Values and Change

Basic and idea

The political and social changes in Central and Eastern Europe over the past 25 years have demonstrated the dynamism contained in civil protest. Dictatorships and ruling elites were not anymore able to withstand the pressure that emanated from the streets and were consequently forced to either relinquish their power or to reform the system. Even if these movements of protest – the Euromaidan in the Ukraine being the latest example – are able to force immediate political change, long-term social consequences remain unclear. The ambivalence of many protest movements leaves the future undetermined. The question is whether proclaimed values such as solidarity, self-organisation, the fight for a life protected by the rule of law, for opposition against kleptocracy and corruption, for creativity, freedom of opinion and for the arts can provide decisive impulses for a democratic restructuring of institutions and whether they are able to prevail against old institutional forces. The international congress on “Values and Change” will link key players from Ukraine, Belarus, Moldavia and Georgia with their German counterparts from civil society, politics and culture. In podium discussions and in workshops social developments
will be discussed and action-oriented future plans made.

venues

Akademie der Künste [Academy of Arts], Pariser Platz 4, 10117 Berlin

Wissenschaftsforum am Gendarmenmarkt, Markgrafenstraße 37, 10117 Berlin