Mašina English

Production of Social Critique

Mašina English Blog

Mirjana Dragosavljević |

22.10.2020.

Only the state has the right to destroy and threaten? The “war by statements” and a continued pressure on cultural and artistic institutions

The events related to the violent interruption of the “Boys” (Momci) group exhibition, which was held in “Stara Kapetanija” gallery during the weekend as a part of the “New Age” festival, gained a new twist when the Ministry of Culture and Information published a statement in which it condemned violence against the exhibition, but also the exhibition itself. This prompted public reactions of a number of professional associations and cultural institutions, and a protest rally in support of the “Boys” group and the Stara Kapetanija.

Vida Knežević |

16.10.2020.

Sarah Leonard: Developing sharp, well-informed leftists is as important a role for magazines as publishing left ideas

Sarah Leonard is a journalist and editor of several left-leaning magazines and online magazines, which are becoming more and more common in the United States. Together with Bhaskar Sunkara, she edited a collection of essays entitled: “The Future We Want: Radical Ideas for the New Century”. We met Sarah in Belgrade last year on her journey through Southeast Europe, and we renewed the conversation during the past few months marked by the coronavirus pandemic.

Mašina |

07.10.2020.

Autonomous trade union opposes the privatization of Pharmacy “Belgrade”

The Confederation of Autonomous Trade Unions of Belgrade opposes the privatization of the Pharmacy “Belgrade”. The trade union believes that this pharmacy institution, whose founder is the city of Belgrade, must remain a part of the public health system and a guarantee of adequate supply of medicines to the citizens.

James Robertson |

17.09.2020.

In Search Of a Base: The Democratic Party and the US Election

Trump’s victory in the 2016 elections accelerated the destabilization of the party system in the United States. In practice, the Democrats split into three groups, each with its own vision for rebuilding the party base. With Biden’s candidacy, the future of the Democrats remains uncertain, as do the electoral possibilities of the American left within the given framework of electoral policy.

Mašina |

07.09.2020.

Party of the Radical Left founded

The Radical Left Party (Partija radikalne levice, PRL) was formed by transforming the Social Democratic Union, whose members adopted the new political Programme, the Declaration of Workers’ Rights, as well as the necessary statutory changes, at the 12th regular congress. According to the programme, the PRL will “fight for a socialist society based on equality, solidarity, freedom, democracy, internationalism, anti-imperialism and anti-fascism, a society in which people will be more important than profit”.

Mašina |

25.08.2020.

Construction workers from India are returning home thanks to international trade unions ties

The construction workers from India who started a strike in the middle of the previous week, demanding their overdue wages and to be allowed to return home, will be able to travel back starting this week, Mašina found out. This is not the first time that workers from India are dissatisfied with working conditions in Serbia, and the whole case raised questions regarding the necessity of international cooperation, which we discussed with representatives of the trade unions from Serbia and India.

Mašina |

09.07.2020.

Protests in Serbia: “People are sick and tired of such injustice”

For two days in a row Serbian citizens have been protesting against their government and the new anti-pandemic measures the president had announced. Both on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon the protests started peacefully, only to turn into a havoc of protester-police clashes and police brutality as the night fell. The alt-right is trying claim the lead and steer the riots according to their agenda. Meanwhile, some left wing organizations see the demonstrations as a spontaneous expression of people’s justifiable dissatisfaction with the government and long accumulated anger.

Mašina |

09.07.2020.

Protests in largest Serbian cities. Government answers with police violence

Protests in Serbia erupted on July 7 after president Aleksandar Vučić announced that the government will  reintroduce heavily restrictive measures due to the bad epidemiological situation in the country. During his announcement the president put blame on the citizens for the acute health crisis. The protests continued last night in several cities in Serbia. Similarly to the first night, there were riots and brutal police violence.

Mašina |

08.07.2020.

The green-left coalition achieves game-changing results in the parliamentary elections in Croatia

The green-left coalition won 7 seats at the Croatian 151-seat parliament, surprising everybody. The turnout was less than 50%, the lowest ever in Croatia’s parliamentary election. The conservative Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) won the biggest chunk of the electorate, while the Social Democratic Party (SDP) suffered a heavy blow to its position. Several right-wing parties won seats, too.

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