6th Forum of Critical Studies Lucca November 2017
 

8th Forum of Critical Studies: Asking Big Questions Again

 

24 – 25 January 2020

Venice, Italy

 

Keynote Workshop:

Why the “Big Questions”: Exchanging Perspectives
James Block (DePaul University, Chicago, USA)

 
Conference Description:
 
Some say that the 21st Century or modernity altogether made humans more concerned with doing rather than being. As the classical Greek civilization valued most the reflexive thinking as a form of freedom from natural necessities, contemporary times profoundly involve individuals and the imaginary accompanying social practices in a restless logic of consumption, competition and engagement that profoundly – or some would say, radically – suspends or indefinitely postpones the autonomous capacity of human beings to question and reflect upon the social order and the meaning of social practices. The fast advancement of a peculiar logic of post-industrial societies, the gradual dissolution of alternative models to the capitalist logic and a multitude of other alerting factors pushed ahead a global spread culture of one-dimensional productions of meaning that advances a closure rather than a constant reflexive re-evaluation of cultural and social practices.
 
The 8th Euroacademia Global Forum of Critical Studies aims to bring into an open floor the reflexive and questioning interaction among academics, intellectuals, practitioners, artists and activists profoundly concerned with evaluative understandings of the world we’re living in. The focus of the forum is to initiate an arena where no question is misplaced and irrelevant as long as we acknowledge that evaluation, critical thinking and contestation are accessible trajectories to better understand our past, present and alternative scenarios for the future. The Forum is also an open stage for sharing existing or ready formed intellectual visions and expose them to dialogue and scrutiny in a critically reflective environment. The 8th edition of the forum aims to become a creative meeting point for all the critical studies perspectives coming from intellectuals, academics, performing artists, change makers and idea shapers.
 

Conference Panels

Philosophy and Critical Thinking: Bridging the Gap between Critical Theory and Social Praxis by Revisiting Turning Points of Reflection from Kant to Marx, Nietzsche and Phenomenology
Art as Cultural Diplomacy and Legacy: Critical Assessments of Politicized Representations, Cultural Influence, Performative Memorialization, Heritage and Identity Making through Arts
Performing Identities and Feminist Epistemologies: Performativity of the Body, Gender, and Sexuality and the Relationship between Identity and Performance in Cultural Movements, Art History, Literature, and Film
Identity and the City: Urban Transformations, Transition and Change in Urban Image Construction
Piety, Fictionality, Identity, Unpredictability and the Self in Literary Narratives and Critical Art History
Critical Contemporary Politics and Economics: From Critical Discourse Analysis to Experiments in Identity, Inequality and Scenarios on the Future of Political and Economic Projects of Europeanization
Politics of Europeanization from Community Making to the Eurozone Crisis: Readings of the Past and Scenarios for the Future

 

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International Conference: Re-Inventing Eastern Europe
 

Re-Inventing Eastern Europe (7th Edition)

The 7th Euroacademia International Conference

Re-Inventing Eastern Europe

30 Years from the Revolutions in Central and Eastern Europe

 

13 – 14 December 2019

 

Anglo American University, Prague, Czech Republic

School of International Relations and Diplomacy

 

 
The 7th Euroacademia International Conference ‘Re-Inventing Eastern Europe’ aims rather than asserting to make a case and to provide alternative views on the dynamics, persistence and manifestations of the practices of alterity making that take place in Europe and broadly in the mental mappings of the world. It offers an opportunity for scholars, activists and practitioners to locate, discuss and debate the multiple dimensions in which specific narratives of alterity making towards Eastern Europe preserve their salience today in re-furbished and re-fashioned manners. The conference aims to look at the processes of alterity making as puzzles and to address the persistence of the East-West dichotomies.
 
Eastern Europe was invented as a region and continues to be re-invented from outside and inside. From outside its invention was connected with alterity making processes, and, from inside the region, the Central and Eastern European countries got into a civilizational beauty contest themselves in search of drawing the most western profile: what’s Central Europe, what’s more Eastern, what’s more Ottoman, Balkan, Byzantine, who is the actual kidnapped kid of the West, who can build better credentials by pushing the Easterness to the next border. A wide variety of scholars addressed the western narratives of making the Eastern European ‘other’ as an outcome of cultural politics of enlightenment, as an effect of EU’s need to delineate its borders, as an outcome of its views on security, or as a type of ‘orientalism’ or post-colonialism. Most of these types of approaches are still useful in analyzing the persistence of a East-West slope. The region is understood now under a process of convergence, socialization and Europeanization that will have as outcomes an ‘ever closer union’ where the East and the West will fade away as categories. Yet the reality is far from such an outcome while the persistence of categories of alterity making towards the ‘East’ is not always dismantled. The discourses on core/non-core, new Europe/old Europe, pioneers/followers, teachers/pupils, center/periphery, cosmos/chaos are often maintaining significant ground within the arena of European identity narratives often yet not exclusively voiced by the EU.
 

