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Knowledge, Power and Academic Freedom in Europe (and Beyond) – Part 1

Part 1 of CEFRES 30th Anniversary Conference

The French Center for Research in Humanities and Social Sciences (CEFRES) is celebrating its thirtieth anniversary this year. CEFRES has been both an actor and an observer of the reshaping of research in Central Europe after 1989. It has first accompanied the remarkable restoration of academic freedom and the takeover of its destiny by the academic world. Thirty years of activity in the heart of Central Europe have made CEFRES a witness to the growing importance of the European level in the structuring and financing of the research sector, to the internationalization and the intensification of international competition, and to the structural transformations that affect the social sciences and humanities. This is the reason why CEFRES and its privileged partners, the Czech Academy of Sciences and Charles University, as well as the CEFRES Alumni Association, are devoting this thirtieth anniversary conference to the great transformation of the academic world from the point of view of the recompositions of the relationship between academic knowledge and power, as well as to academic freedom.

The first part of the conference will be held in Prague in a hybrid format (face-to-face/remote) on May 27th and 28th 2021. It will be opened on Thursday, May 27th at 5 pm by an inaugural conference moderated by Mr Jérôme Heurtaux, Director of CEFRES, and introduced by Mr Clément Beaune, Secretary of State for European Affairs of the French government (by video), Ms Eva Zažímalová, President of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Mr François-Joseph Ruggiu, Director of the Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences at CNRS and Mr Tomáš Zima, Rector of Charles University, with, as guest of honour, Mr Michael Ignatieff, Rector and President of the Central European University. On Friday, May 28th, the conference will gather 26 representatives of the academic and diplomatic world, former directors and researchers of CEFRES, who will discuss past and future of the Czech-French relationship in the European context, the challenges of knowledge transmission and internationalization.  The day will begin with a keynote lecture by Mr Pierre-Michel Menger, Professor at the Collège de France.

Dates: Thursday 27 may and friday 28 may 2021
Organizers: CEFRES, Czech Academy of Sciences, Charles University, CEFRES Alumni Association
Place: Prague and online (the conference will be streamed at this address: https://www.facebook.com/cefres)
To join the different sessions, please see the links below.
Languages: French, English, live interpretation in English
Participants: download the complete list of participants here.

Program

Thursday, May 27th 2021, 5:00 pm – 6:30 pm

Inaugural Round Table
Place: Czech Academy of Sciences – online
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84680097684
Language: English
Please find the login code here: 846 8009 7684

Chair: Jérôme Heurtaux, Director of CEFRES

  • Clément Beaune, Secretary of State for European Affairs of the French Government (by video)
  • Eva Zažímalová, President of the Czech Academy of Sciences
  • François-Joseph Ruggiu, Director of the Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences (InSHS), CNRS
  • Tomáš Zima, Rector of Charles University

Guest of Honour:

  • Michael Ignatieff, Rector and President of the Central European University

Friday, May 28th 2021 

Place: Karolinum, Charles University rectorate, Prague  & online
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86543574454
Please find the login code here: 865 4357 4454

9:00 am – 10:30 am : Keynote Lecture (in English)

Chair: Tomáš Kostelecký, sociologist, member of the Academy Council of the Czech Academy of Sciences

  • Pierre-Michel Menger, sociologist, Professor at the Collège de France, holder of the Chair “Sociology of creative work”: Scientific research: A matter of resources, performance, competition and collaboration

10:45 am – 1:30 pm: From Bilateral to European Level: CEFRES in its History

Chair: Nicolas Maslowski, sociologist, Director of CCFEF (Warsaw)

