and reconnaissance groups and illegal armed formations, indicates that that the classical ways of performing tasks are not rational. In preparation for and during active combat operations in order to destabilize the situation, sabotage mobilization measures and the operational deployment of troops, isolate the battlefield, complicate maneuver, disrupt command and control of troops and weapons, rear services, etc. the enemy will carry out large-scale sabotage, reconnaissance and other subversive actions in the zone of responsibility of operational formations (formations). At the same time, illegal armed formations will be organized and operate, which will be involved in carrying out destabilization actions. The article considers a calculation method for searching for enemy sabotage and reconnaissance groups and illegal armed formations in a given area, taking into account the peculiarities of modern armed conflicts and the forces and means involved (used) in this process. Keywords: search, sabotage and reconnaissance group, illegal armed formation of mathematical expectation, probability of an event.

Social Influence Operations of the Russian Federation and Belarus in a Context of Accusations against the Polish Central PSYOPS Group of Conducting Subversive Activity in Belarus

This paper presents basic methods and measures used to conduct social influence operations, indicating their metamorphosis associated with conditions characteristic for shaping public opinion by the Russian Federation and Belarus. Furthermore, the analysis covered mechanisms of informational influence used when creating accusations directed at the Polish Central PSYOPS Group, concerning conducting subversive activities in Belarus. The emphasis is put on their comprehensive nature, enabling effective influence both on international entities, and on individual targets. A significant part of this article concerns an analysis focusing on distribution of information, as well as applied techniques, tools and communication channels, used in social influence operations. The influence and the role of mass media in shaping of awareness was presented, revealing mechanisms for creating the cognitive space.

Choosing Threat, Embodying the Viral

Choosing Threat, Embodying the Viral

Urban spatial politics and collective action in revolutionary Cairo: Counter spaces and paradoxes of mobilisation

This article centres the role of Cairo's popular forces in the 2011 revolutionary Uprising in Egypt. It does so by bringing to focus the relationship between these forces' everyday spatial practices and forms of contention, on one hand, and revolutionary activism and protests in central places like Tahrir Square, on the other. It demonstrates that everyday life in popular neighbourhoods of Cairo is constitutive of a political domain in which ordinary citizens cultivate resources, dispositions and capacities for collective action and mobilisation of the kind witnessed in the January Uprising. It also shows how the lived experiences of ordinary citizens in the city's popular neighbourhoods are formative of the oppositional subjectivities enacted in the context of this revolutionary mobilisation.The article identifies and illuminates two primary paradoxes of revolutionary mobilisation. The two paradoxes arise out of a disjuncture between modalities of action pursued by Tahrir-oriented revolutionary activists (al-thuwwar) on one hand, and popular forces' tactics, strategies and conception of the Revolution, on the other. Tracing the engagement of popular forces in the context of the Uprising, this contribution reveals that in enacting their oppositional subjectivities popular forces articulated their own conception of the Revolution. More specifically, the article expounds on how they did so by shifting the locale of revolutionary action from Tahrir Square to Cairo's streets and popular neighbourhoods, and by widening acts of urban insurgency to advance rights claims to the city.

Soviet-Cuban relations after the Caribbean crisis, the collapse of détente and lessons for the future

The results of the Caribbean crisis in the domestic and foreign literature have rarely been covered from the point of view of the Soviet-Cuban relations that influenced the internationalist policy of Cuba in Africa in the 1970s. The author analyzes: the degree of independence of Cuba’s policy in Africa, the participation of the USSR in it and the fairness of accusations brought by Washington. The results of the analysis show that deploying of Cuban “volunteers” in Angola and then in Ethiopia was not initiated by the USSR, which aimed at maintaining détente in relations with the West. Moreover, new deterioration of relations with Cuba amid escalating Chinese-Soviet tensions, increasing centrifugal tendencies in the “socialist commonwealth” and emergence of “Eurocommunism” threatened to further weaken the “world system of socialism” and erode the ideological foundations of Marxism-Leninism. By analyzing Cuba’s internationalist activity in Africa, the author has been able to draw some conclusions about its implications for the international communist movement and its influence on the balance of power in the world before perestroika policy began in the Soviet Union. The end of détente policy did not allow the USSR to redirect the resources released from the arms race to improving the living conditions of the Soviet people. Cuban revolutionary activity contributed to fragmentation of the formerly united “upfront antiimperialist forces.” The weakening of the ideological foundations of “real socialism” was an additional factor that prompted the Soviet leadership, represented by Mikhail Gorbachev, to begin a policy of perestroika. Cuba’s ‘progress’ in Africa contributed to consolidation of Cuban society around the policy of the Cuban Communist Party, which, in turn, helped it to withstand the difficulties of the “peculiar period of peace” in the early 1990s.