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The European Union and the Politicization of Europe
 

The European Union and the Politicization of Europe (8th Edition)

25 – 26 October 2019

Ghent, Belgium

 
 
Is the EU becoming an increasingly politicized entity? Is the on-going politicization of Europe a structured or a messy one? Do political parties within the European Parliament act in a manner that strengthens the view of the EU as an articulate political system? Are there efficient ways for addressing the democratic deficit issue? Can we find usable indicators for detecting an emerging European demos and a European civil society? Does a Europeanization of the masses take place or the EU remains persistently a genuinely elitist project? Did the Lisbon Treaty introduced significant changes regarding the challenges facing the EU? Can we see any robust improvements in the accountability of the EU decision making processes? Are there alternative ways of looking at the politicization processes and redistributive policies inside the EU? What is the impact of Brexit for the future of the EU? Can we expect a future of European solidarity or division? These are only few of the large number of questions that unfold when researchers or practitioners look at the EU.
 
These are only few of the large number of questions that unfold when researchers or practitioners look at the EU. It is the aim of the 8th International Conference ‘The European Union and the Politicization of Europe’ to address in a constructive manner such questions and to offer o platform for dissemination of research results or puzzles that can contribute to a better understanding of the on-going process of politicization within the European Union.
 
The conference welcomes papers advancing contributions from the widest areas of inquiry related to the EU, from theoretic contributions and methodological proposals to case studies at EU level and regional or national levels. It aims to be an interdisciplinary event that adds value to the debate about the present and future of the EU based on the firm belief that deepening the specialized dialogue on EU topics leads to asserting the European critical thinking and to a better understanding of European realities. Papers addressing current challenges from the Eurozone crisis to Brexit or re-emergence of nationalist parties and attitudes in member states as well as security studies and IR papers are especially welcomed.
 

Conference Panels

Thinking Europe: Philosophy, Intellectual History, Cultural Autonomy and the Making of the ‘Other’
The Eurozone Crisis, Economics & Policy Making: Transformative Impact on the European Project and Model(s) of Capitalism
Populism, Nationalism and the Political Crisis of Europe: Assessing the Narratives, Conditions and Impact of Right-Leaning Parties in Europe
EU and the Political Challenges of European Integration: Addressing the Models of Integration, EU’s Legitimacy Crisis, Public Perceptions, and Voting Behavior inside EU
The Making of European Identity through Visual and Narrative Practices: Cultural Diplomacy, Visual Synchronicity, Visual Hierarchies and Narrative Deconstruction of Dominant Culture
Europe and its Political Challenges: Assessing the Migration Crisis in Europe in Human Costs and Value-Driven Perceptions
Assessing the EU’s Claims of Normative Influence, International Identity and External Perceptions

 

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1984.315.42
 

Identities and Identifications: Politicized Uses of Collective Identities (8th Edition)

 

28 – 29 June 2019

 

The Croke Park Hotel, Dublin, Ireland

 

Keynote Address: Branislav Radeljić (University of East London, UK) Identity, Immigration and the Rise of Populism in Europe

 

Keynote Address: Jennifer Todd (University College Dublin) Identity Change after Conflict: Morals from the Irish Cases

 

The 8th Euroacademia International Conference ‘Identities and Identifications: Politicized Uses of Collective Identities’ aims to scrutinize the state of the art in collective identities research, to bring once more into debate the processes of identity making, identity building in both constructivist or de-constructivist dimensions. The conference will include a wide variety of contributions on identity making practices while fostering a critical assessment of intended or unintended consequences that lead to the politicization of identities. It is the aim of the Euroacademia conference to open the floor to dynamic multi-dimensional and inter-disciplinary understandings of identities in their historic formation or in the way they shape the present and future of organizations or communities. The conference however seeks also to integrate and address the misunderstandings or misconceptions implicit to identity formation practices. A focal place will be given to methodological refinement and innovation in the research of identities in a broad spectrum of disciplines.
 
Euroacademia aims to bring together a wide network of academics, researchers, practitioners and activists that are willing to share and open to debate their research on identity related topics. Disciplinary, trans and inter-disciplinary approaches, methodological assessments and recommendations, single case studies or cross-sectional analyses, reflective essays, experience sharing or works addressing new puzzles are all welcomed.
 

