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You are here: The Platypus Affiliated Society/Platypus European Conference/Platypus European Conference 2015

After our Inaugural European Conference in London in 2014, we are meeting again for a critical conversation on the present state of the Left. The present European crisis and the differing answers of the Left will be at the center of the conversation.

In the face of the continuing economic crisis in Europe and the strict austerity measures by EU institutions, the political landscape of Europe has changed considerably. Debates concerning the future and structure of the European Union have been accompanied by social movements , general strikes and the formation of new political parties. Despite massive resistance to austerity measures concentrated in Southern Europe, however, there appears to be great confusion with regard to the European project and thus the also with respect to the question of what demands the Left should make in the context of the new realities of the Economic and Monetary Union, or how the crisis could lay the basis for an emancipatory politics on the Left today.

Although important solidarity movements have arisen, for the most part the various social movements appear isolated from each other politically.

Syriza's struggle with the Troika has emphasized the absence of an international response by the Left.

What does the project of the EU mean for social and political initiatives in Europe? What possibilities and problems does the economic and monetary crisis present in this context? What are the perspectives and the changes which have emerged within the new circumstances for traditional Leftist demands, such as internationalism, the welfare state, or the liberation of women? What does the historical legacy of the European Left mean for contemporary political demands?

Alongside representatives of different political tendencies and organizations from all over Europe, we wish to devote ourselves to these and other questions. Activists, politicians and scholars will discuss the project and failure of the EU, forms of political organization, the crisis of Social Democracy, the welfare state, Neo-Keynesianism and the possibilities and difficulties of a Leftist praxis in the crisis. We are hoping to conduct the conversation with members of Syriza/Popular Unity, Podemos, Partia Razem (Poland), CPGB, IBT, SPD, Interventionistische Linken, the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation and the Institut Solidarische Moderne.

This conference will seek to create a conversation about the controversial issue of how to assess and respond to the present crisis in Europe and thus also of the European and international Left. By addressing the death and the crisis of the Left, we hope to contribute to the overcoming of current obstacles to emancipatory politics.

We say: the Left is dead! Long live the Left!

The second annual European Conference of the Platypus Affiliated Society took place from November 6-8, 2015.

After our Inaugural European Conference in London in 2014, we are meeting again for a critical conversation on the present state of the Left. The present European crisis and the differing answers of the Left will be at the center of the conversation.

In the face of the continuing economic crisis in Europe and the strict austerity measures by EU institutions, the political landscape of Europe has changed considerably. Debates concerning the future and structure of the European Union have been accompanied by social movements , general strikes and the formation of new political parties. Despite massive resistance to austerity measures concentrated in Southern Europe, however, there appears to be great confusion with regard to the European project and thus the also with respect to the question of what demands the Left should make in the context of the new realities of the Economic and Monetary Union, or how the crisis could lay the basis for an emancipatory politics on the Left today.

Although important solidarity movements have arisen, for the most part the various social movements appear isolated from each other politically.

Syriza's struggle with the Troika has emphasized the absence of an international response by the Left.

What does the project of the EU mean for social and political initiatives in Europe? What possibilities and problems does the economic and monetary crisis present in this context? What are the perspectives and the changes which have emerged within the new circumstances for traditional Leftist demands, such as internationalism, the welfare state, or the liberation of women? What does the historical legacy of the European Left mean for contemporary political demands?

Alongside representatives of different political tendencies and organizations from all over Europe, we wish to devote ourselves to these and other questions. Activists, politicians and scholars will discuss the project and failure of the EU, forms of political organization, the crisis of Social Democracy, the welfare state, Neo-Keynesianism and the possibilities and difficulties of a Leftist praxis in the crisis. We are hoping to conduct the conversation with members of Syriza/Popular Unity, Podemos, Partia Razem (Poland), CPGB, IBT, SPD, Interventionistische Linken, the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation and the Institut Solidarische Moderne.

This conference will seek to create a conversation about the controversial issue of how to assess and respond to the present crisis in Europe and thus also of the European and international Left. By addressing the death and the crisis of the Left, we hope to contribute to the overcoming of current obstacles to emancipatory politics.

We say: the Left is dead! Long live the Left!