And What Does the Background Say?
Call for applications /
An ecocritical and ecofeminist workshop led by Zsuzsa Selyem and Anna Zilahi
June 18–21
hypha_etc campsite, Câmpu Cetății/Vármező, Mureș county, Romania
Application deadline: June 10, 22:00 EET
Over four days we treat ecocriticism as a way of sensing, thinking, and moving together with a more than human world under capitalism. Language is our main medium, but it is never abstract: we will work with how words have weight, how they mark and police living bodies, and how attention can be trained to stay with the material and political conditions of speaking and writing.
In the middle of a forested landscape, our sessions will be literally situated in the environment rather than just about it. Ecocritical discussions will decenter canonical human protagonists and redirect focus toward the so called background: plants, animals, elements, infrastructures, and terrains that usually only stage the human plot, or are treated as resources, property, or scenery. We will ask what happens to a story when these become agents instead of backdrop, when the setting starts to speak.
Walks and excursions will be spaces for interspecies encounters and experiments in presence that resist touristic consumption of nature. We will listen, touch, taste, and get lost a little, using these experiences as raw material for writing that takes seriously the beings we cross paths with. Transmedial practices – from cyanotypes to sonic experiments – will help us push beyond strictly logocentric, human centered habits and let other forces (silence, noise, movements, emotions, weather, infrastructure) into the work.
The workshop encourages meditative attention, but also plays with deliberate intensity: there will be quiet observational practices, but also moments of being unapologetically loud. Stargazing is non negotiable – both as an exercise in scale and as a reminder that any green we interact with is caught up in wider planetary crises, just as we are.
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Summer School “Ecologies of Emancipation” – 6th Edition: The Golden Age of the Dark Enlightenment?
CALL FOR PARTICIPATION /
10–16 August 2026
Location: hypha_etc, Câmpu Cetății, Mureș County (Romania)
Application deadline: 30 June 2026
Rarely has an ideological platform transformed so rapidly from a niche, marginal, and extreme set of public ideas into an objective reality and an uninhibited Zeitgeist. The Dark Enlightenment has accomplished precisely this within barely a decade: from an internet counterculture carrying an explicitly reactionary charge – anti-egalitarian and repressive, obscurantist yet no less technocratic, hierarchical-elitist, and simultaneously populist-demagogic, libertarian and neoliberal while also corporatist-feudal – it has become an assertive and aggressive component of public discourse, both in the centers of the core and in the peripheries and semi-peripheries of the world-system. At the same time, it is also the objective reality of a world surviving beyond its own modern, Enlightenment foundations: on the one hand, the international legal order, now abolished and reconverted into a state of nature through a series of military aggressions conducted under exceptional legal regimes initiated by the world’s hegemonic powers, from the Iraq War to Ukraine, the genocide in Gaza, and the recent war against Iran and Lebanon: on the one hand, the international legal order, now abolished and reverted to a state of nature by a series of military aggressions under exceptional legal regimes initiated by the world’s hegemonies, from the war in Iraq to Ukraine, to the genocide in Gaza and the recent war on Iran and Lebanon; and on the other hand, the welfare-state social compromise of modern states, the package of recognition and redistribution that until recently formed the basis of democratic systems, today deeply eroded by increasingly severe waves of austerity policies and overexploitation, segregation, and exclusion. It seems that the Dark Enlightenment is the most radical and overt theoretical justification for the betrayal of Enlightenment ideals in political practice over the past few decades. The success of this spectacular achievement of the Dark Enlightenment is all the more remarkable in that it did not need to go through the “mass” phase — through the dissemination and adoption of this perspective by the majority of society — but leaped directly from social media channels and the corridors of venture & platform capitalism into the halls and salons of official power and the mainstream media, rebuilding its popularity rather retroactively and from the top down.
