(en) Pryamukhino (Tver? region), Russia, July 12-13, 2014 - International conference for bicentennial of Mikhail Bakunin (fr, ru)

On May 30, 2014 we will be celebrating 200 years of Mikhail Bakunin (1814 ? 1876), a 
famous activist of the Russian and international revolutionary movement, a social thinker
and one of the founders of the international anarchist movement. ---- From his arrival to
the Moscow philosophical circle of Stankevich in the 1830s and then to the European 
revolutionary circles in the 1840s, Bakunin attracted attention of his contemporaries. He
has influenced the history of the Russian and international revolutionary, social 
liberation and anarchist movements of the XIXth and XXth centuries in some decisive ways.
Bakunin?s libertarian socialist ideas also featured a visionary critique of the ?state 
socialism? well before this political model was implemented in the Soviet Union and the 
countries of the ?Eastern bloc?.

His critique of religion, patriotism, liberalism, the principles of authority and 
hierarchy remains modern even a century and a half later, in the XXIst century.

In Russia Bakunin?s name and ideas were subject to censorship and slander first during the 
Tsarist regime and later during the ?Communist? power. His works were almost completely 
banned and remained unpublished for half a century. His activities were either silenced or 
presented in a caricatured manner. Unfortunately, this tradition continues to exist in our 
times as well. The number of honest, objective studies of Bakunin?s life and ideas in 
Russia remains very limited, while foreign studies are still not always accessible or 
known to Russian researchers. (Likewise, Russian studies of Bakunin are not always known 
to foreign researchers due to language and informational barriers.)

It is no coincidence that the controversial figure of Mikhail Bakunin is often subject to
rushed and subjective judgements, he is still a victim of misinformation and ideological 
aberrations, which are the legacy of the hegemony of liberal, conservative and Marxist 
traditions.

In the village of Pryamukhino, where Bakunin was born, for more than ten years now (since
2001) annual summer conferences, the Pryamukhino Readings, are held. This is an 
independent space for discussing anarchist philosophy, its actual ideas and practices, the 
history of the Russian and international anarchist and liberatory movements, the history 
of the Bakunin family and the life and ideas of its most famous member, Mikhail. (Minutes
of these annual conferences are available in Russian at http://bakunin-fund.hut2.ru and 
are also published in a book form.)

The organizing committee of the Pryamukhino Readings, ahead of the bicentennial of Mikhail 
Bakunin, invites you to participate in an international conference, which will be devoted
to discussions about his life and ideas. We aim to get together the researchers of Bakunin 
and all those inspired by his ideas. We hope that such a conference in Russia will be just 
one in a series of events marking Bakunin?s 200th birthday. We invite historians, social 
scientists, other researchers, Bakunin enthusiasts and anybody who is interested in 
Bakunin and anarchism, past and present, to participate. We hope that the conference in 
Pryamukhino will be a platform for mutually beneficial exchange of information and ideas 
between Russian and foreign researchers and anarchists and will serve to improve the links 
between them. We look forward to have an active discussion about the relevance of the 
ideas and activities of this great rebel to the modern world.

Our conference will be held on July 12-13, 2014 (exact dates may change a little, but not
radically ? we plan to hold the conference in mid-July). We invite organizers of similar 
events marking Bakunin?s bicentennial to coordinate the time of their events so that 
potential participants have a chance to take part in all of them without the dates 
clashing. The working languages of the Pryamukhino conference will be English and Russian. 
You can communicate with the organizers by email (bakunin.conference.2014@gmail.com). We 
ask you to send the proposed topics and theses of reports to us no later than December 1,
2013. Complete texts of reports should be provided not later than January 31, 2014, so 
that we have enough time to translate them into Russian.

We will be in touch with all those who inform us about their wish to take part in the 
conference, and will send updates on the details or possible changes of schedule.

We would be very interested to learn about any other events marking Bakunin?s 200th 
jubilee and exchange information with their organizers.

We would be grateful if you spread, publish, translate this text into any other languages
so that as many people as possible learn about this conference. (We are sending out this 
text in English, French and Russian.)

If you specialize in studies related to Mikhail Bakunin, we also invite you to participate 
in a newly created English-language electronic mailing list ?Bakunin Studies?, which will
be used for exchange of information between researchers (write a letter to 
bakunin.conference.2014@gmail.com in order to be included).
Organizing committee of Pryamukhino Readings 2014,
International conference marking 200 years of Mikhail Bakunin


Related Link: http://bakunin2014.wordpress.com