This seminar is a forum for opening a dialogue on such issues as:
- Do Europeans continue to misread present threats to their democracy as a result of their traumatic and authoritarian past?
- How can European civil society organizations and genuinely democratic politics counteract the growing forces of populism, authoritarianism, and the othering of minorities?
- Should Norway consider joining the European Union in the context of current political threats and socio-economic challenges to the fabric of European civilization?
Programme
Brief introduction by Nina Witoszek/ Arne Naess Programme on Global Justice and the Environment, SUM, UiO
Keynote lecture by Masha Gessen, journalist and writer, The New Yorker:
Putin’s Vision of Eurasia as a Challenge to the European Union
Keynote lecture by Roger Griffin, international expert of fascist and terrorist movements, Oxford Brookes University:
The Fog of Peace: How Revisioning the Threats to European Democracy Can Lead to its Renewal.
Panel debate: Imagining democracy 2.0
The panel debate will be followed by a Q&A from the audience.
Kjetil Wiedsvang, journalist, Dagens Næringsliv
Karolina Dreszer-Smalec, National Federation of Polish NGOs in Warsaw, Vice President of European Civic Forum in Brussels
Jan Erik Grindheim, University of South-Eastern Norway/Civita
Heidi Nordby Lunde, head of Europabevegelsen, Norway
Roger Griffin, Oxford Brookes University
Chair
Nik Brandal, Oslo New University College
Q&A
This event - sponsored by the Fritt Ord Stiftelse, and organized in collaboration with the Oslo New University College - is part of an international conference on autocracy and civil society movements.
Contact: nina.witoszek@sum.uio.no