  • Marie-Elizabeth Ducreux, historian, emeritus research Director at CNRS, former Director of CEFRES (1991–1993)
  • Yves Saint-Geours, diplomat, former deputy Director of archeology and social sciences at the MEAE (1990–1993)
  • Antoine Marès, historian, emeritus Professor at the Pantheon-Sorbonne University, former Director of CEFRES (1998–2001)
  • František Šmahel, historian, medievalist, former Director of the Institute of History, then of the Center for Medieval Studies  of Czech Academy of Sciences
  • Pavel Baran, philosopher, President of the Scientific Council of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Vice-President of the Research, Development and Innovation Council of the Czech Republic
  • Lenka Rovná, political scientist, Vice-Rector for European Affairs, Charles University
  • Christian Lequesne, political scientist, Professor at Sciences Po, former Director of CEFRES (2004–2006)

Lunch

3:00 pm – 4:45 pm: Intergenerational Dialogues

Chair: Georges Mink, political scientist, emeritus research Director at CNRS, holder of the Chair of European Civilization and History in memoriam Bronisław Geremek at the College of Europe, Natolin, President of the ICCEES, former Director of CEFRES (2001–2003)

  • Marie-Claude Maurel, geographer, Directrice d’études at EHESS, former Director of CEFRES (2006–2010)
  • Taťána Petrasová, art historian, member of the Academy Council of the Czech Academy of Sciences from 2013 to 2021
  • Gábor Sonkoly, historian, Professor at Institute of Historical Studies and Atelier, Department of Interdisciplinary History, ELTE University, Budapest
  • Petr Horák, philosopher, emeritus Professor of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Professor at the University of Pardubice
  • Milena Lenderová, historian, former Dean of the Faculty of Arts at the University of Pardubice
  • Michel Perottino, political scientist, Professor at the Faculty of Social Sciences of Charles University, former General secretary of CEFRES
  • Mátyás Erdélyi, historian, post-doctoral fellow at CEFRES

5:00 pm – 6:30 pm: Researchers Without Borders? Internationalisation and Research Trajectories, 1991-2021
Roundtable of the CEFRES Alumni Association (English)

Chair: Clara Royer, senior Lecturer at Sorbonne University, former director of CEFRES (2015–2018)

  • Florence Vychytil-Baudoux, historian, doctoral student at EHESS, associated with CEFRES
  • Pascal Marty, geographer, Director of the Maison française d’Oxford, former deputy Director of InSHS of CNRS
  • Jana Vargovčíková, political scientist, junior Professor at INALCO
  • Gilles Lepesant, geographer, research Director at CNRS
  • Hana Fořtová, political scientist, translator, researcher at the Institute of Philosophy of the Czech Academy of Sciences
  • Luděk Brož, anthropologist, researcher at the Institute of Ethnology of the Czech Academy of Sciences
  • Eloïse Adde, historian medievalist, Marie Curie researcher at the Saint-Louis University in Brussels

You can download the program here.

Higher education and research in Slovakia: witnesses and actors of the country’s transformations since 1989

The French Institute of Slovakia and the French Centre for Research in Social Sciences (CEFRES) invite you to a round table during which we will focus on the world of higher education and research in Slovakia, particularly in the field of humanities and social sciences, as markers of the country’s history since 1989.

Date: April 15th, 2021 at 5 pm
Location: Online on Zoom (see link below)
Languages: SK-FR with simultaneous translation
Organizers: IFS, CEFRES
Registration:  Google forms

With the participation of Christophe Léonzi, French Ambassador to Slovakia.

Moderator:
Jérôme Heurtaux, Director of CEFRES

Speakers:

  • Etienne Boisserie, professor-researcher, Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales (INALCO) / co-director of the CREE (Europe-Asia Research Center)
  • Adam Hudek, researcher, Institute of History, Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAV)
  • Dagmar Kusa, professor-researcher, Bratislava International School for Liberal Arts (BISLA)
  • Peter Terem, Vice-Rector for Science and Research, Matej Bel University (UMB)

The world of higher education and research has undergone many changes since 1989, as has the whole of Slovakia. The most salient of these are the end of the socialist bloc, the splitting of Czechoslovakia and the entry into the European Union. How has academic research and the world of ideas been impacted by the ordeal of communism and then by the hope born of the transition to democracy? What effect did Slovakia’s European integration have on Slovak higher education and research institutions, and on the content of research, while at the same time a process of liberalization and internationalization was taking place? More recently, the academic community has been impacted by other developments such as the growth and tertiarization of the economy, globalization and demands for more rule of law. Universities and research institutes have thus been both actors and witnesses of the changes in Slovakia during the last decades and the question of their autonomy and the freedom of researchers has been raised again in the spring of 2021.

