The sticking point
The greatest weapon used by Putin’s Russia in its ideological offensive is the preservation of the traditional family in its supposedly age-old format. Asserting this societal model as an inviolable moral value, the Russian government presents itself as the last bastion between its citizenry and their corruption through what it brands as European societal perversions. Which concept is more artificial – tradition or human rights?
Speakers: Jacek Dehnel (Poland) – Leonidas Donskis (Lithuania) – Maria Lipman (Russia) – Robert Menasse (Austria).
Chair: Michal Hvorecký (Slovakia).
Parents and children of the revolution (Slovakian introduction, English debate)
People who were too young to take part in the revolutions of 1989 are now turning on their elders, saying: the only role your revolution has ultimately assigned to us is that of industrious multipliers of our own wealth. What if that is not enough for us?
Speakers: Mary Kaldor (UK) – Fatos Lubonja (Albania) – Slawomir Sierakowski (Poland).
Chair: Martin M. Šimečka (Slovakia).