Václav Havel European Dialogues

Session III: The Spectre of Dissent Still Haunts Europe

In his essay The Power of the Powerless, Havel famously asked: What role does dissent play in society? What are its hopes? Can dissidents actually change anything? Though focusing on the power and the powerless in communist Europe in the 1970s, Havel’s distinction between the forces of life and the system’s power also calls for re-thinking democratic politics, civil society and human rights. It is no coincidence that the essay inspired students and young revolutionaries during the Arab Spring a decade ago and continues to be read by dissidents and civil rights activists around the globe because it asks the most fundamental questions regarding the ethics in politics and life in general. Havel argued that the crisis of ‘mass civilisation’ is the moral crisis of ‘human identity’ and called for ‘living in truth’ and ‘an existential revolution’ as a response to this crisis of civilisation beyond different political systems. The Ukraine War has been the most recent evidence of this crisis. The following themes and problems will be discussed in this panel: the role of dissent in democracy and autocracy; living in truth and its political power; politics and morality; civil society in European and global contexts; the current crisis and future hopes of European politics; Europe, Ukraine and the ethics of cosmopolitanism; the EU world politics, war and post-national constellations.

Speakers:
Tatyana Pavlush, Cardiff University
Marci Shore, Yale University (online)
Rob Cameron, BBC correspondent

Moderator:
Mary Heimann, Cardiff University

Session IV: Environmental Crisis and Responsibility in the Anthropocene

This panel reflects on Havel’s thoughts on environment and its damage by modern industrial society. Responding to the global climate crisis, Havel spoke of our planet being at serious risk due to our exploitation of natural resources and irresponsibility leading to the climate change. In his essay ‘Our Moral Footprint’, Havel suggested rethinking our sojourn on earth as a loan and consider our modern civilisation’s past as running up a debt. As he wrote in 2007: ‘Nature is issuing warnings that we must not only stop the debt from growing but start to pay it back.’ The climate change and growing state of environmental emergency confront us with urgent questions of sustainable development, environmental justice, rights and inequalities as well as calls for global political actions and activism to tackle grave risks an danger to the humankind of this planetary civilisation. The following themes and problems will be discussed in this panel: the crisis of modern civilisation and environment; politics of environment, its historical development and future challenges; the climate change and intergenerational justice; global environmental rights; inequalities and consequences of the climate change; ethics of global environmental responsibility; moral footprint and environment.

Speakers:
Duncan Kelly, Cambridge University
Shalini Randeria, Central European University (online)
Sam Varvastian, Cardiff University

Moderator:
Ambreena Manji, Cardiff University

Closing Dialogue:

Michael Žantovský in discussion with Lenka Buštíková (TBC) reflecting on Havel’s legacy.

See registration link below