{{Short description|Left-wing Ukrainian magazine (founded 2009)}} {{Expand Ukrainian}}{{Infobox magazine | title = Commons | logo = Spilne-logo.png | image_file = | image_size = | image_caption = | editor = | editor_title = | paid_circulation = | unpaid_circulation = | circulation_year = | frequency = | category = Politics, economics, history, culture | founded = {{start date|2009|3|24}} | firstdate = {{start date|2010}} | country = Ukraine | based = Kyiv | language = English, Russian, Ukrainian | website = {{URL|commons.com.ua}} | issn = | founder = }} '''''Spilne | Commons: Journal of Social Criticism''''' ({{langx|uk|Спільне}}; ''Spilne''<ref>[https://www.eurozine.com/journals/spilne/ Spilne] - Eurozine</ref>) is a left-wing Ukrainian magazine established in 2009 that focuses on politics, economics, history, and culture.

==History and overview== The idea to create a journal originated in the ''liva_dumka'' network (left-wing thought) – a milieu of young left-wing researchers, activists, and students, mostly from the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.<ref>[https://newpol.org/commons-a-ukrainian-left-wing-collective-intellectual/ Commons: A Ukrainian left-wing collective intellectual], ''New Politics'', May 17, 2023</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.rabkor.ru/interview/12687.html |title=В. Ищенко: Левые интеллектуалы Украины|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110810091403/http://www.rabkor.ru/interview/12687.html |archivedate=2011-08-10}}</ref> The core of the community was made up of young scholars who grew up in independent Ukraine and were educated in Western universities.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://doi.org/10.1177/0888325415606521|title=Handicapped Class Analysis in Post-Soviet Ukraine, and a Push for Revision|last=Anastasiya Ryabchuk|pages=695|language=en|work=East European Politics and Societies|volume=29|doi=10.1177/0888325415606521|issn=0888-3254|issue=3|accessdate=2023-03-17}}</ref>

The website was launched on March 24, 2009<ref>{{cite web|url=http://commons.com.ua/uk/spilnomu-5-rokiv-elektronni-versiyi/|title="Спільному" 5 років! (+електронні версії перших трьох випусків)|author=|date=2014-03-26|website=Спільне|publisher=|accessdate=2023-03-18|archive-date=2017-09-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170912191847/http://commons.com.ua/uk/spilnomu-5-rokiv-elektronni-versiyi/}}</ref> and at the same time, the preparation of the first printed issue of the magazine began. The first issue was published in April 2010, as part of an international symposium around the publication of Loïc Wacquant's book ''Punishing the Poor''.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1573-7861.2010.01173.x|title=Crafting the Neoliberal State: Workfare, Prisonfare, and Social Insecurity1|last=Loïc Wacquant|pages=197|language=en|work=Sociological Forum|volume=25|doi=10.1111/j.1573-7861.2010.01173.x|issn=0884-8971|issue=2|accessdate=2023-03-16|archive-date=2020-09-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200919131636/https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1573-7861.2010.01173.x}}</ref><ref>Roman Cybriwsky. [https://web.archive.org/web/20171229004315/http://ukrweekly.com/archive/2011/The_Ukrainian_Weekly_2011-14.pdf Spilne: a new sociology journal published in Ukraine.] ''The Ukrainian Weekly.'' No 14. Sunday, April 3, 2011. p. 8.</ref> The periodicity of the printed journal was stated to be twice a year,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://commons.com.ua/journal/ |title=Журнал |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100505183236/http://commons.com.ua/journal/ |archivedate=2010-05-05}}</ref> but later practice did not correspond to this.

{{As of|March 2023}}, the magazine has published twelve issues on various topics.<ref>{{cite web |title=Commons: Journal of Social Criticism |url=https://commons.com.ua/en/p/journal/ |publisher=Commons |access-date=2023-03-18}}</ref>

On the tenth anniversary of the magazine, the editors announced that the 12th issue would be the last in print, and that in the future, ''Commons'' would work only in an online format.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://commons.com.ua/uk/spilnomu-10-rokiv/ |title="Спільному" десять років |accessdate=2019-05-27 |archive-date=2019-03-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190330203727/https://commons.com.ua/uk/spilnomu-10-rokiv/ }}</ref> However, in 2023, a special issue in English “The Russian Invasion and the Ukrainian Left” was published.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Commons Journal, №13. The Russian Invasion and the Ukrainian Left: the Struggle for a Social Ukraine|url=https://commons.com.ua/en/russian-invasion-and-ukrainian-left-struggle/|website=Commons|accessdate=2024-02-08|language=en}}</ref>

The magazine has organized or co-organized a number of conferences. In 2019, it launched the annual ''Feuerbach 11'' conference that brings together researchers and activists to discuss Ukraine's socio-economic and political issues.<ref>[https://civilmplus.org/en/actors/journal-commons/ Journal “Commons”] - CivilM+</ref>