This year’s edition of the summer school “Ecologies of Emancipation” seeks to interrogate not only the configuration and spectacular evolution of this ideological platform – both in terms of its ideological content and its material (political-economic) foundations – but also, more broadly and more urgently, the kind of world in which such an ideology, grounded in such a material basis, could become a general metanarrative overnight.Thus, alongside the ideological background of the Dark Enlightenment and its reverberations on the left in various forms of accelerationism, the presentations delivered within the summer school will examine the current crisis of the international legal order and modern constitutionalism, civilizational legitimations, the reactionary echoes of neoliberal thought as well as of new labor and production relations, the cultural and educational policies of the new reaction, the alliance between venture and platform capitalism and the military complex as the material basis of the post-liberal order, as well as the crises, challenges, and possibilities for the reconstitution of emancipatory movements in this context.
This year’s edition of the “Ecologies of Emancipation” summer school aims to examine not only the structure and spectacular evolution of this ideological platform—that is, both its ideological content and its material (political-economic) foundation—but also, more broadly and with greater concern, what kind of world this is in which such an ideology, with such a material basis, could become a general metanarrative overnight. Thus, in addition to the ideological underpinnings of the Dark Enlightenment, as well as its reverberations on the left in various forms of accelerationism, the presentations delivered at the school will examine the current crisis of the international legal order and modern constitutionalism, civilizational legitimations, the reactionary echoes of neoliberal thought as well as of new relations of labor and production, the cultural and educational policies of the new reaction, the alliance between venture & platform capitalism and the military-industrial complex as the material basis of the post-liberal order, as well as the crises, challenges, and opportunities for the reconstitution of emancipation movements in this context.
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Historical Materialism Cluj/Kolozsvár – Interregnum Here and Now
16–18 April 2026
Event locations in Cluj -Napoca:
- Babeș-Bolyai Faculty of European Studies, no. 1, Emmanuel de Martonne Street
- Babeș-Bolyai Main Building, no.1, Mihail Kogălniceanu Street
- French Institute, no. 22, Ion I. C. Brătianu Street
The second Historical Materialism conference will take place in Cluj-Napoca between 16–18 April 2026, with more than 180 participants having applied, from all around Europe and even beyond. The main venue of the conference will be the building of the Faculty of European Studies, BBU (Emmanuel de Martonne street, nr. 1), with sessions also taking place at the main building of Babeș-Bolyai University (Mihail Kogălniceanu street, nr. 1) and the French Institute (Ion I. C. Brătianu street, nr. 22).
The draft program of the conference can be reached here.
Further information will be communicated through the official event page.
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Interregnum Here & Now: Post-Communist Collapse, Planetary Crisis, and Emancipatory Resolve
CALL FOR CONFERENCE PARTICIPATION /
Interregnum Here & Now: Post-Communist Collapse, Planetary Crisis, and Emancipatory Resolve
April 16–18, 2026, Cluj- Napoca
Deadline for applications: February 8, 2026
Following the 2024 „Polycrisis across Divides” conference, the next edition of the Historical Materialism Cluj/Kolozsvár conference has released its call for participation.
„Interregnum Here & Now: Post-Communist Collapse, Planetary Crisis, and Emancipatory Resolve” will take place in Cluj-Napoca between April 16–18, 2026.
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Reading Seminar: Marxist Takes on Science
24 January 2026, 5 pm
Address: 51 Bogdan Petriceicu Hașdeu Street, Room H1, Cluj -Napoca
Following the reading seminars on Evald Ilyenkov and Aleksandr Bogdanov, the conveners of those seminars, Siyaves Azeri and Alex Cistelecan, will begin a new series with a first reading seminar on January 24, to be held at 51 Bogdan Petriceicu Hașdeu Street, Room H1, in Cluj-Napoca. The Reading Seminar: Marxist Takes on Science aims to provoke a discussion around the following questions:
„What distinguishes scientific knowledge-production from other forms of knowledge-production? How are scientific theories—often presented as products of individual cognition—rooted in material practices, social relations, and historically specific problem-situations? How do scientific concepts and explanations relate to real structures and mechanisms in the world? Is scientific knowledge trans-historical, or does it bear the imprint of particular social formations? How do changes in economic organization, labor processes, and technological practices shape the development of scientific knowledge?”
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Book launch and debate: 'The Klaus Iohannis Era?'
