Europe before and after 1989

Seminario Internazionale

Dal 10 al 12 giugno 2009, l’Università di Padova ospita la Conferenza Internazionale “L’Europa prima e dopo il 1989 - Prospettive transnazionali e comparative sull'Europa Orientale e Occidentale”. L'Istituto Jacques Maritain e il Centro Studi Veneto Jacques Maritain promuovono l'iniziativa insieme a Research Network 1989, Accademia Polacca delle Scienze, Sciences Po e GESIS (Service Agency Eastern Europe).

La conferenza intende, venti anni dopo, approfondire l'impatto degli eventi del 1989 e discutere le trasformazioni che hanno determinato in Europa e nel mondo. Con il contributo di alcuni dei più importanti studiosi contemporanei (tra gli invitati vi sono, tra gli altri, Manuel Castells, Jan Zielonka, András Bozóki) e numerosi panel tematici, la conferenza affronterà, tra gli altri, i temi della mutata identità europea, dei diversi modelli di democrazia, dell'organizzazione dei sistemi economici, delle relazioni fra l'Europa e altre aree del mondo, tra cui l'Asia orientale e la Cina.

Anniversary Conference

10-12 June 2009, University of Padua, Italy

The 20th anniversary of 1989 and the Research Network 1989

Observers near and far have interpreted 1989 as annus mirabilis, and its unexpectedly peaceful political revolution as one of the great moments in human history. Since a political and economic transition was negotiated at the same time, 1989 has also been interpreted as ‘anti-totalitarian revolution’, a ‘refolution’, an ‘unrevolution’, or a ‘rectifying revolution’. 1989 is understood to have cancelled out the revolution of 1917, and this without the expense of a long and bloody civil war. 1989 is also contrasted favourably with the revolution of 1848, in which Tsarist troops, called by the Habsburg monarchy, helped quench the revolutionary movement in Budapest.

While for 1989 the focus is justifiably on central and eastern Europe, events in the Soviet Union, China and South Africa were equally significant. The world changed in 1989 and a quick glance at the following German unification clarifies that 1989 impacted Europe and the world. The Research Network 1989 is working to demonstrate the European and global dimension of 1989. In 2008 the RN 1989 is co-hosting events on ‘The global 1989’ (at the London School of Economics, with a focus on world history and international relations), on ‘The world in 1989’ (at the New School, with a focus on pro-democracy movements in a trans-regional perspective) and ‘The impact of 1989 on Europe’ (at the European University Institute, with a cross-disciplinary focus to promote new research programmes that investigate the impact of 1989 in a trans-European perspective).

Under the patronage of the European Commission Representation in Italy

Sponsors

University of Padua

Polish Academy of Science

Sciences Po de Paris

GESIS (Service Agency Eastern Europe)

Research Network 1989

Istituto Jacques Maritain

Centro Studi Veneto Jacques Maritain