Conference Agenda

Keynote Address:Branislav Radeljić (University of East London, UK)
Politics of Identity: National vs. Post-National Identity Making in Europe, Nationalism and the Making of Otherness
Thinking Identities Today: The Self, Personal Identity, Autonomy and Belonging
(En)Gendering Identities: Gendered Identities as Social Constructs and Narrations of Lived Experiences and Visual Practices of Politicization

Keynote Address: Jennifer Todd (University College Dublin, Ireland)
Critical Theory and Intellectual History Readings of Narrative and Performative Identity Making Practices
Art, History and Identity Making: Visual Narratives and Artistic Representations of Identity
Visual Signifiers, Signs and Symbolic Determinants of Cultural Identitarian Production

 

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The Euroacademia Convention of European Studies
 

The European Union and the Politicization of Europe (7th Edition)

25 – 26 January 2019

4* Hotel de Medici, Bruges, Belgium

 
 

 
Is the EU becoming an increasingly politicized entity? Is the on-going politicization of Europe a structured or a messy one? Do political parties within the European Parliament act in a manner that strengthens the view of the EU as an articulate political system? Are there efficient ways for addressing the democratic deficit issue? Can we find usable indicators for detecting an emerging European demos and a European civil society? Does a Europeanization of the masses take place or the EU remains a genuinely elitist project? Did the Lisbon Treaty introduced significant changes regarding the challenges facing the EU? Can we see any robust improvements in the accountability of the EU decision making processes? Are there alternative ways of looking at the politicization processes and redistributive policies inside the EU?
 
These are only few of the large number of questions that unfold when researchers or practitioners look at the EU. It is the aim of the 7th International Conference ‘The European Union and the Politicization of Europe’ to address in a constructive manner such questions and to offer o platform for dissemination of research results or puzzles that can contribute to a better understanding of the on-going process of politicization within the European Union.
 

Conference Panels

 

Populism, Nationalism and Right-Leaning Parties in Europe
Populism, Nationalism and the Political Crisis of Europe: Assessing the Narratives, Conditions and Impact of Brexit
The Eurozone Crisis, Economics & Policy Making: Transformative Impact on the European Project and Model(s) of Capitalism
Thinking Europe: Philosophy, Intellectual History and Cultural Autonomy
Art as Cultural Diplomacy: (Re)Constructing Notions of Eastern and Western Europe
The Crisis of Europe and its Political Challenges: Assessing the EU’s Legitimacy Crisis and Perceptions from ETS Negotiations to Asylum and Migration Policy
Assessing the EU’s Normative Influence and External Perceptions
Identity in the Visual: The Visual Turn and Identity Making Practices

 
 

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6th Forum of Critical Studies Lucca November 2017
 

7th Forum of Critical Studies: Asking Big Questions Again

 

23 – 24 November 2018

4* West End Hotel, Nice, Côte d’Azur, France

 
 
 
Conference Description:
 
Some say that the 21st Century or modernity altogether made humans more concerned with doing rather than being. As the classical Greek civilization valued most the reflexive thinking as a form of freedom from natural necessities, contemporary times profoundly involve individuals and the imaginary accompanying social practices in a restless logic of consumption, competition and engagement that profoundly – or some would say, radically – suspends or indefinitely postpones the autonomous capacity of human beings to question and reflect upon the social order and the meaning of social practices. The fast advancement of a peculiar logic of post-industrial societies, the gradual dissolution of alternative models to the capitalist logic and a multitude of other alerting factors pushed ahead a global spread culture of one-dimensional productions of meaning that advances a closure rather than a constant reflexive re-evaluation of cultural and social practices.
 
The 7th Euroacademia Global Forum of Critical Studies aims to bring into an open floor the reflexive and questioning interaction among academics, intellectuals, practitioners, artists and activists profoundly concerned with evaluative understandings of the world we’re living in. The focus of the forum is to initiate an arena where no question is misplaced and irrelevant as long as we acknowledge that evaluation, critical thinking and contestation are accessible trajectories to better understand our past, present and alternative scenarios for the future. The Forum is also an open stage for sharing existing or ready formed intellectual visions and expose them to dialogue and scrutiny in a critically reflective environment. The 7th edition of the forum aims to become a creative meeting point for all the critical studies perspectives coming from intellectuals, academics, performing artists, change makers and idea shapers.
 

