Debate_A4: Cultural Strike – Mobilizing and Emancipatory Potential

A4 itself has been part of a collective action called the Slovak Culture Strike since September. In the context of the actions of the current government, which since taking power has undermined the basic attributes of democracy and promoted unprecedented destructive interventions in the field of culture, destroying the autonomy of public cultural institutions or undermining the sustainability of non-established institutions, the strike is a broad expression of resistance to attempts to control or restrict free creation and cultural expression.

However, the cultural strike is not only a broad protest against political interventions that threaten freedom of expression and cultural independence, it is also a response to the deepening deterioration of conditions for cultural workers. It is therefore also a struggle to improve working conditions and funding for cultural institutions.

The ongoing strike also offers an opportunity to reflect together on the broader mobilising and emancipatory potential of such collective action. Does culture (and the cultural sector) have the capacity not only to reflect social processes, but also to speak more fundamentally to actively shape them? Can the current movement contribute to the creation of a platform enabling closer links and mutual solidarity between workers from other sectors? Could it help to strengthen a broader social dialogue and to generate a new quality of public discourse or alternatives to solutions to contemporary challenges and crises?

Come and discuss the mobilising and emancipatory potential of the Cultural Strike with Monika Uhlerová, President of the Confederation of Trade Unions and Ivana Rumanová, President of the Cultural Unions.

Concept and host of the debate: Bohdan Smieška