DEMOS Institute of Critical Thought, supported by transform! europe, has launched the first issue of its magazine Lūžis (Fracture). Lūžis is one of the rare left-wing magazines in Lithuania edited by progressive academics, political activists and trade unionists from Vilnius and Kaunas.
The first issue of the journal covers a number of important topics. The journal opens with a discussion on the significance of historical materialism today. The key question it poses is: given that the process of privatization of common land was the key to the transformation of feudalism to capitalism, what role does the digitalization, automation, and artificial intelligence play in the transition from capitalism to post-capitalism? It also looks at the post-Soviet transformation in Lithuania from the point of view of historical materialism. Haris Golemis’s excellent interview with David Harvey, published originally in transform! europe’s Yearbook 2020, is also published in the issue, discussing the USA and China’s imperialist struggle for global hegemony.
Gilija Žukauskienė, a Lithuanian female artist, poses the question on the purpose of art looking at it from the Marxist point of view. Egidijus Mardosas discusses contemporary climate politics with particular emphasis on social movements and key decision makers’ reaction to these movements. Jurgis Valiukevičius, a member of G1Ps trade union tells, the story of the class struggle of Turkish workers working in Kaunas, the second biggest city in Lithuania, against corrupt Turkish construction company. Vuk Vukotič, a linguist and political activist, discusses the cases of collective resistance against the neoliberal social order and its ideology, while feminist scholars Agnė Bagdžiūnaitė ir Viktorija Kolbešnikova discuss gender struggles in Eastern Europe. Henrikas Žukauskas looks at the social movement to fight industrial pollution in Klaipėda, third largest city in Lithuania, from the point of view of liberation theology while Nojus Kristė provides an ironic critique of dominant neoliberal economic discourse in Lithuania.
Overall, the first issue of Lūžis provides an engaging analysis and critique of Lithuanian and European politics by leading left-wing academics and political activists. We are happy that the long awaited left-wing journal is now available in Lithuania.
DEMOS Institute of Critical Thought is a non-governmental anti-capitalist NGO based in Vilnius, Lithuania. It was established in 2008 as an institutional support for the Lithuanian New Left social movement. Demos work with Lithuanian trade unions and organizes educational conferences, seminars and workshops (e.g. Marxist reading groups) for local intellectuals, students, and political as well as trade union activists. DEMOS is also a small publisher, specializing on outstanding research (both rigorous as well as politically engaging and accessible to the general public) in the fields of radical (political) philosophy, liberation theology, labour movement, and gender studies. We have already published several books among which include Lithuanian translations of Slavoj Žižek’s Violence and Alasdair MacIntyre’s Marxism and Christianity, and more recently Paul Mason’s Post-Capitalism.
transform! europe is pleased to provide the English translations of the follwing texts of Lūžis’ first issue in the upcoming weeks:
– Andrius Bielskis, On Robots and Sheep
– Egidijus Mardosas, Politics in the face of a climate disaster
– Jurgis Valiukevičius, The strike of Turkish workers in Kaunas: on the “transparent” municipality, the “terrorist” trade union, and the victories of solidarity
For the full version of the first issue of Lūžis (Lithuanian), please contact DEMOS (via facebook).