GCM seminar to focus on Asia Minor refugees and the remaking of Greek left

Historian Dr Kostis Karpozilos will be delivering an online lecture entitled The Asia Minor Refugees and the Remaking of the Greek Left on Thursday, March 30 at 7pm.

The lecture is part of the Greek History and Culture Seminars offered by the Greek Community of Melbourne (GCM) and will be available for viewing on Facebook and YouTube.

In his presentation, Dr Karpozilos aims to illustrate the impact and significance of mobility, political geography, and transnational networks in the early history of Greek communism, specifically the transformative influence of refugees from the declining Ottoman and Russian Empires on the remaking of Greek communism in the 1920s.

The arrival of over one million refugees following the Greek-Turkish war of 1919-1922 marked the end of the country’s expansionist aspirations and ushered in a period of political and social instability.

Dr Karpozilos will explore the interplay between this process and the evolution of the Communist Party of Greece and its integration into the Comintern ecosystem, emphasising the vital role played by refugees, exiles and immigrants in revolutionary projects. He argues that it is necessary to reconsider the importance of mobility and refugeedom in the evolution of radical politics in the 20th century.

Dr Karpozilos is the director of the Contemporary Social History Archives (ASKI) in Athens, Greece and his forthcoming book, Out of Bounds: A Transnational History of Greek Communism, examines the interplay between diasporic communities, transnational networks, and experiences of displacement in the development of the Greek communist movement.

He is also the author of Red America: Greek Communists in the United States, 1920-1950 (Crete University Press, 2017; Berghahn Books, 2023).

Dr. Karpozilos was a postdoctoral fellow at Columbia University, Princeton University and Oxford University and currently teaches at Panteion University in Athens. He earned his PhD from the University of Crete in 2010 and his M.A. from Sheffield University in 2004.

The lecture promises to be an insightful and thought-provoking event for anyone interested in the history of Greek communism and the impact of refugee movements on political movements.

Event Details:

• When: Thursday, 30 March 2023, at 7pm
• Where: Online via Facebook and YouTube