In this round table, we will focus on the world of higher education and research, particularly in the humanities and social sciences, as markers of the country’s recent history. Partner of Slovak academics since its creation in 1991, the French Centre for Research in Social Sciences (CEFRES) celebrates its 30th anniversary in 2021. This is an ideal opportunity to analyze thirty years of Slovak research and international cooperation and to consider their future.

Please click on the link below to join the webinar:
https://zoom.us/j/94054349216 .

Covid-19: Teleworking and Management

CEFRES invites you to its international roundtable on this topic:

What does the sanitary crisis tell about the changes in corporations and work organization?

Date: Thursday, March 25th, 2021, at 5.30PM
Place: Online (Zoom, see the link below)
Language: English

Organized by:

Vincent Montenero, Ph.D. in Management, Associate Researcher CEFRES / MIAS-CVUT

With a participation of these experts:

Cristina Cazorzi, Ph.D. in Management, EMEA Dispute Manager, Whirlpool
Daniel Prokop, Ph.D. in Sociology, Head of PAQ Research
Julie Landour, Ph.D. in Sociology, Associate Professor, Paris Dauphine
Jean-François Chanlat, PhD in Sociology, Emeritus Professor, Paris Dauphine

The emergence of the COVID-19 crisis has deeply affected corporations in terms of management and labour relations. After a period of adaptation, most companies have put up several measures that have enabled them to meet their customers’ expectations. According to many managers, this unprecedented situation has been an accelerator of different trends, such as a rapid and sudden teleworking increase. It has also been a challenge making several necessary improvements: be more agile, question the frequency of business trips, change management methods, improve newcomers’ integration, etc.

Many questions arise:

– What will remain of these changes in the functioning of the companies after the crisis is over?

– How do employees adapt to these evolutions?

– What does the crisis do in terms of team cohesion, psychosocial risks, division of the employed population, poor integration of newcomers?

To answer these questions, this roundtable will gather experts from France and the Czech Republic who will present and discuss original data and analysis on corporations and labour relations in the present and the future.

Find the event on Facebook : https://fb.me/e/DwO2jTlW

Access the live conference on Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84711376944

 

Anger in Belarus, Cross Perspectives on an Unexpected Unrest

International Seminar/Webinar

Venue: CEFRES (Na Florenci 3, Prague 1) 
Date: September 16th 2020, 5-7pm
Organizer: CEFRES
Language: English

The seminar will take place simultaneously in person and online. Due to sanitary constraints, it is necessary to register to participate in person at the following address: cefres@cefres.cz

It is also possible to participate online at the following address: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85162249844

The seminar will also be broadcast live on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/cefres

Argumentary

Since June 2020, Belarus has been experiencing a series of popular mobilizations that threaten the authoritarian regime of Alexander Lukashenko, in power since 1994. This largely unexpected event raises important questions that will be examined during this seminar: on the genesis of this unprecedented unrest and the factors that made it possible; on the characteristics, modalities and significations of the mobilizations; on their ability to enlist or not enlist the majority of the Belarusian population, on the already perceptible effects of the protest on the relations between Belarus and Russia and on the possible role to be played by the European Union, etc. The seminar will bring together researchers and experts from different countries in order to compare their analyses and different possible scenarii.

Moderation : 

Jérôme Heurtaux, Director of CEFRES, author of Pologne 1989. Comment le communisme s’est effondré, Codex, 2019.

Speakers:

Ronan Hervouet, Associate Professor at Bordeaux University, author of A Taste for Oppression. A Political Ethnography of Everyday Life in Belarus, Berghahn Books, to be published in 2021.

