"ARMENIANS AND PROGRESSIVE POLITICS" CONFERENCE TO TAKE PLACE IN YEREVAN
DeFacto Agency
April 8 2008
Armenia
DE FACTO. Following the tremendous success of "Armenians and the
Left" conferences held in 2006 and 2007, the Armenian Revolutionary
Federation has announced plans to hold a similar conference on May
30-31 in New York City, the Armenian National Committee of America –
Eastern Region (ANC-ER) reports. Entitled "Armenians and Progressive
Politics," the conference will build upon earlier discussions relating
to imperialism and geopolitics, democracy-building in Armenia, the
role of women in Armenian society, and other topics tying Armenian
issues to a broader, progressive political field.
The conference will open on Friday evening, May 30, with a plenary
session entitled ‘The New Imperialism." Featured speakers will be
Tariq Ali, Editor of New Left Review, David Barsamian, Director of
Alternative Radio, and Neil Smith, Professor of Anthropology and
Geography at the CUNY Graduate Center. The session will focus on the
contemporary politics of empire and how these affect small nations
such as Armenia. The session will take place at Baruch College’s
Mason Hall, located at 23rd Street and Lexington Avenue in Manhattan.
Saturday’s session will include panels addressing a wide range of
topics from a progressive standpoint. All panels will take place at
the CUNY Graduate Center, 34th Street and 5th Avenue, Manhattan.
Featured speakers will be announced in a forthcoming press release.
The conference is being co-sponsored by the Center for Place, Culture,
and Politics at CUNY Graduate Center, and will be followed by a
similar conference to be held in Los Angeles later this year.
"Armenians and Progressive Politics" (formerly "Armenians and the
Left") organizes forums that critically examine subjects pertinent
to Armenians’ political, social and economic situation within a
global context. Such forums explore alternative ways of understanding
Armenian issues besides the conventional, state-centered approaches,
and examine how Armenian activists can build coalitions with other
dispossessed groups and progressive movements. The project is an
initiative of the Central Committee of the Armenian Revolutionary
Federation – Eastern USA. Information on previous conferences may be
found on the conference website,