Workshop: Post-Truth, Populism, Prejudice: Europe’s values in crisis ?

Post-Truth, Populism, Prejudice: Europe’s values in crisis ?

16th – 18th February 2017
Cohosted with Charles University’s Faculty of Social Sciences, Europaeum.

What does it mean to be a “good” European ? The question recurs as Europe grapples with a series of simultaneous crises – refugees, multi-culturalism, uneven economic development, and bailing out neighbours at a time of low economic growth. On top of these comes the new politics of Post-Truth, of prejudice, and the rise of populism, nationalism and jingoism. Do we respond with walls OR with Willkommenskultur ? These are tests for each of us – and for our communities, regions, and nations.

Our next three-day graduate workshop, planned for late February 2017, will explore these important questions. Our keynote speaker will be Aleksander Smolar, Deputy Chairman of the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna, member of the International Forum Research Council in Washington, D.C., member of the Board of Directors of the Institute for Human Sciences at Boston University and the President of the Stefan Batory Foundation in Warsaw. He will give a lecture on post-truth politics in contemporary Poland.
As with all Europaeum activities, this event will be participatory and engaging, involving talks and lectures from expert academics and professionals, as well as younger scholars, together with working groups and debates. It is designed for 25+ advanced graduates from Europaeum universities graduates.

Applications:

Applications are now being accepted from doctoral or advanced graduates from the universities within the Europaeum network. All local costs will be covered (apart from travel). Applications in the form of a CV (max. 2 pages), one or two letters of recommendation, a letter of motivation, and a brief abstract of the proposed paper should go to the Europaeum Office by January and early February.
99 Banbury Road
Oxford OX2 6JX UK
www.europaeum.org
euroinfo@europaeum.ox.ac.uk
Tel: +44 (0)1865 284 480

Program (download pdf):

THURSDAY, 16TH FEBRUARY

Venue: room 217, Faculty of Arts, Nám. Jana Palacha 2, second floor

14.00            Arrivals – Coffee

14.30            Welcome and Introduction

Dr Paul Flather (Oxford / Europaeum)

Dr Jakub Jirsa (Prague)

Dr Janusz Salamon (Prague)

                             

15.15            Panel I: The rise of new Populism: Democracy under pressure?

                     Chair: Dr Paul Flather (Oxford)

                     Speaker: H.E.Karel Schwarzenberg (Former Czech Minister of Foreign Affairs)

                     Speaker: Radko Hokovsky (European Values Think Tank, Prague)

Discussants: Ludmiła Władyniak (Prague), Cassandra Jacobson Russo (Oxford), + 1

 

16.30            Tea / Coffee

 

17.00            Panel II: Faith and Europe: How are “Good” Europeans made?

                     Chair: Dr Jakub Jirsa (Prague)

                     Speaker: Professor Ivana Noble (Prague)

                     Speaker: Monsignor Tomáš Halík (Prague)

                     Speaker: H.E. Pavel Fischer (STEM Institute)

                     Discussants: Albert van Wijngaarden (Leiden), Vilém Anzenbacher (Prague), + 1
18.30               Panel III: The Return of Prejudice:  Europe’s Migration crisis?

                     Chair: Martin Mejstřík (Prague) (tba)

Speaker: Pavel Telička (European Parliament) / Štefan Füle (EC Prague) (tbc)

                     Speaker: Dr Paul Flather (Oxford)

Discussants: Francisco Mouraz (Lisbon), Aleksandra Czarnecka (Cracow), + 1

                  

                  

FRIDAY 17TH FEBRUARY

09.30             Working Groups Session Iconvened by Dr Paul Flather (Oxford / Europaeum)

                      Group A – Why might Europeans be becoming less tolerant?

                     Group B – Can Europe continue to be hospital in a hostile world?

                      Group C – Are secularism and diversity threats to good citizenship?

                      Group D – Why have European values been overstated across the world?

                     Group E – How is “post-truth” politics changing Europe and its values?

 

10.30            Graduate Presentations – Session I  – on Identity and Mobility

                     Chair: Dr Paul Flather (Oxford)

            Central European borderlands in search of identity in today’s Europe

Speaker: Ludmiła Władyniak (Prague)

Discussants: Miguel González Santos (Complutense University of Madrid) , + 1

                     European values and immigration: a favorable or a detrimental nexus?                 

                     Speaker: Zeíla Maria (Geneva)

Discussants: Théo Muller (Leiden), + 1

 

11.30             Tea / Coffee

 

11.45             Panel IV: Homo Economicus: Searching for Moral Sentiments?

                      Chair: Dr Michal Mejstřík (Prague) (tbc)

Speaker: Dr Vladimír Benáček (Economics Faculty, Prague)

                     Speaker: Dr Tomáš Sedláček (Chief macro-economic strategist for the ČSOB bank)

Discussants: Anthony Garai (Geneva), Sophia Bunemann (Leiden), + 1

 

13.00             Lunch

 

14.30             Panel V: Has the European Project Made Us Better Citizens?

                     Chair: Dr Janusz Salamon (Institute of Politics, Prague)

                     Speaker: Dr Jan Sokol (Harvard / Prague)

Speaker: Péter Balázs (CEU and former EC)

Speaker: Dr Ľubica Kobová (Prague)

                     Discussants: Achim Alan Merlo (Geneva), Christian Davies (Wroclaw), +1

                                           

15.45             Working Groups: A, B, C, D, E- Session II

                     Tea / Coffee

 

 

16.45             Graduate Presentations – Session II – In the Public Sphere

Chair: Dr Jakub Jirsa (Prague)

            “Hate speech” laws: are they really effective?

                     Speaker: Anthony Garai (Geneva)

Discussants: Andreea Rusu (Barcelona), +1

The Impact of audiovisual content on social behavior and values

Speaker: Miguel González Santos (Madrid)

Discussants: Zeíla Maria (Geneva), +1

                                           

17.45            Keynote LecturePost-Truth politics and Alternative Facts   (in room 104)

            Chair: Professor Martin Butora (Institute for Public Affairs) (tbc)

Big Lies ? : Post-truth politics in Poland today

            Speaker: Mr Aleksander Smolar (Stefan Batory Foundation)

Discussants: Péter Balázs (CEU and former EC), Petr Dvořák  (Czech Television), Tomas Vrba (Forum 2000), Martin Mejstřík (Prague) (tbc)

              

SATURDAY 18TH FEBRUARY

09.15            Working Groups: A, B, C, D – Session III

 

10.00            Graduate Presentations – Session III

                      Chair:  Dr Janusz Salamon (Prague)

Liberalism and anti-systemic movements in Europe

Speaker: Achim Alan Merlo (Geneva)

                     Discussants: Sophie Brocard (Paris), +1

The Triumph of Pathos in Europe Today

Speaker: Cassandra Jacobson Russo (Oxford)

                     Discussants: Klara Klausova, +1

                     Cursed Fans and Patriotic Kebabs: Poland’s Populist Youth Culture

                     Speaker: Christian Davies (Wroclaw)

                     Discussants: +2

 

11.30            Coffee Break

 

11.45            Working Group Reports

                                           

13.00             Conclusions & Next Steps?

Dr Jirsa (Prague), Dr Salamon (Prague), Dr Flather (Oxford) and Péter Balázs (CEU and former EC).

 

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