Humanistic youth movement Murmansk, Roter Baum e.V. Leipzig, Demokratic Youth Forum Brandenburg and AG Russland invite you to participate in the transnational summer academy Vostok Forum in Murmansk region/ Russia.
What is the Vostok Forum?
The Vostok forum is a non-commercial exchange project of political self-education with its own specific features, which takes place since 2006 in the region of Murmansk. During the project our main principles are self-organization and self-empowerment. Coordinators only create the conditions. The program of the summer academy (including cultural leisure
activities) is flexibly taking into account interests of the participants. The project is supported by the Rosa-Luxemburg foundation.
Place: Murmansk region, accommodation in a tourist base near Murmansk and few days in hotel in Murmanks
Time: 28.07.- 06.08.2014
Titel: »Looking back and looking forward«
This year’s special forum is supposed to reflect the activities in previous Vostok Forums and its outcomes for the future. The aim of the forum is to reflect the topics, which are important for the participants in that particular moment. All socially relevant themes are welcome since the forum is trying to widen the spectrum of discussed issues. Themes of the past Vostok
Forums are supposed to be discussed in the light of issues the participants are facing now.
Possible (sub)topics:
– work-relations in subculture (leftist antifaanarchopermacultureso on)
– identity (and gender), identity politics and critiques
– norms, normality, normalisation
– power relations – work, society, gender
– art and type (as an political intervention)
– repression and government access
– subject and object in capitalism
– thinking as debt
– solidarity
– isolation and migration
make some other suggestions as well!
Our aims are:
– Intensive and equal exchange between progressive political and cultural activists and
scientists
– researching, critical analysing, studying and comparing concepts and strategies of
different movements in different countries
– working-out joint strategies/ developing coming projects
– to sample methods of political education
– reflecting our own forms and methods of education and learning in the process of the
Vostok
– networking between young political activists from Russia and Germany as well as
other European countries
Work forms:
– co-creative teamwork in subgroups on certain themes/problems
– presentation of your short input-papers (this could be also a presentation of your
organization’s activities/ it does not have to be longer than 10-15 minutes!)
– general plenums and discussions
– free space – evening space – is formed on your offerings (films, presentations,
exhibitions, performances, workshops, discussions on other topics, sport, walks)
– political excursions – visiting significant political/historical/economic objects, sites and
enterprises
– meeting local public initiatives, exchange
Conditions for participation:
1. Social/political activists, e.g. human rights activists, representatives of public organizations, artists, scientists, researchers are invited important: representatives of political parties can participate as private persons and must not propagandize ideology of their party; they should be ready to exchange opinions with representatives of other organizations
2. In the Vostok Forum cannot participate: racists, anti-semites, stalinists, sexists, dogmatic or authoritarian people
3. All topics (seminars/ workshops) you offer should be somehow connected to our daily (political) practice and combine theoretical analyses/theory with practical approaches
4. Participants should have basic knowledge of the English language, English will be the working language, please write also your application in English!
The main condition: a personal interest in the offered themes, an independent stand, readiness to be an active participant and co-organiser of the forum and to transfer furthermore the information/ ideas and methods. The organizers consider the Vostok Forum as a process of co-education among the participants and as an open exchange of knowledge and ideas.
Financial conditions: accommodation, food, the expenses on journey and academy program are paid.
In the application it is necessary to specify:
– Name and surname, age, place of work / study / public organization, your occupation, contact number or Skype contact, e-mail (no photo)
– Activist / scientific / personal background
– A personal proposal for a short input (about 500 words) showing your motivation and your approach to one stated topic (at least)
Timetable: Apply till the 10th of June!
In middle of June a selection committee of the organization team will select the participants and invite all of them for a preparation meeting at the beginning of July. The participation in this meeting is hardly recommended!
Send your application to vostok2014@ag-russland.de until the 10th of june 2014.
Participants who are not from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus need a valid visa! Therefore you need an international passport which is at least valid until February of 2015.
We are looking forward to an exciting knowledge-exchange in this Vostok Forum again!
Apply now! Everybody is an expert!
The organization-team