Conference Panels

Critical Art History, Heritage and Identity Makinge
Performing Identities: Gender Performativity, Feminist Epistemologies and Critical Politics
Performing Identities – The Relationship between Identity and Performativity in Cinema, Re-Enactment Movements and Art as Performance of Memorialization
Art as Cultural Diplomacy: Critical Assessments of Politicized Representations and Inter-Cultural Interaction through Arts
Identity and the City: Urban Transformations, Transition and Change in Urban Image Construction
Critical Art History and Representations of Identity
Critical Contemporary Politics

 

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Rome Academia
 

Europe Inside-Out: Europe and Europeanness Exposed to Plural Observers (8th Edition)

 

28 – 30 September 2018

Agora Cultural Centre, Lucca, Tuscany, Italy

 
 

Europe became in the 20th century an elaborated yet contested notion as a particular field of European studies emerged and extensive and diverse research was directed recently towards an intensified search for what Europe is about. The creation of the European Union made things even more specialized and increased the stake of methodological rigor as more and more Europeans are affected by the decisions taken in Brussels. The number, diversity and quality of research projects focused on European issues is unprecedented, yet, as it is usually the case with specialization it gradually led to discursive communities that rarely meet and debate their approaches in open floors together with peers from other continents, academic traditions and cultures. It is the aim of this conference to build a bridge among specialists from different regions, academic traditions and cultures that share a common interest in studying and addressing Europe as a reflexive concern. The current political and cultural context requires even more nowadays a deeper reflection on the future of Europe.
 
What is Europe and its place in the world? Is there something particular that sediments in time a ‘European way’? How does Europe see itself and how do others see it? Is Europe inclusive or club-based exclusive? Is Europe becoming a normative power or just envisages itself as one? Is the European multiculturalism a fact or an ideal? Is the European Union a reflection of Europe or an appropriation of it? These are just few questions out of an enormous space for inquiry that are to be addressed and confronted within the topic of the conference.
 
The Euroacademia International Conference ‘Europe Inside-Out: Europe and Europeanness Exposed to Plural Observers’ became a regular event to take place in every year in a different European location. After six successful editions – in Vienna, Paris, Prague, Athens, Barcelona, Nice and Porto – Euroacademia moves the stage of reflection, sharing, dialogue, debate and research dissemination on Europe to Lucca, in the heart of Tuscany . Join us!

 

Conference Panels

Thinking Europe: Philosophy, Autonomy, Culture and Identity Formation through Inclusion/Exclusion Nexuses
European Cultural Heritage (Section One): Regional, National and European Imaginary Significations of Magmatic Cultural Creation
European Values and Europeanization: Migration and Asylum Policies, Alterity Making Practices and the Geographies of Orientalism
Reinventing Eastern Europe: Europe, the EU and the Est / West Dichotomies in Identity Making Practices
Urban Heritage, Transformation and Change in European Urban Image Construction
European Cultural Heritage (Section Two ): History, Identity Making and Cultural Influence
Art, History and Identity Making Practices from European Paintings to External Representations in Sequential Art

 

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1984.315.42
 

Identities and Identifications: Politicized Uses of Collective Identities (7th Edition)

 

14 – 15 June 2018

 

Agora Cultural Centre, Lucca, Tuscany, Italy

 
 
 

The 7th Euroacademia International Conference ‘Identities and Identifications: Politicized Uses of Collective Identities’ aims to scrutinize the state of the art in collective identities research, to bring once more into debate the processes of identity making, identity building in both constructivist or de-constructivist dimensions. The conference will include a wide variety of contributions on identity making practices while fostering a critical assessment of intended or unintended consequences that lead to the politicization of identities. It is the aim of the Euroacademia conference to open the floor to dynamic multi-dimensional and inter-disciplinary understandings of identities in their historic formation or in the way they shape the present and future of organizations or communities. The conference however seeks also to integrate and address the misunderstandings or misconceptions implicit to identity formation practices. A focal place will be given to methodological refinement and innovation in the research of identities in a broad spectrum of disciplines.
 
Euroacademia aims to bring together a wide network of academics, researchers, practitioners and activists that are willing to share and open to debate their research on identity related topics. Disciplinary, trans and inter-disciplinary approaches, methodological assessments and recommendations, single case studies or cross-sectional analyses, reflective essays, experience sharing or works addressing new puzzles are all welcomed.
 

