Updates from Belarus: Who is in Control? (Prezentation)

On March 20th Mikola Dziadok gave us a briefing on the first round of state repressions that followed the popular uprisings against the “parasite tax” in Belarus. On March 25th there was another cycle of protests and repressions. Mikola, whom participated in the 25th demo, was beaten by the police, hospitalized and detained – sharing the fate of many other demonstrators.

We invite you for another presentation on the developments of the situation, by a Belarusian anarchist involved in translation, community organizing, and media, projects. At the presentation you can expect:

1.)Updates on the repressions

2.)A more detailed analysis of the particular composition of capitalist exploitation under Belarusian, State-oriented, capitalism e.g. the parasite tax being implemented as a means to force workers into the poverty-wage public sector as opposed to informal economy.

3.)Tactics of repression the government used to suppress the protests and why the protest was considered such a substantial threat to the state and the capitalists.

4.)Strategic reflections on the approach of different tendencies of the opposition both in and beyond the current uprising e.g. splits in the anarchist movement, relation of the Left to liberal opposition forces and Western Human Rights institutions.
———————————————————————————————————————————————————-
+ Check out a detailed analysis of the position of Belarus in international geo-economic relations. Belarusian politics is part of a broader global composition of authoritarian neo-liberalism.

„Though it uses old Soviet rhetoric, Lukashenko’s “war on parasites” doesn’t look much different from Western privatization strategies. For instance, citizens of neighboring Lithuania pay a fee to reimburse the state’s health-care expenses. Formal employers typically cover this, but more and more Lithuanians work in the informal sector or leave the country. Regardless, they must still pay for the insurance — if they do not, they face fines and must refund the state for expenses incurred during the period of formal unemployment.”