Conference Program “Evolution or Devaluation: The Problem of Democratic Order in Eastern Europe” (25-27.05.2017)

Dear colleagues!

We present to your attention the program of the conference “Evolution or Devaluation: The Problem of Democratic Order in Eastern Europe,” which will take place in Minsk on 25-27 May 2017.

We invite you to register to attend the conference as a guest via the online form (https://palityka.wufoo.eu/forms/the-6-th-conference-of-political-sphere-2017/) (until 23 May).

Political Sphere Institute (Belarus-Lithuania)
Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania in Belarus
Polish Institute in Minsk
Belarusian Collegium
Institute of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (Lithuania)
Vytautas Magnus University (Lithuania)
Institute of Lithuanian History (Lithuania)
Evolution or Devaluation:
the problem of democratic order in Eastern Europe
VI Minsk Conference of the Political Sphere Institute
25-27 May 2017
Program
Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania in Belarus, Minsk, vul.

Zakharava, 68
25 May (Thursday)
Crowne Plaza Hotel, vul.

Kirava, 13
18.00-18.30.

Coffee break
18.30-20.30.

Public discussion: “How Should We Write the History of Our Own Country Today?”, with the participation of Łukasz Adamski (Poland), Valiantsin Holubeu (Belarus), Rustis Kamuntavičius (Lithuania), Ivan Kurilla (Russia).

Moderator – Aliaksei Lastouski.
26 May (Friday)
Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania in Belarus, Minsk, vul.

Zakharava, 68
09.00-10.00.

Registration
10.00-10.10.

Opening of the conference
10.10-11.30.

Centers and Peripheries: Revisiting the Experience of Democracy in Eastern Europe (moderator – Aliaksei Lastouski)
Tomasz Zarycki (Poland).

From a post-communist to a peripheral European political scene: international contexts of the transformation of Polish politics (From a post-communist to a peripheral European political scene: international contexts of the transformation of Polish politics)
Łukasz Adamski (Poland).

The Goals of Russian Policy toward Poland: before 2014 and after 2014 (О celach rosyjskiej polityki wobec Polski: do 2014 i po 2014 r.)
Andrei Yahorau (Belarus).

Democracy Promotion in the Eastern Partnership Countries: Prospects and Challenges
11.30-12.00.

Coffee break
12.00-13.30. A “Distinct Path” of Democracy?

Explaining the Belarusian Case (moderator – Andrei Yahorau)
Piotr Rudkowski (Belarus).

Belarusian State Ideology after the Ukrainian-Russian Conflict
Vadzim Smok (Belarus). A “Distinct Path” of Democracy: Public Organizations in the Speeches of Belarusian Senior State Officials
Andrei Vardamatski (Belarus).

Bad Mood and Demand for Reform: The Complex Trajectory of Public Opinion in Belarus
13.30-14.30.

Lunch
14.30-16.00.

Democracy and Belarusian Foreign Policy (moderator – Valer Karbalevich)
Yauheni Preiherman (Belarus).

Democracy as a Factor in Belarusian Foreign Policy: A Neoclassical Realist Viewpoint
Andrei Kazakevich (Belarus).

Democracy and Politics: Understanding the Speeches and Decisions of U.S. Presidents (1992-2016)
Zmitser Mitskevich (Belarus).

Beyond Democracy: The Image of Belarus in Neighboring Countries
16.00-16.30.

Coffee break
16.30-18.00.

Civic Identity and History in Post-Communist Societies (moderator – Valer Bulhakau)
Bogdan Cywiński (Poland).

Building Genuine Civic Consciousness in Post-Communist Societies (Budowa prawdziwej świadomości obywatelskiej w społeczeństwach historycznie doświadczonych przez system komunistyczny)
Ivan Kurilla (Russia).

Presentism, the Politicization of History, and New Roles for Historians (Презентизм, политизация истории и новые роли историков)
Aliaksei Kryvalap (Belarus). The “Russian World” in Belarus: Challenges for the Virtual Information Space
27 May (Saturday)
Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania in Belarus, Minsk, vul.

Zakharava, 68
10.00-11.30.

Education, History, Democracy, and Politics in Eastern Europe (moderator – Andrei Kazakevich)
Rasa Čepaitienė (Lithuania).

The Consequences of Lithuania’s Neoliberal Higher Education Reform: The De-democratization of the Academic Environment (Последствия неолиберальной реформы высшего образования Литвы: дедемократизация академической среды)
Rustis Kamuntavičius (Lithuania).

History in Textbooks and Critical History: One History or Two Different Histories? (История в учебниках и критическая история: одна или две разные истории?)
Aleh Dziarnovich (Belarus). “The Other Rus”: The Grand Duchy of Lithuania in Contemporary Russian Instrumentalist Discourse
Aliaksei Lastouski (Belarus).

Kurapaty in the Context of the “Politics of Dead Bodies”
11.30-12.00 .

Coffee break
12.00-13.00.

General discussion: “Education, History, Democracy, and Politics in Eastern Europe”
Conference participants:
Adamski Łukasz – Doctor of History, Deputy Director of the Centre for Polish-Russian Dialogue and Understanding (Poland)
Vardamatski Andrei – Doctor of Sociological Sciences, Director of the Belarusian Analytical Workshop (Belarus)
Zarycki Tomasz – Habilitated Doctor of Sociology, Director of the Institute of Social Studies, University of Warsaw (Poland)
Dziarnovich Aleh – Candidate of Historical Sciences, Institute of History of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus (Belarus)
Kamuntavičius Rustis – Doctor of History, Director of the Institute of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Vytautas Magnus University (Lithuania)
Kurilla Ivan – Doctor of Historical Sciences, European University at St. Petersburg (Russia)
Kazakevich Andrei – Doctor of Political Sciences, Director of the Political Sphere Institute (Belarus-Lithuania)
Kryvalap Aliaksei – Candidate of Cultural Studies, Polotsk State University (Belarus)
Lastouski Aliaksei – Candidate of Sociological Sciences, Researcher at the Political Sphere Institute, Polotsk State University (Belarus-Lithuania)
Mitskevich Dzmitry – Analyst, Belarus Security Blog (Belarus)
Preiherman Yauheni – Head of the Minsk Dialogue Expert Initiative (Belarus)
Rudkowski Piotr – Doctor of Humanities, Academic Director of the Belarusian Institute for Strategic Studies (BISS)
Smok Vadzim – Researcher at the Political Sphere Institute (Belarus)
Cywiński Bogdan – Habilitated Doctor of History, one of the founders of the Solidarity movement and the Flying University (Poland)
Čepaitienė Rasa – Doctor of History, Institute of Lithuanian History (Lithuania)
Yahorau Andrei – Director of the Center for European Transformation (Belarus)