At 18:30 EET on Tuesday the 7th November 2017, The Red House kicked off its mini-series of debates on the revolutions of 1917 & 1989 with a look at the legacies of both events.
A full-length Bulgarian-language recording of this event can also be accessed by clicking here
Revolutions and their children
November is the month that is marked by two key historical events – the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 and the Revolutions of 1989. What legacies do these revolutions have and what is the fate of their children? What is the place of the October Revolution in Putin’s Russia? What role have the Revolutions of 1989 played in the development of Eastern Europe as part of the European Union? These are just a few points of reference for the great debate about revolutions, counter-revolutions, conservative and postmodern revolutions in the framework of the bigger, enduring question: what is progress?
Revolutionary Legacies: 1917 and 1989
The short 20th century, an era of ideological struggle, started in November 1917 and ended in November 1989. What are the commonalities and the differences between the two revolutions which framed the short 20th century? Which facet of the October Revolution will ultimately determine how its ideological legacy is determined: its quest for social progress or the revolutionary terror which it caused to spread across Russia and then Eastern Europe? How far do the ideas of the Soviet Revolution about a new revolutionary man and a new just society, about new values and non-capitalist progress resonate with contemporary visions about the possibility of more just socio-economic arrangements in post-industrial societies?
Find out more by watching the English-language highlights video at the top of this page.
Participants:
Speakers:
Evgenii Dainov is a Bulgarian academic, author and political commentator who currently teaches political philosophy and social practices at the New Bulgarian University.
Valentina Gueorguieva is a professor in the Department of History and Culture Theory at the St. Kliment Ohridski University of Sofia.
Petko Kovachev is a veteran green activist who works on analysing Bulgaria’s energy strategies.
Stanimir Panayotov works in the field of queer cultures and is a PhD candidate in comparative gender studies, where he focuses on the intersections of continental and feminist philosophy, non-philosophy and Neoplatonism.
Alexander Sivilov is an associate professor and historian who teaches the history of the USSR and international relations at the St. Kliment Ohridski University of Sofia.
Moderator:
Irina Nedeva – Journalist, Bulgarian National Public Radio and The Red House
Series and support:
The Red House’s Revolutions and their Children discussions are part of a Time to Talk series of debates looking at revolution today, 100 years after the Russian Revolution.
This series has been realised with the support of the Europe for Citizens programme of the European Union.