Tuesday,16 December – 6 pm.
tranzit. ro/Cluj, Napoca str, no 16, 1st floor, Cluj Napoca
On December 16, starting at 6 p.m. tranzit.ro/Cluj in collaboration with Tact Publishing House is organizing a public debate and the launch of the book "The Klaus Iohannis Era?"
However difficult and problematic it may be to choose a historical milestone that marks the beginning of the political crisis that led to the rise of the far right and the 2024 elections, we must admit that the chosen periodization influences the explanation. Given the title of this book, it is clear that in what follows we will focus on the question of whether or not there is a "Klaus Iohannis era." Therefore, we believe that there is a structural link between Iohannis's terms in office and the mismanagement of the multiple crises in Romania between 2014 and 2025. What defines the period in question? What are the effects of the resulting public uncertainty? And how can we think about these transformations beyond the limits of methodological nationalism, so that we can more flexibly frame them within the coordinates of the current international polycrisis?
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Reading Seminar
Alexandr Bogdanov’s Tektology /
Friday,12 December – 6 pm.
tranzit. ro/Cluj, Napoca str, no 16, 1st floor, Cluj Napoca
On December 12 from 6 pm. at tranzit.ro/Cluj we are holding a reading seminar on Alexandr Bogdanov’s Tektology. The seminar continues the project started with last year’s Reading Ilyenkov: a critical-philosophical examination of the origins and later developments of Eastern Marxism. A prolific and original thinker, Bogdanov opened multiple paths for critical inquiry—ranging from organizational theory and proto-cybernetics to science-fiction and Proletkult—while grounding his project in a distinctive, idealist rereading of Kant. Today, Bogdanov is experiencing a renewed international interest. The seminar will explore the reasons for this resurgence and critically examine his contributions. The December edition’s topic is the managerial views of Alexandr Bogdanov.
The conveners of the seminars are Siyaveș Azeri and Alex Cistelecan, and events will be held in English.
These seminars are part of the project "Philosophy in Late Socialist Europe: Theoretical Practices in the Face of Polycrisis" (PNRR-C9-I8-CF104/15.11.2022).
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Aleksandr Bogdanov
Reading Seminar /
Friday, 21st of November – 6 pm.
tranzit. ro/Cluj, Napoca str, no 16, 1st floor, Cluj Napoca
On November 21st from 18:00 at tranzit.ro/Cluj we are starting a new series of reading seminars focusing on Aleksandr Bogdanov. The seminar continues the project started with last year’s Reading Ilyenkov: a critical-philosophical examination of the origins and later developments of Eastern Marxism. A prolific and original thinker, Bogdanov opened multiple paths for critical inquiry—ranging from organizational theory and proto-cybernetics to science-fiction and Proletkult—while grounding his project in a distinctive, idealist rereading of Kant. Today, Bogdanov is experiencing a renewed international interest. The seminar will explore the reasons for this resurgence and critically examine his contributions through a series of monthly reading sessions.
The conveners of the seminars are Siyaveș Azeri and Alex Cistelecan, and events will be held in English.
These seminars are part of the project "Philosophy in Late Socialist Europe: Theoretical Practices in the Face of Polycrisis" (PNRR-C9-I8-CF104/15.11.2022).
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Kicsi kozmosz by Zsuzsa Selyem
Reading workshop /
Wednesday, 19th of November 2025, 6 pm.
tranzit. ro/Cluj, Napoca str, no 16, 1st floor, Cluj Napoca
On November 19th from 18:00 at tranzit.ro/Cluj we are organizing in collaboration with Fecske Cooperative a literary reading workshop centred around Zsuzsa Selyem’s newly published Kicsi kozmosz (Little Cosmos), with the author present and moderation by Árpád Kulcsár. Fecske Cooperative is a youth initiative based on horizontality, aiming for the creation of a cultural space with democratic organizational spirit in a solidarity economy framework. The event will aim to go beyond traditional, frontal author/reader gatherings and through reading collectively fragments from the text will seek to put into discussion various aspects of our shared world, such as women’s experiences, their oppression and their many ways of resistance, how war shapes both human and non-human beings and in what ways we are connected to the non-human world in general.
