europe ljubljana cfp

8/8/2019 Europe Ljubljana CFP

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International conference

Questioning European Values: (Re)Constructions of Europe

Ljubljana, 11 13 March 2011Organized by Educational Research Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia

&Consortium in Humanities (Poland, Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, Hungary, Romania,

Croatia, Slovenia)

Call for papers

The widespread enthusiasm for Europe from the beginning of the 1990s is largely beingreplaced by equally widespread resignation. It seems that the European political project iscontinuing more on inertia than on genuine political, social, and economic ideas or coherent

programs. At the same time, the social, economic, and political problems that have causeddisappointment and disillusionment among the peoples of Europe are very real and persistent.We are therefore confronted with a social, political, and economic crisis of Europe on the onehand, and a crisis of popular political and social imagination on the other, allowing for projectEurope to perpetuate itself despite its increasing lack of political legitimacy and despite theincrease in social ills, which the EU is (if not outright responsible for) at least unable toremedy.

Specific conference topics

Europe in Media and Public Discourse How is Europe as a political entity andsocial agency constructed through mass media and parliamentary discourse? What do themedia coverage and political discussions on European political projects reveal about thenature and functioning of the EUand, perhaps more importantly, what do they downplay

and exclude? How does the public image of Europe encode, present, and/or distort its policiesand its structure?Europe, the Welfare State, and Neoliberalism On the one hand, the EU presents

itself as the continuation and/or even embodiment of Europe's characteristic sensitivity toissues of social justice and equality but, on the other hand, certain EU measures and policiesactually result in its precise opposite. The EU seems to be caught in crossfire of demandsfrom multinational corporations and financial institutions on the one hand, and its own

peoples on the other. Is there a way out beyond the old choice between the welfare state andneoliberalism?

A Common European History? In the mobilization rounds for its political projectand enlargements, the EU seems to focus a lot on Europes common and glorious history,

while the actual history of Europe is a history of deep and violent ethnic, religious, class andgender divisions, subjugations, and inequalities. How is this common history (discursively)(re)constructed and/or invented?Is there a way to come to terms with such history that goes

beyond the paeans to contemporary multiculturalism and celebration of diversity? CanEuropean history teach us more than Christian charity and humility, liberal respect for private

property, and superficial tolerance?Knowledge-based Economy and Knowledge Society The propaganda that followed

in the wake of the Bologna reform promised the rise of the knowledge society andknowledge-based economy. Actual reforms of the universities involved budget cuts, closingdown certain departments, attempts to privatize the universities, and introducing (or raising)student fees and credits. Does a knowledge-based economy mean an economy in which

knowledge production is commercialized, commoditized, and standardized? How are thesedevelopments (discursively) legitimized? Is there more to European education than skill-


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enhancement and lifelong learning?Europe and Democracy Although political threats to democracy have been

successfully eliminated, a new threat has emerged with the development of the EUs coreproject: the single market with a single currency. The new threat to democracy seems to beeconomic, wresting control over the most basic and crucial aspects of peoples livessuch as

working conditions and relations, wage policies, and governance of public institutionsawayfrom democratic supervision and control. Can democracy survive European integration? Howis democracy (discursively) (re)presented to different publics, and for different purposes?

Plenary speakers

Professor Bo Strath, Renvall Institute, University of Helsinki.Professor Bob Jessop, Department of Sociology, Lancaster University.Professor Andreas Musolff, School of Language and Communication Studies, University ofEast Anglia.Professor Chris Lorenz, Department of History, VU University, Amsterdam.Professor Jonathan Charteris-Black, Department of English, Linguistics & Communication,

University of the West of England.

Important dates

30 November 2010, abstracts due.31 December 2010, notification of acceptance.31 January 2011, all conference fees due (registration fee & accommodation package).28 February 2011, final program.11 - 13 March 2011, the conference.

Registration fee

The registration fee is 120 and covers all conference materials, refreshments, and lunches.

Venue

The conference venue will be a recently renovated three starCity Hotel, located at the citycenter. City Hotel will provide a special room discount for conference participants for alimited number of rooms.

Oganizers

Programme Comittee

Igor . agar, Educational Research Institute & University of Maribor, Slovenia.Primo Kraovec, Educational Research Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia.

Jef Verschueren, University of Antwerp, Belgium.Guenther Kress, Institute of Education, London, United Kingdom.Organizing Comittee

Igor . agar, [email protected] Kraovec, [email protected] (please use this email address for questionsand inquiries regarding the programme).Sabina . nidari, [email protected] (please use this email address fororganizational, financial, and technical matters and questions).

For all the details, please check the conference website..
http://www.helsinki.fi/hum/nordic/strath/http://www.lancs.ac.uk/fass/sociology/profiles/Bob-Jessop/http://www.dur.ac.uk/research/directory/staff/?mode=staff&id=389http://www.dur.ac.uk/research/directory/staff/?mode=staff&id=389http://www.let.vu.nl/en/about-the-faculty/academic-staff/staff-listed-alphabetically/staff-l-s/prof-dr-c-f-g-lorenz/index.asphttp://www.let.vu.nl/en/about-the-faculty/academic-staff/staff-listed-alphabetically/staff-l-s/prof-dr-c-f-g-lorenz/index.asphttp://www.uwe.ac.uk/hlss/llas/staff_charteris-black_j.shtmlhttp://www.cityhotel.si/?viewPage=32http://www.igorzagar.net/http://www.igorzagar.net/http://www.pei.si/sifranti/PersonalPage.aspx?id=34http://www.ua.ac.be/main.aspx?c=jef.verschuerenhttp://www.library.ubc.ca/edlib/specialevents/scholars2010/Gunther_Kress.pdfhttp://www.igorzagar.net/http://www.igorzagar.net/http://www.pei.si/sifranti/PersonalPage.aspx?id=34http://www.pei.si/sifranti/PersonalPage.aspx?id=34http://www.pei.si/Sifranti/StaticPage.aspx?id=80http://www.helsinki.fi/hum/nordic/strath/http://www.lancs.ac.uk/fass/sociology/profiles/Bob-Jessop/http://www.dur.ac.uk/research/directory/staff/?mode=staff&id=389http://www.let.vu.nl/en/about-the-faculty/academic-staff/staff-listed-alphabetically/staff-l-s/prof-dr-c-f-g-lorenz/index.asphttp://www.uwe.ac.uk/hlss/llas/staff_charteris-black_j.shtmlhttp://www.uwe.ac.uk/hlss/llas/staff_charteris-black_j.shtmlhttp://www.cityhotel.si/?viewPage=32http://www.igorzagar.net/http://www.pei.si/sifranti/PersonalPage.aspx?id=34http://www.ua.ac.be/main.aspx?c=jef.verschuerenhttp://www.library.ubc.ca/edlib/specialevents/scholars2010/Gunther_Kress.pdfhttp://www.igorzagar.net/http://www.pei.si/sifranti/PersonalPage.aspx?id=34http://www.pei.si/Sifranti/StaticPage.aspx?id=80


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