Anaïs Marin, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Belarus, Researcher at the Warsaw University (Centre de Civilisation Française et d’Études Francophones CCFEF), and Associate Fellow at the Chattam House Russia and Eurasia Program.

Alena Marková, Assistant Professor at the department of historical sociology of the Faculty of Humanities at Charles University (Prague) and Researcher on national processes in Central and Eastern Europe. Her PhD thesis focused on Belarus : ’The Belarusization Episode’ in the Process of Formation of the Belarusian Nation”.

Daniela Kolenovská, Head of the Department of Russian and East European Studies, Institute of International Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University. She specialises in modern Russian history and foreign policy. In this context, she also deals with the anti-Soviet alternative of Belarusian national development in exile since 1917.

Detailed presentation of the speakers

Ronan Hervouet is Associate Professor at Bordeaux University and Researcher at the Centre Émile Durkheim. He previously taught economics and social sciences at the European Humanities University in Minsk from 1999 to 2001 and was the French director of the Franco-Belarusian Center of political Sciences and European Studies in Minsk from 2009 to 2012. He has previously published a book on Belarus, entitled Datcha blues. Existences ordinaires et dictature en Biélorussie (Belin, 2009). His second book on Belarus has just been published in French (Le goût des tyrans. Une ethnographie politique du quotidien en Biélorussie, Le Bord de l’eau, 2020) and will be published in English in March 2021 (A Taste for Oppression. A Political Ethnography of Everyday Life in Belarus, Berghahn Books, 2021).

Alena Marková is an Assistant Professor of the Department of Historical Sciences of the Faculty of Humanities, Charles University (Czech Republic). Her main research interests cover contemporary history of Eastern Europe, nationalism, nation-building, national identity, and post-socialist transformation. Dr Marková is a main grantee and a project coordinator of many Czech and international academic projects (4EU+ European Universities Alliance, GAČR, SVV CU, and others). She is an Associate Editor of The Journal of Belarusian Studies (Brill). Alena Marková’s latest book “The Road Toward Soviet Nation. Nationality Policy of Belarussization, 1924-1929” (“Šliach da savieckaj nacyji. Palityka bielarusizacyji, 1924-1929”, Minsk 2016) received the best historical monograph of the year 2016 award in Belarusian studies by the expert council of the International Congress of Belarusian Studies (Warsaw).

How to build a Republic?

Date & Venue: 25 February 2020, 17h, Academic Conference Center (Husova 4a Prague 1)
Organizers:  Polish Institute in Prague, CEFRES & OIKOYMENH
Language: English (Czech translation)

Debate around the Czech translation and publication (2019) of the book Considerations on the Government of Poland of Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1782).

Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s Considerations on the government of Poland (1771) is the last political work of the philosopher, and the only one that had not yet been translated in Czech. It is an unique reflection on the republican regime of the Polish-Lithuanian state, which statements will be used again a few years later, during the American federalists talks on the means to create a liberal republic. 

With Polish, Czech and  French specialists of Rousseau:

  • Richard Butterwick-Pawlikowski (European Centre of Natolin, Varsovie)
  • Hana Fořtová (FLÚ AV ČR)
  • Gabrielle Radica (University of Lille)

Moderator: Jan Květina (Institute of History of the CAS)

To live on the margins of the city

Roundtable

On behalf of the 2020 Night of ideas and its theme: “Living the City”, CEFRES and the French Institute in Prague are organizing a roundtable on what it means to live and act in the context of the city nowadays.

Venue: CEFRES Library (Na Florenci 3, Prague 1)
Time: 3 pm
Organizers: CEFRES, French Institute in Prague
Language: English

Speakers:

  • Marianne Blidon, geographer, specialist in geography of sexualities and gay migrations
  • Eszter Gyorgy, sociologist, specialist in Roma minorities in Hungary
  • Yuliya Moskvina, PhD student in sociology, specialist in radical urban critique
  • Felipe K. Fernandes, PhD student in anthropology, specialist in Vietnamese migrations in the Czech Republic

Moderated by Jérôme Heurtaux (CEFRES Director)