Freedom Writ Large: A conference on assaults on liberties in Europe and what we can do about it

Wellbeing in Europe
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Thanks for the update @ivan… does this mean we should send over the 7 min presentation and burning questions based on our fieldwork data or would it be something else now ?

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Hi Jitka, no change there for now - the idea is to embed your presentations in the WP2 part. I’ll give you more details (or other possible requrements) as soon as I have them.

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You mean “multidisciplinary”?

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I was quoting Jan :slight_smile:, but that is the idea

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Ok, following up on today’s meeting with @nadia and @ivan:

Date: We reschedule to September, nail a date and write it in stone.

Concept: The Great Pushback: the ground reality of European populism. Or something that:

  • Emphasizes and acknowledges the point of view of people with boots on the ground
  • Winks to the Polanyian idea of reaction and counterreaction underpinning much of POPREBEL.

Sessions are: moderated panel discussions + Q&A. Each panel consists of at least one POPREBEL academic + at least one representative of “the ground” (activist, business person, artist, etc.).

Six sessions:

  1. Keynote: an artist’s point of view with Paolo Cirio.
  2. Culture: Art as resistance (paper). With @MariaAlinaAsavei, Paolo, maybe Daniel Vaarik?
  3. Economy: Business strategies in a politicized economy (paper. With István Kollai and ?)
  4. Politics: maybe a discussion on what is being tried to counteract the rise of populism in CEE. We have a paper here that could be discussed with people on the ground (anyone from Volt maybe?). Lead author here is Piret Ehin. Who else on society’s side?
  5. Society. ?? Maybe something on data and transparency? LGBT issues?
  6. Futures. This could be more interactive, like in Nadia’s idea. With Vello Pettai on the POPREBEL side. Who else on society’s side?

End keynote: Jan on The Great Pushback (Polanyian perspective etc,).

In general, the process to design sessions is like this:

  1. Look for inspiration in the working papers and the presentations. This will give you a framing and one or two academic authors.
  2. Involve those authors to refine the concept and make sure they are onboard.
  3. Pair the academic author with at least one counterpart.
  4. “Pad” the panel with maybe a third person that brings an interesting point of view, and a moderator (these two could be the same).

Pay attention to:

  • Communication
  • Scheduling (for academics to be able to attend each other’s panels).
  • Call management/security to prevent trolling etc.

Works for everyone?

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POPREBEL Impact conference - EVENT PLAN

THEME: Attacks on freedom in Europe, and what to do about it.

DATE: TBD - working dates 28-30 September - one or two days

FORMAT: ONLINE

  • a series of panels in form of the Zoom sessions
  • each panel consists of 3-4 speakers, at least one of them is non-academic
  • sessions run for a maximum of 90 minutes, with 15 minutes breaks

Keynote + reflections on the keynote

Paolo Cirio, @Jan - to be scheduled and organised

PANELS

Opening Panel

Hold the Line: A conversation between civil society and defence on resistance in the face of attacks on freedom

Keywords: Preparedness, Response, Recovery
Proposed invitees:

Panel #1

How to win an election when the economy is struggling?
Voting behaviour in a situation of economic decline

Speakers:
CUB to choose between:
Krisztina SZABÓ: - Local economic voting, perception and voters’ attitude: Evidence from Hungarian survey and local economic data.
András TÉTÉNYI: - Exogenous shocks and voter behaviour in Central and Eastern Europe

  • from the ethnographer’s point:

Jitka Kralova - the effects of the COVID pandemic bringing on stage marginal voices and anti-liberal discourses, intertwined with populist rhetoric

Guest participants - VOLT / tbd

Panel #2

How to dress like an authoritarian: populist characters in search of an author
Populist solutions in different situations
tbc
Sean Hanley and Piret Ehin: Left wing populism vs right wing populism

possible contribuitons tbc:

Vassilis Petsinis - Baltic States vs ex-Yugoslavia in the post transition period

  • from the ethnographer’s point:

Magdalena Goralska - Poland and the role of social media in shaping polarizing narratives online - are the debates still possible?