Drug Abuse and Drug Trafficking: Non-Traditional Security Threats in Central Asia

The post-cold war world has become susceptible to multiple non-traditional security threats that are no less formidable than the traditional security threats. Drug trafficking poses one such serious non-traditional security threat for contemporary Eurasian space and drug abuse provides its fuel. Not only do the drugs destroy the very fabric of human resource in a region where trafficking operates and thereby reduces communities to hollow card-boxes but also such trafficking generates loads of dirty money, which fosters the growth of non-state actors engaged in subversive activities. This paper argues that in the wake of the fall of the erstwhile Soviet empire, the entire Central Asia region has become a hotbed of such non-traditional security threats which is being primarily nourished by an enormous demand for drug abuse in Russia.

Crafting the Intimate Body

The intimate body—essentialized in Judy Chicago’s The Dinner Party, complicated in Helen Chadwick’s Eat Me—is revisited through discourse on intersex, debate around trans identities and contemporary feminisms, via the subversive actions of radical crafting and visual, textual, material and performic queering.

The Deportation Machine: America's Long History of Expelling ImmigrantsOne Mighty and Irresistible Tide: The Epic Struggle over American Immigration, 1924–1965

The Deportation Machine: America's Long History of Expelling ImmigrantsOne Mighty and Irresistible Tide: The Epic Struggle over American Immigration, 1924–1965

Camminare nel paesaggio: un atto rivoluzionario


 
 
 
 Moving through the landscape with awareness has always been a revolutionary act for humanity, involving a renewed consciousness of our place in space and time. It is no coincidence that a walk is placed at the origin of the modern concept of landscape, and then continues, through some fundamental moments, to characterize a way of relating to the surrounding environment through movement. If in various eras walking has represented a form of aesthetic research, even a desecrating model of rebellion against the status quo, it still remains a fundamental form of primary knowledge, essential for the understanding of everyday landscapes, explored through bodily and related practices to a more inclusive modality involving different actors, who shape and interpret contemporary landscapes.
 
 
 

ДЕЯКІ МІРКУВАННЯ ЩОДО РЕФОРМИ ПОКАРАННЯ У ВИГЛЯДІ ПОЗБАВЛЕННЯ ПРАВА ОБІЙМАТИ ПЕВНІ ПОСАДИ АБО ЗАЙМАТИСЯ ПЕВНОЮ ДІЯЛЬНІСТЮ (В КОНТЕКСТІ СТ. 1111 КК УКРАЇНИ)