The event will be held in Hungarian.
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A World in Common(s)
From Marxist Feminism to Solidarity Economy /
18–24 August 2025,
Vármező/Câmpu Cetății (Romania)
Deadline for applications: 30 June
The purpose of this summer school is, first, to introduce theoretical frameworks such as Marxist feminism, world-systems analysis, and global labour studies to show how social reproduction is subordinated to endless capital accumulation in the capitalist world system. Second, it aims to explore what alternatives exist to this, i.e., how it is possible to engage in economic activities directly aimed at satisfying human needs.
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Upcoming: The fifth edition of Ecologies of Emancipation – Imminent horizon: fascism or imperialism?
Organizational work of the fifth edition of the Ecologies of Emancipation summer school has begun. The school will take place at the hypha_etc campsite in Câmpu Cetății, between 10-16 August 2025.
The latest political and geopolitical developments, local and global, seem to confront us with a threatening double horizon: an accelerated slide towards fascism, or an equally precipitous retreat into imperialism - with all the overlaps, complicities and continuities between them. On the one side, then, a European democratic establishment that can only articulate its immediate future by renouncing the last remnants of a distributist state and democratic appearances, in a general arms race that promises nothing but authoritarianism and austerity at home, and devastating inter-imperialist conflicts on a global scale. On the other side, a populist insurgent bloc with deep roots and complicity in the very systems and apparatuses of Euro-Atlantic democracies, which is no longer shy in displaying its assumed fascism, and which promises, just as grimly, a harsh regime of austerity and authoritarianism at home, coupled with an equally provocative and bellicose attitude abroad, only in the name of a different set of values.
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City of Glass – exhibition by Andreas Fogarasi followed by roundtable discussion
A project initiated by Desire Foundation and the Căși Sociale ACUM!/Social Housing NOW! movement from Cluj, and implemented in collaboration with tranzit.ro/Cluj and hosted by Aluvial Exhibition Space and tranzit.ro/Cluj.
opening June 20th, 6pm
Address: Aluvial
Str. Napoca no. 16
Cluj, Romania
Exhibition can be visited in the period 20 of June until 29 of August 2025, Monday to Friday, between 10 AM - 6 PM.
For his exhibition City of Glass at tranzit.ro/Cluj, Andreas Fogarasi is continuing the series “Nine Buildings, Stripped”, a project first presented in his solo exhibition at Kunsthalle Vienna in 2019.
“Nine Buildings, Stripped”, follows a selection of buildings that are to be demolished or stripped for refurbishment. Fogarasi’s work consists in collecting and presenting materials and surfaces from these buildings, creating sculptural portraits of specific places through time. For his exhibition in Cluj, Fogarasi and the members of the research project focused on three industrial sites of that have ceased or are about to cease production (and will soon be developed into commercial and apartment complexes): Sanex/Cesarom, Armătura and the Combinatul de Utilaj Greu. Fogarasi collected fragments, surfaces, and design elements from these sites, which will be or have been abandoned by industrial production and demolished to give way to new real estate investment projects which will reshape the city’s structure and life. City of Glass will feature the artworks created by Fogarasi from these materials, which condense the transformations that take place at the urban scale. The title suggests a particular sensitivity to the frailness of cities and could be read not just as remembrance of the once sparkling, now broken glass of the industrial city, but also a warning to the new and shining reflective façades of the developments that take their place. This frailty is also one of reflection: what do we see in the broken or cloudy surfaces of old industrial architecture, and how are we to appear in the seamless reflections that are produced by shopping malls and luxury apartments?
Andreas Fogarasi is an artist based in Vienna/Austria. His work has been shown in numerous exhibitions internationally, among others at MUMOK, Museum of Modern Art, Vienna; New Museum, New York; Ludwig Museum, Aachen/Germany; Museo Nacional Reina Sofia, Madrid; Museo Tamayo, Mexico City; Palais de Tokyo, Paris, as well as the 52. Biennale di Venezia, where he was awarded the Golden Lion for best national participation.
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ERSTE Foundation is the main partner of tranzit:
