Conference in Vienna, 25-27 November
On 25-27 November a theoretical conference “Action against the Right” took place at Vienna University. It was organized by a group of politically left-wing organizations. The background is the rise of the Far Right in Austria and Europe.
Together with transform! europe, the Communist Party of Austria helped to establish contacts to speakers of the Left from various European countries: Elisabeth Gauthier (France), Anna Mikkola (Finland), Yves Müller (Germany), Gáspár Miklós Tamás (Hungary) and Haris Triantafyllidou (Greece). Topics ranged from the situation in the different countries, the connection between the crisis and the rise of the Far Right in Europe to the right-wing groups and parties and homophobia, sexism and the crisis of masculinity.
The conference served as a means of mobilization against an annual right-wing ball in Vienna’s Imperial Palace, at which the extreme Right of all of Europe gathers every January. Antifascist protests against this event have been illegalized in recent years. However, a success could be reached recently: from 2013 on the palace will not be available any more for the waltzes of the right-wing. Public opinion seems to change in this respect but some of the visitors of the gathering continue to sit in the Austrian parliament.