The Helsinki Notebooks - Global Dispatches Against Fascism and the Far Right
The University of Helsinki - Department of Political History
Commenced 01 October 2024
THN Mission Statement
The Helsinki Notebooks invites scholars and activists from all regions—Global South and Global North—to contribute essays, reflections, field reports, and other writings on political, ideological, cultural responses, and more against fascism and the far right, with the aim of bringing to light the interconnectedness of resistance movements across diverse regions and periods. This initiative, grounded within the framework of the “Locating Global Protest Against the Extreme Right” (LGP) project at the Department of Political History, University of Helsinki, is inspired by current efforts to globalise and decolonise the histories of anti-fascism.
Over the past century, fascism has grown, adapted, and spread into different national forms, including the dictatorships of Europe, the military regimes in Latin America, the colonial systems in Africa, and the continuing legacies of racial capitalism in both the North and South. In response, anti-fascist resistance has emerged in equally diverse, localised ways, reflecting the historical and cultural specificities of their contexts.
While the LGP project primarily investigates the localisation of anti-fascism in Cape Town, London, New York City and Chicago from 1930 to 1960, The Helsinki Notebooks extends this scope in a polycentric and intersectional manner on how these localised ways collectively inform a broader understanding of anti-fascism as a deeply interconnected political, ideological and cultural force between the industrial metropoles of the North and the postcolonial territories of the South.
Key questions include: How has anti-fascism grown within localised contexts? How have local and global anti-fascist strategies adapted in response to contemporary far-right movements? What alliances have emerged between activists representing racial minorities, women, sexual minorities, different radical left movements, socialists and liberals? In what ways do these movements intersect with broader struggles against the far-right?
Through this intersectional lens, The Helsinki Notebooks sheds light not only on the deep connections between anti-fascism and movements for anti-colonialism, anti-imperialism, anti-capitalism, anti-racism, global women’s rights, and left internationalism, but also on the complex, interlinked lineages of anti-fascist activism that span local struggles and the broader global battle against far-right political ideologies.
The Helsinki Notebooks is an open access platform edited by Kasper Braskén, Moshumee Dewoo, and Shane Little. New contributions are published bi-weekly online. Submissions should be 800 words and align with our mission to explore local and global anti-fascist movements. Creativity and multimedia are encouraged. For submission proposals, please contact LGPhelsinki@gmail.com.
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