The author emphasizes that neither the system of punishments and their kinds, nor the contents of certain kinds of punishments are the constant phenomena. Due to the development of society, when the social status of a person in the certain state is being changed, the system of punishments and their filling with the specific restrictions are being altered as well. These changes are influenced by the numerous factors that form the state criminal legal policy at the certain stage. The researcher underlines that the understanding of vengeance as the coercive sufferings that are the integral part of punishment in the light of all the contemporary humanistic tendencies is inseparably related to the changes of social values within the society. The author analyzes the emergence of the new Article 1111 of the CC of Ukraine that foresees criminal liability for collaborative activity. In general, the emergence of this Article doesn`t cause any particular objections concerning the necessity of regulating criminal liability for such «silent subversion» activity during the war. At the same time, the wording of the dispositions of the certain parts of Article 1111 of the CC of Ukraine, as well as of their sanctions, cause a plenty of questions. At first, certain corpora delicti that are fixed in Article 1111 of the CC of Ukraine in fact comprise such a form of high treason as the transition of a citizen of Ukraine to the side of the enemy under martial law or in the form of assistance to a foreign state, foreign organization or their representatives in carrying out subversive activities against Ukraine. Moreover, if one compares the sanction of Article 111 of the CC of Ukraine fixing criminal liability for high treason with the sanction of Article 1111 of the CC of Ukraine foreseeing criminal liability for collaborative activity, one can arrive at the conclusion that legislator due to the unclear reasons has foreseen the privileged corpus delicti of high treason in Article 1111 of the CC of Ukraine. As to the sanctions of Article 1111 of the CC of Ukraine, there is one more question concerning such kind of punishment as deprivation of right to hold certain offices or to undertake certain activity that needs to be reformed. The author substantiates that having foreseen the punishment of deprivation of right to hold certain offices or to undertake certain activity in the sanctions of Article 1111 of the CC of Ukraine, the legislator potentially did lay down the idea of reforming this kind of punishment by the way of widening the sphere of its application that unfortunately had not been realized yet by appropriate altering of Article 55 of the CC of Ukraine. It is stated that in Article 1111 of the CC of Ukraine it goes about the so-called political criminal lawbreaking, so that the consequences for the person should be of the politically restrictive character, in particular, it goes about the prohibitions to dwell in certain places, to take part in the elections and referenda, to be the member of political parties etc. The opinion of the scholars that the content of punishment should be deduced from and correspond the nature of criminal lawbreaking is supported.

“I thank God that I have been in the very big push for the motherland”: The Role of Violence and Society in the Correspondence of IRA Commander Liam Lynch

This article is a thematic examination of the Irish Republican Army’s (IRA) relationship with both violence and social issues in the War of Independence (1919-1921) and Civil War (1922-1923) through an interrogation of the writings of Irish republican leader Liam Lynch (1893-1923), specifically, looking at Lynch’s understanding of the role of violence, social issues, and his crucial role in Civil War. Lynch went from a position of local leadership in the Cork and then Munster IRA in the War of Independence to one of national leadership by going on to become Chief of Staff of the whole IRA in the Civil War, before dying in combat in April 1923. Lynch was a highly religious and shy man but who also displayed a much remarked devotion to the republican cause, together with a natural gift for organisation. In contrast to his quiet and sensitive persona though, throughout his revolutionary career Lynch consistently called for an escalation of violent measures and often envisaged both military and social solutions which were never fully thought out and if implemented could well have done more harm than good. Issues around the dynamics of violence have recently been explored by Gemma Clark and Brian Hughes, while Gavin Foster has added further layers to our understanding of class conflict in the civil war but this article is the first systematic analysis of these issues from the perspective of the leading IRA figure during the latter stages of Ireland’s revolution. The article argues that while Lynch’s organisational talents and devotion are unquestionable, he lacked the leadership skills necessary in the civil war and often envisaged impractical solutions based on what was often his still local or regional rather than national viewpoint, or inability to consider the ramifi cations of his ideas. The article contends that an exploration of Lynch’s perspectives reveals much about revolutionary activism and of the ar of Independence and Civil war era IRA. The article hopes to further the understanding of the motivations of activists during the revolutionary period, the ramifi cations of the implementation of political violence together with the interplay and tensions within the republican movement between social issues and the national question.

N.A. SERNO-SOLOVYEVICH: A SHORT WAY FROM THE LIBERAL REFORMER TO THE REVOLUTIONARY RADICAL IN THE «ERA OF GREAT REFORMS»

