Russia and the World Left Movement: Relationships, Intellectual Searches, Rivalry

Conferences, Call for papers

The Institute of World History of the Russian Academy of Sciences is holding an international scientific conference

"Russia and the World Left Movement:

Relationships, Intellectual Searches, Rivalry"

(November 20-21, 2025, Moscow, Leninsky Prospekt, 32a)

 

The division of doctrines, political parties and social movements in modern and contemporary times into "right", "centrist" and "left" has long been customary. At the same time, left forces are distinguished by the greatest diversity of ideological shades and the global nature of their interrelations. Russia's experience in terms of the importance of left-wing ideas for the domestic political situation and foreign policy is unique. Our country has come a long way from being perhaps the most conservative of the European powers of the 19th century to a country that claimed to carry out a world revolution. The importance of understanding this historical legacy opens up a wide field for studying Russia's place in the phenomenon of the "world left movement".

The conference will explore the mutual influence of "fundamental" left ideologies (utopian socialism, Marxism, anarchism) and Russian social thought of the 19th – early 20th centuries. When examining the period from the Russian Revolution of 1917 to World War II, it is planned to pay attention to the perception of the formation of Soviet Marxism by leftist forces abroad and the role of the Communist International in this process. With regard to the second half of the 20th century, the main emphasis will be on the competition between the USSR and "dissident" groups in the international communist movement (Trotskyism, Maoism, Castroism, Eurocommunism), ideological searches and discussions about the nature of political struggle and the goals of socialist revolution. In the context of the Cold War era, the ideological foundations of revolutionary movements in the Third World countries, the significance of the "new left" movement, humanistic socialism, Christian socialism and social liberalism, and the activities of the Socialist International will be studied. A separate section will be devoted to the instruments of Soviet "soft power" and the movement of "friends of the USSR": cooperation through party and government bodies, organizations, including the Society for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries–the Union of Soviet Societies for Friendship and Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries (VOKS–SSOD), the All-Union Council of Trade Unions, the Peace Committee, scientific and cultural institutions, youth and women's movements.

The conference is held with the financial support of the grant of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation “The stabilizing role of Russia in the systems of international relations of the 19th – first quarter of the 21st century: historical experience and lessons for the present” (agreement No. 075-15-2024-537).

The event will take place on November 20–21, 2025 at the Institute of World History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Leninsky Prospekt, 32a, in person and virtually. Travel expenses for participants are not covered.

The languages of the conference will be Russian, English and Spanish with simultaneous translation.

Applications indicating the title of the report and the format of participation (in person or virtually), information about the speaker (full name, academic degree and title, institutional affiliation and position, email and phone number, whether an invitation is needed and in whose name) should be sent by September 1, 2025 to Dr. Aleksey Manukhin (alekseymanukhin@gmail.com).

22 Apr 2025