Democracy Is (No!) Fiction | Developing Concepts and Strategies For an Inclusive and Participatory Europe

Date/Time
January 13, 2020
08:30 - 18:00 CEST/CET


Kick-off Event of our Jean Monnet Project “From Fictional to Functioning Democracy Developing Concepts and Strategies for an Inclusive and Participatory Europe” (FIFUDEM)

with a keynote speech by Ivan KRASTEV (Permanent Fellow at the Institute for Human Sciences (IWM), Vienna, Chairman of the Centre for Liberal Strategies, Sofia)

Liberal democracy appears to be at risk – both in Europe and abroad. New forms of façade democracies spread in Europe, framed by biased political communication through ideological misinformation, hate speech and tribalism. Authoritarian politicians try to turn Europe into an arena, where metaphorically speaking leaders of tribes are fighting each other by any tools to cement their own positions. As a result, so-called stabilocracies epitomise superficial stability and simulate pluralism and peace. In parallel with the rise of xenophobia, populism and radicalisation, liberal democratic principles such as checks and balances are gradually eroding.

 Moreover, the lack of a common public sphere is challenging European integration processes. Decreasing press freedom and increasing mistrust in traditional media pave the way for populists that rely on oligarchic media networks and use the effects of so-called ‘filter bubbles’ and ‘echo chambers’ on social media. Instead of exchanging different opinions in a reflected manner, mostly one-sided, individualized excerpts of the complex social reality find their way to the surface. Biased (social) media thus creates but a mere individual fiction, the facade of a homogeneous world corresponding to the viewers’ perceptions.

As part of the IDM and DRC Jean Monnet Project “From Fictional to Functioning Democracy (FIFUDEM)”, the conference brings up the problem of fictional democracy – a new form of facade democracy that produces illiberal fictions of democracy. It aims at creating new visions for actively committed citizenship in a functioning democracy, embedded in a common and inclusive European Union. In order to achieve this, academics and researchers specialised in EU matters, as well as civil society activists, stakeholders and practitioners and EU representatives  are invited to develop strategies of strengthening active and participatory citizenship and functioning political communication methodologies.

Confirmed attendees include amongst others Gerda FÜRICHT-FIEGL (Danube University Krems), Gertraud ILLMEIER (Interkulturelles Zentrum, Vienna), Lukas MANDL (Member of the European Parliament, Brussels), Katarína MATHERNOVÁ (European Commission, Brussels), Hedvig MORVAI (Erste Foundation, Vienna), Toni PAVLOSKI (Deputy Director of the Directorate for the European Union at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of North Macedonia, Skopje), Ivanka POPOVIC (Rector of the University of Belgrade, President of the Danube Rectors’ Conference), Wojciech PRZYBYLSKI (Editor-in-chief of Visegrad Insight and chairman of Res Publica Foundation in Warsaw), Krisztina ROZGONYI (Assistant Professor at the Department of Communication of the University of Vienna), Martin SELMAYR (Representative of the European Commission in Austria)Mihai Răzvan UNGUREANU (University of Bucharest, former Foreign Minister, former Prime Minister, Romania), Kristina VOKO (Country Director Albania at Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN), Tirana), Vuk VELEBIT (Political analyst (Talas.rs) & civic activist, Belgrade).

Please find the detailed programme here.

Statements from the kick-off event:

Ivan Krastev – Permanent Fellow at the Institute for Human Sciences (IWM), Vienna, Chairman of the Centre for Liberal Strategies, Sofia

Katarína Mathernová – Deputy Director-General, Directorate-General Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations (DG NEAR), European Commission, Brussels

Toni Pavloski – Deputy Director of the Directorate for the European Union at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of North Macedonia, Skopje

Gerda Füricht-Fiegl – Deputy head of Department for Knowledge and Communication Management, Director of University course “Political Communication”, Danube University Krems

Wojciech Przybylski – Editor-in-chief of Visegrad Insight and chairman of Res Publica Foundation in Warsaw

Krisztina Rozgonyi – Assistant Professor at the Department of Communication of the University of Vienna

  • Beginn: Montag, 13. Januar 2020, 08:30 Uhr
  • Ende: Montag, 13. Januar 2020, 17:59 Uhr
  • Ort: Haus der Europäischen Union
  • Adresse: Wipplingerstraße 35, 1010 Vienna
  • Auskunft: Dr. Silvia Nadjivan
  • Auskunft E-Mail: s.nadjivan@idm.at
  • Auskunft Telefonnummer: +43 1 319 72 58-24

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