Conference Panels

Thinking Identities Today and Practices of Politicization
Identity and the ‘Visual Turn’ in Social Representations
Identity and the City: Urban Transformations, Transition and Change in Urban Image Construction
Politics of Identity: Social and Intellectual History Readings of Identity Making Practices
Performing Identities: The Relationship between Identity and Performativity in Film, Theater and Literature
Art, History and Identity Making: Visual Narratives of Identity
Urban Identities and Spaces as Sites of Cultural Identitarian Production

 

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The European Union and the Politicization of Europe
 

The European Union and the Politicization of Europe (6th Edition)

11 – 12 December 2017

Villa Vittoria – Palazzo Congressi, Florence, Italy

 
Is the EU becoming an increasingly politicized entity? Is the on-going politicization of Europe a structured or a messy one? Do political parties within the European Parliament act in a manner that strengthens the view of the EU as an articulate political system? Are there efficient ways for addressing the democratic deficit issue? Can we find usable indicators for detecting an emerging European demos and a European civil society? Does a Europeanization of the masses take place or the EU remains a genuinely elitist project? Did the Lisbon Treaty introduced significant changes regarding the challenges facing the EU? Can we see any robust improvements in the accountability of the EU decision making processes? Are there alternative ways of looking at the politicization processes and redistributive policies inside the EU?
 
These are only few of the large number of questions that unfold when researchers or practitioners look at the EU. It is the aim of the 6th International Conference ‘The European Union and the Politicization of Europe’ to address in a constructive manner such questions and to offer o platform for dissemination of research results or puzzles that can contribute to a better understanding of the on-going process of politicization within the European Union.
 

New Panels

 

Thinking Europe: Philosophy, History, Autonomy and Culture
European Cultural Heritage and Intellectual History: Places and Narratives of Europeanness
Populism, Nationalism and Right-Leaning Parties in Europe: Assessing the Impact of Brexit and Voting Behavior in Europe
Assessing the EU’s Normative Influence and External Perceptions: EU, Turkey, and the EU’s Foreign Policy Impact
Europeanization, the Future of European Enlargement and the EU: Normative Power, Conditionality and Foreign Influence
The Eurozone Crisis. Transformative Impact on the European Project and Model(s) of Capitalism
European Identity Making and the EU: Inclusion / Exclusion Nexuses, Security, Self-Determination and the Making Of the Other in the EU

 
 

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6th Forum of Critical Studies Lucca November 2017
 

6th Forum of Critical Studies: Asking Big Questions Again

 

23 – 25 November 2017

Agora Cultural Centre, Lucca, Tuscany, Italy

 
 
Conference Description:
 
Some say that the 21st Century or modernity altogether made humans more concerned with doing rather than being. As the classical Greek civilization valued most the reflexive thinking as a form of freedom from natural necessities, contemporary times profoundly involve individuals and the imaginary accompanying social practices in a restless logic of consumption, competition and engagement that profoundly – or some would say, radically – suspends or indefinitely postpones the autonomous capacity of human beings to question and reflect upon the social order and the meaning of social practices. The fast advancement of a peculiar logic of post-industrial societies, the gradual dissolution of alternative models to the capitalist logic and a multitude of other alerting factors pushed ahead a global spread culture of one-dimensional productions of meaning that advances a closure rather than a constant reflexive re-evaluation of cultural and social practices.
 
The 6th Euroacademia Global Forum of Critical Studies aims to bring into an open floor the reflexive and questioning interaction among academics, intellectuals, practitioners, artists and activists profoundly concerned with evaluative understandings of the world we’re living in. The focus of the forum is to initiate an arena where no question is misplaced and irrelevant as long as we acknowledge that evaluation, critical thinking and contestation are accessible trajectories to better understand our past, present and alternative scenarios for the future. The Forum is also an open stage for sharing existing or ready formed intellectual visions and expose them to dialogue and scrutiny in a critically reflective environment. The 6th edition of the forum is the last edition to be replaced and followed from 2018 by the yearly Festival of Critical Studies to be held in Lucca. The Festival aims to become a creative meeting point for all the critical studies perspectives coming from intellectuals, academics, performing artists, change makers and idea shapers.
 

Conference Panels

Asking Big Questions Again: Bridging the Gap Between Critical Theory, Culture, Politics and Social Praxis
Performing Identities: Performativity of the Body, Gender, and Sexualityy
Thinking Contemporary Culture and Education
Art, History, Cultural Diplomacy and Critical Assessments of Politicized Representations of Identity in Arts
The Eurozone Crisis: Transformative Impact on the European Project and Model(s) of Capitalism
Identity and the City: Urban Transformations, Transition and Change in Urban Image Construction (Section 1)
Critical Contemporary Economics and Politics: From Local to Domestic and International Dimensions
The Sequential Arts: Comics as Critical Cultural Nexus
Identity and the City: Urban Transformations, Transition and Change in Urban Image Construction (Section 2)

 

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