Panel #3

How to run a business in a politically challenging environment?
Neofeudalism: the invisible yoke on the economic freedom

Istvan Kollai on the concept of neo-feudalism
possible contributors:

Peter Arvai - PREZI
Jukka-Pekka Heikkilä

Panel #4

How to build an anti-authoritarian culture?
Resistance through art

Maria Asavei (Charles University)- Strategies of Resistance through Art to Right-Wing Populism in East-Central Europe: Archives and Fake Political Parties

Maria Asavei, @Jirka_Kocian - [Theatre as resistance to right-wing populism in Estonia, the Czech Republic and Hungary]

possible contributors:

Paolo Cirio, Dada Art collective, Beatrice Ramos, Daniel Vaarik

Panel #5

Mind your own business: how to defend personal space in a repressive environment?
Society : personal freedoms

LGBTQI+ problematics within a dominant populist scenario

possible contributors:
@SZdenek, @Richard
Isidora Jarić & Haris Dajč - The LGBT movement and national sentiments: The politics of ex/in/clusion in the Serbian LGBT community
Abortion.eu
Cioccia Vassia

Panel #6

Freedom writ large: The anarchist’s guide to futures we want
Foresight scenarios and interactive session

Vello Pettai - presentation of the Tartu work
A scenario development exercise

Panel #7

Hold the Line: A conversation between civil society and defence on resistance in the face of attacks on freedom

Securitisation, Leadership
possible guests: Erica Chenoweth

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Many thanks. Looks terrific. The new Panel 7 may serve as an opener for the event. Let’s talk more about it. The first idea I have is this: civil society actors are ideologically diverse, ranging from the far left to the far right. Their take on the issues of security and defense will vary dramatically. Some “territorial defense” groups in Europe are like far right militias in the US. Very ideological. On the other hand we have groups that are genuinely interested in security of their societies, families, neighborhoods, etc. I would also pay attention to the gender dimension of this mobilization.

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ping @trythis - up for speaking/inviting people we know to this?

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Makes sense. I found one community member who knows quite a bit about defence who might be up for this. Also - ping @iouxo see above re: our recent conversation. Also recommended:
Konstantin Von Notz, Tom Middendorp, Richard Nugee. Also these guys have a broad network of scholars, political operatives and civil society activists: https://www.progressives-zentrum.org/

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Claire Provost, founder of openDemocracy’s Tracking the Backlash project, which investigates anti-democratic movements and tactics threatening women’s and LGBTIQ rights around the world, has agreed to talk at panel “Attacks on freedom in Europe”. Some of the investigations which she headed:

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It looks like she could bring significant contributions to the Conference, panel 5 in particular.
What do you think, @Jan and @Richard in particular?

Inge, can you ask her if she would be interested to participate and on which terms?

Btw, the site is under construction but this is how it is going to look like.

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She’s interested!

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Great, let’s see how to organise this - we will confirm the final format once I have the feedback from everyone and when Nadia comes back from her vacation.

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I confirmed Richard and Zdenek today.

@inge could you organise a call with Claire? (10-12 AM CET is good the entire week, otherwise let me know)
Did you have the time to talk to your UK option?

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Yes let me email her and see what her schedule is like.

Re London I didn’t reach out (yet) as we decided that the UK angle might for now be very different from the Europe one. I am looking into feminist activist speaker options this week.

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Hi everybody! @ivan et al: do you need me for anything at this point? I am working through several deliverables to get ready for uploads and am beginning to plan our final volume. You may also to know that I have now confirmed that at the end of November, we will have another impact event, in Warsaw, co-organized with two organizations, one of which is the most influential civil society hub in Poland, The Batory Foundation About us - Fundacja im. Stefana Batorego). I will have the preliminary set of ideas ready in a week or two. Ciao, Jan

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Ciao Jan! Great to hear from you.

There is no need for you to get engaged in this phase of organisation. We are waiting only for Belgrade to confirm their participation, all the other partners have answered and we will have brief meetings with them to arrange the details.
the website of the event is now on on the addres poprebel-impact.eu. Still a work in progress, but already shareable.

Once all of that is done and the guest participants are set, we should probably have a call for the last details.
Of course, we are counting on your closing note (30 September 18 CET) - the working title is The Great Pushback with Jan Kubik.
I am cc-ing you in the email exchange to keep you informed on the dynamics.

This sounds great. Do you think they could be one of the guest participants of the conference (and where would you see them best, if yes)?

Also, when the website (or the official communication) of the event is on, let us know and we can promote it through the Impact conference website.

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I love these ideas. And the website is impressive! One quick question: can I tinker with the text announcing my closing remarks, which - of course - I will do?

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Of course. The safest way is to write it in the post here or send it by email and @owen or I will change it on the website.
You could also edit the source directly but please watch out not to change its other elements.

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for @nadia - coordination spreadsheet