Budapest
2026
In the book Filterworld, Kyle Chayka uses a term of “algorithmic homogenization” to describe how interior spaces across different cities, countries and continents start looking the same. Chayka shows that today looking at pictures and short videos of one’s home, one cannot know where this home is located. Chayka argues, because of the global homogenization of interiors. The creators are all chasing the same visual approval over social media; today to be acknowledged and appreciated, one’s home should have a set of elements that could be recognized by others, who probably would never step a foot in that home.
In our globalizing world similar processes take place with many phenomena, and radical left scene is not an exception. Standards and categories of estimating “levels” of fascism, patriarchy or economic exploitation as well as the struggles against them often are not contextualized. Political work, in particular, is often imposed or imported without a hard work of contextualization. However, such work, by obtaining a certain “language” or a recognizable style, has a better chance to be acknowledged by our foreign camaraderie. Following these strategies, the global movement may risk preferring practices and perspectives of more visible– read: bigger and more resourceful – movements over more contextualized categories and practices.
Diversity in strategies and approaches which would be more rooted in historical and political contexts need to lie at the heart at internationalization.
The authors of the zine hope that by writing down our reflections on the “Free Maja” campaign from Budapest — where the campaign has found itself after being organized in Germany by Maja’s family, friends, and comrades— we can contribute to the understanding of complications and challenges of carrying political fights across different places and contexts – if without critically questioning the ground. We hope, therefore, this zine is a contribution to the discussion on what international solidarity looks and may look like in practice.