The paper gives an interpretation of N.A. Serno-Solovievich’s views on the reform process in Russia at the end of the 1850s and his ideas of the preparation of the peasant reform, and traces the evolution of his social views. The works of historians mainly study his revolutionary activities in the organization «Land and Freedom», they do not sufficiently investigate the motives of his participation in the preparation of the peasant reform and the rejection of this activity. The novelty of the research lies in the analysis of the ideological and value-based, social and political reasons for the evolution of N.A. Serno-Solovievich’s views for four years (1857-1860), when he worked in various committees for the preparation of the peasant reform, and then left the service and chose the revolutionary path of activity. The main sources of the research are N.A. Serno-Solovievich’s publicistic articles and letters. They make it possible to determine the value attitudes of their author, the features of his cultural memory and his perception of the interests of different social forces. The topic is studied in the context of the social-activity approach, personal history. The evolution of views and the change in the orientation of activities under the influence of the social practice of Serno-Solovievich are analyzed. The study led to the conclusion that the second half of the 1850s was a special time in the history of Russia when government policy gave hope to liberal-minded youths to participate in transformations for the benefit of all social groups. It is proved that Serno-Solovievich before 1860–1861 was known for his liberal opinions and believed in the possibility of harmonizing the interests of different forces on the basis of the ideas of freedom, equality and justice. The interaction of liberals in practice with conservatives convinced the former that it was difficult to influence committed planters to take into account the interests of the people. Serno-Solovievich was not satisfied with the peasant reform project. He himself defined the dilemma – either to agree to moderate reforms, or to induce the peasants to begin armed struggle. He deliberately left the legal space of his life, underestimating the possibilities of influencing the government and his participation in upholding the liberal principles of the peasant reform.

Risky, Subversive, and Deviant? A Criminological Analysis of Guerrilla Knitting

Guerrilla knitting, otherwise known as yarn bombing, is a form of graffiti or street art that has grown in popularity and prevalence over the past decade. Whilst other forms of street art and graffiti have drawn interest from criminologists, much less has been written about the cultures of, and responses to, those who engage in knitting graffiti. Examining the phenomenon through the lens of cultural criminology, and drawing on empirical research with yarn bombers, this paper critically analyses the ways in which guerrilla knitting has been framed as a risky, subversive, and deviant activity. In doing so, the paper considers important questions about exceptionalism, the aesthetics of authority, and the commodification of deviance.

The role of information and psychological operations in the escalation of the Ukrainian crisis

The article shows the importance and increasing role of the information and psychological warfare factor as the Ukrainian crisis escalates. The role of the Special Operations Forces of Ukraine in the informational and psychological confrontation is noted. The structure and functionality of the 16th, 72nd, 74th and 83rd centers of information and psychological operations of the Special operations Forces of Ukraine are considered. The main functions of these centers are shown, such as intelligence and subversive activities, identification of internal opponents, disinformation of the population, information terrorism, demoralization of citizens of Donbass, etc. The tools used by the centers of information and psychological operations in their activities are considered, in addition to the official media, several thousand Internet resources, information and news sites, coordinated groups of users of social networks and individual "platforms" in social networks are used. The role of the NATO Coordination Center for Responding to Computer Incidents (NCIRC — NATO Computer Incident Response Capability), the NATO Center of Excellence for Joint Cyber Defense (NATO CCD COE — NATO Cooperative Cyber Defense Center of Excellence — Tallinn) and the cyber operations center in Mons (Belgium) is noted.

Struggle Against the Empire: Other Organisations and Cultural Nationalism

Dr B. R. Ambedkar noted that any freedom struggle or political change needs a base of cultural renaissance, reforms—both social and religious. Our retaliation against colonialists began from the very moment they tried to colonise India. Beginning with the Battle of Colachel that took place in 1741, there were uprisings from tribes in North East, Bengal and central India. Kuka Sikhs were the first to promote swadeshi, with the insistence on wearing hand woven clothes. This freedom struggle had many streams—earlier battles all over Bharat, revolutionary actions, organised arm struggle like Azad Hind Fauj (INA) and many streams of political thought that worked under the larger umbrella of the Indian National Congress while some worked independently. We had Home Rule League, Hindu Mahasabha, Swaraj Party and Congress Socialist Party (CSP). It was a long drawn struggle that was built on dharmic renaissance and cultural nationalism sparked by Swami Dayanand Saraswati. After working with revolutionaries and Congress party and studying history, Dr K. B. Hedgewar identified the problem of Bharat as a fractious Hindu society and the collective amnesia inculcated by the British. He decided to create a non-political organisation by first preparing battle-worthy citizens and founded the RSS. Contrary to critics’ claims, RSS too contributed to freedom struggle. Most important was its role on the eve of Independence in protecting Hindu-Sikh brethren from mindless violence and rehabilitating them when the leaders were busy celebrating the country’s independence on 15 August in 1947.

