Le Centre de Décontamination culturelle (Centar za Culturnu Dekontaminaciju - CZKD) de Belgrade organise, en partenariat avec CCFD - Terre solidaire, les Rencontres Times of Résistance - International meeting with citizens resisting Democratic Régression in Europe les 9 et 10 juin 2017.
Partant du constat que les régressions démocratiques se multiplient en Europe ; que des mouvements de résistance citoyenne se forment pour y répondre, l’objectif de ces rencontres est de renforcer la solidarité européenne avec les forces progressistes dans les pays d’Europe en régression démocratique, ainsi que de renforcer la solidarité de ces forces progressistes les unes envers les autres.
Le CCFD - Terre solidaire et le Centre de décontamination culturel, très actif à Belgrade, souhaitent informer et sensibiliser sur la régression démocratique en cours en Europe centrale, orientale et balkanique, sur sa dimension systémiques et ses conséquences ; encourager la mise en réseau des acteurs en résistance, leur permettre d’échanger et de partager leurs expériences de lutte, enfin favoriser la discussion et l’analyse, indispensables à la compréhension de ce contexte politique et à la construction d’une réponse commune.
L’équipe du Courrier des Balkans sera présente sur plusieurs panels de discussion pour apporter un éclairage sur le travail de la presse indépendante dans la région.
What connects the social movements and protests which emerged in different countries in Europe in the past few years, is the discontent of citizens towards incapacitated or alienated institutions they depend on. Beside the right-wing appropriation of discontent, which leads Europe to further disintegration, social movements and protests against inequality, racism, authoritarian usurpation of power and for the defence of basic human rights show how far the regression of democracy has gone and point to the obsolete or corrupted mechanisms which are not resisting the wave of conservative contra-revolution.
Our conference is the initial event of a solidary action, putting together methods, ideas, programs, experiences, chances and obstacles, in order to build a stronger front for democracy. Critical thinking, resistance and international solidarity are the fundamental values of Europe, which we evoke to rethink our common future and overcome the consequences of the de-legitimization of democracy. Democracy has been taken for granted, but it is a practice that has to be thought through and developed every day. That is why we invite movements and protests which carried and continue to carry the idea of democracy in the streets and squares throughout Europe, reclaiming public space and public good, to meet and find common ground for future wider actions, to transform the memory of freedom into its social reality.
Democracy will either revolutionize or fall to counter-revolution.
PROGRAM
FRIDAY – JUNE 9
10.00
INTRODUCTION
Greetings by the team - Video Overview of recent movements and processes in Europe 10.30 Introduction speech by Igor Štiks
11.00
OVERVIEWS OF THE TURMOIL - Panel discussion
All around Europe large movements have emerged. Why ? In which political context ? Analysis and critical views on several recent citizens’ protests.
13.30
PROTESTING AND CONTESTING - Panel discussion
In the past, few years the social injustice, corruption, election frauds and media censorship gave reasons to people for protests, solidarity actions, strikes. Resistance in the streets and in the workplace, can trigger change, either in the realm of political mechanisms or in a new form of solidarity for future actions.
16.00
CULTURE AND MEDIA IN RESISTANCE - Panel discussion
How the experience of the independent culture and its emancipation during the transition can contribute to establishment of a dynamic public mobilization field around social and political issues ? How can self-organized media open space for the reflection of the new generations’ struggle and sustain its critical freedom ? The examples from Croatia and Kosovo can be a starting point for the discussion.
17.00
“STORIES OF THE STREETS “, ISTANBUL- Presentation by Ozge Celikaslan
Social movements and human rights activism in Turkey through research on video activism, documentation and digital archiving of political acts.
18.30
REFUGEES AND EUROPE : KINEPOLITICS - POLITICS OF MOVEMENT - Panel discussion
One of the important indicators of the regression of European vision is the treatment of refugees, and we will gather the activists who can report on the struggles and solidarity actions.
SATURDAY – JUNE 10
10.00 Workgroups, networking, informal meetings
14.00 – Lunch time
15.00 – 20.00
PUBLIC FORUM : SOLIDARITY AND FUTURE ACTIONS
Plenum discussion and articulation of a common declaration
The open gathering of all, “plenum”, has been a form of organizing the students’ rebellions in Zagreb in 2009 and Belgrade in 2011. During 2014 protests in Bosnia, plenums became for months a public space to bring citizens back to politics and take collective decisions.
Summing up the shared views and information about the initiatives, examples, histories of resistance, we invite our colleagues and wider public to a free discussion in the form of plenum. The equal treatment of all the participants and the direction of the discussion will be moderated by Igor Štiks. Our hope is to come up with a declaration on our future solidarity and potential modality of common actions.