In 2023-24, several authors of ''Commons'' died at the frontline defending Ukraine from Russian invasion: journalist Evheny Osievsky,<ref>{{cite web |last1=Iaroslav Kovalchuk |title=From the Jungles of Kyiv to the Pacific Islands: The Gonzo-Anthropology of Evheny Osievsky |url=https://commons.com.ua/en/gonzo-antropologiya-yevgeniya-osiyevskogo/ |website=Commons |access-date=23 January 2025 |date=2023-06-21}}</ref> Russian anarchist Dmitry Petrov,<ref>{{cite web |last1=Antti Rautiainen |title=Dmitry Petrov – The Path of an Anarchist |url=https://commons.com.ua/en/dmitro-petrov-shlyah-anarhista/ |access-date=23 January 2025 |date=2024-02-13}}</ref> and lawyer Yuriy Lebedev.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Vitaliy Dudin |title=Our Comrade Died at the Front. In Memory of Yuriy Lebedev |url=https://commons.com.ua/en/pamyati-yuriya-lebedyeva/ |access-date=23 January 2025 |date=2024-01-31}}</ref>

==Ideology and reception== The magazine's position is left-wing and anti-capitalist. The editorial board included Marxists, anarchists, and supporters of other left-wing traditions, but at the same time, the magazine distanced itself from Soviet Marxism-Leninism and declared from the moment of its foundation that “there are no Stalinists among us and there will be none.”<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://commons.com.ua/about-us-ukr |title=Про нас |accessdate=2023-03-17|language=uk|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100114042640/http://commons.com.ua:80/about-us-ukr|archivedate=2010-01-14}}</ref> The co-founders were guided by the ideas of Michael Burawoy about organic public sociology, and the publication's goal was to analyze social reality, not theoretical polemics between different left-wing traditions.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.prastora.org/news/otzyv-o-prezentacii-spilne.html|title=Отзыв о презентации украинского журнала "Спільне"|last=Лидия Михеева|first=|date=2011-09-12|website=Беларуская філасофская прастора|publisher=|language=ru|archive-date=2018-12-09|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181209123936/http://www.prastora.org/news/otzyv-o-prezentacii-spilne.html}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://n-europe.eu/article/2013/07/12/tamara_martsenyuk_my_sebya_identifitsiruem_kak_publichnye_sotsiologi/|title=Тамара Марценюк: "Мы себя идентифицируем как публичные социологи"|first=|date=2013-12-07|publisher=|language=ru|archive-date=2015-03-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150329075439/http://n-europe.eu/article/2013/07/12/tamara_martsenyuk_my_sebya_identifitsiruem_kak_publichnye_sotsiologi}}</ref> Some editors are activists of the Social Movement organization.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Meet the Ukrainian leftists resisting Putin’s war: Interview with Sotsialnyi Rukh's Nataliia Lomonosova and Oleksandr Kyselov|url=https://links.org.au/meet-ukrainian-leftists-resisting-putins-war-interview-sotsialnyi-rukhs-nataliia-lomonosova-and|website=links.org.au|accessdate=2023-02-22}}</ref> Previously, part of the editorial board participated in the activities of the student union Direct Action.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://commons.com.ua/?page_id=14398|title=Редколегія |language=uk|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131110191653/http://commons.com.ua/?page_id=14398 |archivedate=2013-11-10 }}</ref>

Emily S. Channell-Justice, in her dissertation on the Ukrainian left's participation in the Revolution of Dignity, argued that the magazine "presented a space for leftist criticism of global issues and events, regularly organizing conferences in Kyiv. Since then, however, a growing ideological split between ''Political Critique'' and ''Commons'' has detracted from a more robust discussion of the fate of the Ukrainian left, based on the impression that ''Commons'' authors present a more dogmatic, class-oriented position rather than promoting a broad, accessible leftist perspective."<ref>Emily S. Channell-Justice. [https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/1403/ Left of Maidan: Self-Organization and the Ukrainian State on the Edge of Europe], p. 20</ref>

''Commons'' was a member of the Progressive International, but after the Russian invasion began in 2022, the magazine criticized the position of the organization<ref>{{cite web|date=14 March 2022|title=The war in Ukraine and the Global South|url=https://commons.com.ua/en/vijna-v-ukrayini-ta-globalnij-pivden/ |last=Taras Bilous|access-date=28 March 2023|language=en}}</ref> and later left the International, stating it was ‘shameful’ the organization refused to “unequivocally condemn Russian aggression.”<ref>{{cite web|date=25 May 2022|title=On Ukraine-Syria solidarity and the ‘anti-imperialism of idiots’|url=https://shado-mag.com/opinion/on-ukraine-syria-solidarity-and-the-anti-imperialism-of-idiots/|last=Joey Ayoub|access-date=28 March 2023|language=en}}</ref>

According to Medico International, during the war, the magazine was "considered one of the most important left-wing voices in Ukrainian civil society."<ref>[https://www.medico.de/blog/den-betroffenen-zuhoeren-18722 "Den Betroffenen zuhören"] - Medico International</ref>

After the Gaza war began, the magazine published a letter of solidarity with the Palestinian people, condemning Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories, while also condemning Hamas' attacks on civilians.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ukrainian Letter of Solidarity with Palestinian people |url=https://commons.com.ua/en/ukrayinskij-list-solidarnosti/ |access-date=2023-11-27 |website=Commons |language=en}}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== *{{official website|https://commons.com.ua/}} Category:2009 establishments in Ukraine Category:Magazines established in 2009 Category:Socialist magazines Category:Magazines published in Ukraine