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Justice and Memory after Dictatorship

Justice and Memory after Dictatorship: How Eastern Europe and Latin America Transformed International Law

3rd 2022 Session of CEFRES Seminar

When: Wednesday 16th March 2022, 4:30 pm
Where: At CEFRES and online (to register please contact claire(@)cefres.cz)
Language: English
Discussants: Raluca Grosescu (SNSPA, Bucarest), Eva-Clarita Pettai (Imre-Kertész Kolleg)
Moderation: Anemona Constantin (CEFRES)

Abstract:

This research investigates how national courts from Latin America and Central Eastern Europe (CEE) have challenged and transformed international criminal law (ICL) in trials held against former authoritarian officials after the “third wave” of democratization. In contrast to the UN-centric approaches that have dominated the scholarship on ICL, I explore the role of two so-called “semi-peripheries” of the international system in shaping global norms. I show how legal actors from the two regions created novel readings of ICL and contested an existing international law order which they considered unable to address their violent pasts. Continue reading Justice and Memory after Dictatorship →

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.

La Nuit des idées – The Challenge of a Shared Carbon-Free World

La Nuit des idées – The Challenge of a Shared Carbon-Free World

The French Embassy in the Czech Republic and the French Institute in Prague are organising a debate on ‘The scientific community and climate change: informing, raising awareness and taking action’. What role can the scientific community play in raising society’s awareness of environmental issues? What influence can it have on the direction of political decisions? What are the impacts and limits of popularising science? What can go wrong?

Location: Congress Hall of The French Institute in Prague (5th floor)
Date: Thursday, 24 Octobre, 2024 at 6:00 p.m.
Language: Czech and French

Organizers: The French Embassy in the Czech Republic and the French Institute in Prague

Discussants: Jana Dlouhá (Charles University), Zuzana Harmáčková (Czech Academy of Sciences), Gilles Lepesant (CNRS/CEFRES)

Abstract Continue reading La Nuit des idées – The Challenge of a Shared Carbon-Free World →

Landscapes & Memory in Holocaust film. NaNo seminar #6

The sixth session of the seminar “Nature(s) & Norms” (NANO), carried out within the framework of the research program SAMSON (Sciences, Arts, Medicine and Social Norms), developed by Sorbonne University (Paris), the Faculty of Arts of the Charles University (Prague), Warsaw University and CEFRES welcomes two participants: Irina Tcherneva (CNRS) and Olga Kaczmarek (Warsaw University).

Location: Paris, CEFRES Library and online (zoom)
To receive the link, please contact us at cefres[@]cefres.cz
Date: Friday, March 24th 2023, 4.30 pm
Language: English

Part 1
Landscape in the comprehension of crimes: practices of Soviet film makers
Irina Tcherneva, CNRS, Eur’ORBEM

Abstract: This contribution focuses on landscape and the spatial dimension in the documentary films and photographs created by the Soviets in 1941-1945 during the liberation of Nazi-occupied territories. The places where Nazi crimes and war crimes took place make the Soviet terrain unique in the history of the Holocaust. Until now, visual analysis has not been mobilized to examine these traces in rural and urban environments. Continue reading Landscapes & Memory in Holocaust film. NaNo seminar #6 →

Landscapes with Shadows

Landscapes with Shadows. Presentation of Luba Jurgenson’s research project

In June, July and August 2022, the researcher, writer and translator Luba Jurgenson, professor at Sorbonne University and director of Eur’ORBEM, will be at CEFRES as a guest researcher. For further information, click here to see her CV.

When: Thursday, June 30th, 10:30 – 12:00 a.m.
Where: CEFRES Library, Na Florenci 3, Prague & also “online” – link to ZOOM meeting on request (cefres@cefres.cz)
Language: English

Continue reading Landscapes with Shadows →

Language policy and sociolinguistic differentiation in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Language policy and sociolinguistic differentiation in Bosnia and Herzegovina: From (in)significant difference to language boundaries

5th session of CEFRES in-house seminar
Through the presentation of works in progress, CEFRES’s Seminar aims at raising and discussing issues about methods, approaches or concepts, in a multidisciplinary spirit, allowing everyone to confront her or his own perspectives with the research presented.

Location: CEFRES Library
Date: Tuesday, April 9, 2024 at 4:30 pm
Language: English
Contact / To register: cefres[@]cefres.cz

Jelena Božović (CEFRES / FSV UK)

Speaker

  • Markéta Slavková, The Prague Security Studies Institute

Abstract

The question of language boundaries is not often addressed in language policy studies. When exploring multilingual settings, language policy scholars traditionally presuppose a plurality of languages treated as separate and fixed bounded entities. Working with easily identifiable and distinguishable linguistic units then allows for a closer study of their relationships. However, this task can be challenging in settings where languages are structurally close and overlapping, and boundaries are not always sharp and clear-cut. Here, determining the relationships between the (competing) languages and linguistic groups is not necessarily straightforward. This is because some differences are more subjected to boundary processes and some less, while some go completely unnoticed. Insights from these settings can therefore expand our understanding of language boundaries as stemming not only or not always from differences in languages’ formal aspects and their denotational, usually stable, meanings, but also as something deriving from the social and political function of language and its situated use.

In my dissertation, I am focused on Bosnia and Herzegovina, a context where a transition from one common standard language to three separate national standard languages occurred following the disintegration of Yugoslavia, inevitably raising the question of differentiation and boundaries. In fact, while examining the processes of interpretation of the official language policies during my ethnographic fieldwork in this country, it became clear that they mostly consist in interpreting differences and boundaries between these languages. Thus, my research is concentrated on language boundary processes, i.e. on how language boundaries are constructed, deconstructed, blurred, transcended or ignored altogether by social actors within various language policy settings. In this seminar, I will focus on questions of which boundaries are constructed and how, and in what ways these processes are related to questions of power relations and authority as well as their implications for the official language policy.

See the complete program of 2023–2024 seminar here.