Charles Reade: Town Planning British Malaya, 1921-1929 by Kamalruddin Shamsudin

Reviewed by: Charles Reade: Town Planning British Malaya, 1921-1929 by Kamalruddin Shamsudin Rosilawati Zainol Charles Reade: Town Planning British Malaya, 1921–1929. By Kamalruddin Shamsudin (KLDIN). Kuala Lumpur: Kamalruddin Shamsudin, 2015, 373 pp. ISBN: 967-12232-0-6 Kamalruddin Shamsudin was the Deputy Director-General of the Federal Town and Country Planning Department of Malaysia (PLAN MALAYSIA) between 2006–2014. He has written and lectured on Charles Reade's seminal contributions to town planning in British Malaya since the 1990s. Charles Reade: Town Planning British Malaya, 1921–1929 highlighted the plight of Charles Reade in promoting urban planning, then still largely a fledgling notion in Malaya. Reade's background and experience were explained in an easy narrative which allows readers to understand the actions taken by Reade in his journey. Town improvement is the primary motive for legalizing town planning in the British colonies. Reade had already seen the worst of cities due to unbridled industrialization in the West when he worked as a journalist in many parts of the world and wished to prevent a similarly haphazard development in Malaya. Reade's predicament was far from easy. The earlier chapters in this book show the struggle he faced to install the physical aspects of the urban planning concept, and to ensure that cooperation between different parties in a municipality could be forged without unnecessary recourse to public funds. His talks in a conference [End Page 134] brought him to notice and had led to Reade's appointment as Government Town Planner in South Australia in 1918. It was the success he enjoyed with thispost in South Australia that enabled him later to lend his expertise to the Federated Malay States (F.M.S.) in 1920. Reade's ideas on town planning were explained in his talks. His talks and exhibitions in Australia and Malaya were well received, at which he described the current town and country planning practices in Europe and Britain. The media also played a critical role in disseminating the ideas that Reade tried to promote. The author emphasized that Reade acknowledged that he would be facing a massive challenge in Malaya with peoples of different cultures, comprising local communities and immigrants. In addition, Reade's revolutionary action in the replanning and redistribution of building lots in Malaya was not supported by existing regulations. Without the requisite legal regulations, the town planning practices envisioned by Reade could not be implemented. Reade would have found frustrating the fact that the haphazard development which had been foreseen could not be addressed by planning regulations then in place. Kamalruddin Shamsudin (also known as KLDIN) explained the difficulties in putting together the Town Planning Enactment 1923. Although there was no Malayan land law at this point to support this enactment, it successfully laid the foundations for modern town planning in Malaysia. However, this enactment was reviewed eight months after it came into being, and it would not be easy to discover its potential. Nevertheless, by installing this enactment, Reade had started an urban planning trajectory in Malaya which would be used later in Malaysia. This far-reaching measure has led to the institutionalization of town planning in Malaysia and the creation of the Federal Town Planning Department, which has survived until today and has recently been rebranded as Plan Malaysia. KLDIN revealed Reade's many unknown and forgotten contributions behind various prominent institutions in Kuala Lumpur, namely the Victoria Institution, the Petaling Golf Links, and the Merdeka Stadium, all located in the vicinity of Petaling Hill. The author also highlighted Reade's work in Kuala Kubu Bharu, a small township carefully crafted and adapted to suit the Malayan tropical setting, reflecting an early attempt to experiment with the idea of a garden city that was taking hold throughout Britain and its overseas possessions, such as in Egypt and Australia. In the final chapters of this book, the author described the Town Planning Administration (1921–1929). Although the town planning concept has been around since the pre-classical period, its practical application was not seen until the end of the 19th century. Thus, under Reade, the Federal Town Planning Department consisted of qualified engineers and surveyors on secondment from other agencies...