Leading left publications and publishers are lending their support to the in honour of imprisoned Russian dissident Boris Kagarlitsky on October 8.
Among them is , publisher of Kagarlitsky’s latest book, . Editorial Director David Castle will address a session on Kagarlitsky’s much-anticipated meditation on contemporary left-wing politics, which appeared just months after the author was condemned to a five-year term on the sham charge of “justifying terrorism” in February.
Kagarlitsky is currently confined in Penal Colony 4, Torzhok, Tver Province, one of thousands of Russians to have fallen afoul of Putin’s repressive regime for criticising its war on Ukraine.
Other hosts include the University of Johannesburg’s and the .
Kagarlitsky is this year’s recipient of the foundation’s inaugural . In awarding him the prize, the Daniel Singer Foundation affirmed: “In his writing, in his political organising and in his life, Boris Kagarlitsky displays a casual courage and easy wit that incenses authoritarians. This same grace and courage inspire others to fight on.”
The conference has also attracted an impressive list of sponsors, among them London-based publishing house , British journal , Spanish language magazine , progressive US monthly , postsocialist region progressive platform , and Australian ecosocialist newspaper 鶹ӳ.
鶹ӳ editorial member Federico Fuentes said: “This is a major event that will bring together academics and activists from many countries and political currents to celebrate Kagarlitsky, a man of great courage who refuses to be silenced by Putin’s regime. Boris deserves our solidarity in his own right and as a symbol of the struggle for intellectual freedom, which is increasingly under threat globally.”
Other sponsors include: (Scotland), (Australia), (US), (The Netherlands), (South Africa), , (Quebec), (Britain), (Chile), (Britain), (US), (US), (Britain), (Russia), (Russia) and (Canada).
Organised by the Boris Kagarlitsky International Solidarity Committee, conference registration is free and open to all at its website .
Despite the grim conditions in Russia’s penal system, Kagarlitsky continues to share reflections on various topics through letters to friends, supporters and Rabkor, which he helped establish. His latest missive, translated into English at , is an obituary for renowned Marxist literary critic Frederic Jameson. Remembering him as “down to earth”, Kagarlitsky praises Jameson as “one of the first to discuss postmodernism in philosophy and politics, showing the connection between intellectual reflections, changes in the discourse of political figures, and structural shifts in society.”