International Research Conference “Democracy and Civil Society”

Call for papers

European Humanities University (Vilnius, Lithuania) announces a call for papers for the international research conference “Democracy and Civil Society”, to be held in Vilnius on June 25-26, 2007, with financial support from the International Renaissance Foundation (Kiev, Ukraine).

The interrelation between civil society and democracy has again become the focal issue of active debate in recent years. Social transformations of the late 20th century have provided all evidence of how complicated and diverse the interplay of democratic institutes and civil society actors is. We are witnessing the formation of innovative socio-political practices and the change in the standard and quality of social communication that give rise to new social effects. This process is characteristic both of stable Western democracies and of societies in transition. If taking place in countries with non-liberal democracy, they deserve special attention, as functioning of civil society there is attended by difficulties and obstacles. These and other problems of interrelation between democracy and civil society require close consideration by the professional community.

The conference organizers invite paper submissions from experts, scholars, teaching faculty, and graduate students in Political Science.

The conference will provide a forum for discussing the following issues:

• Civil society as an agent of social change 
• New forms of functioning of civil society’s bodies (non-contact communities, online communities; Internet as a zone free of any hierarchies, responsibilities and ideological control) 
• Civil society in a hybrid democracy. Possibilities of civil society’s development in authoritarian systems 
• Democratization processes in today’s world. “Export of democracy” and specifics of countries in transition 
• Globalization and democracy: harmony and/or conflict 
• Western democracies today: new processes and effects 
• Civil society in Belarus: a look from inside and outside

The working languages of the conference are Russian and English.

A book of conference proceedings is planned to be published after the conference.

Applications for participation and paper proposals (up to 400 words) should be sent to confdem @ ehu.lt by May 20, 2007. In the application, please specify your name, surname, title, position, affiliated institution, area of research interests, topic of your presentation at the conference, country of residence, mailing address, contact e-mail address and telephone numbers, and whether you require accommodation in Vilnius.  

Notification of acceptance and official invitations will be sent after proposals’ review by May 25.
Participants’ accommodation and meals during the conference will be provided by the conference organizers.

Conference Organizing Team:
* Dr. Irmina Matonyte, EHU Vice-Rector
* Dr. Svetlana Naumova, political science consultant, EHU
* Dr. Uladzimir Rouda, EHU
* Dr. Irina Dounaeva, Director of the MA program “Democracy and Civil Society”, EHU
* Katsiaryna Radzko, MBA, EHU

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