Inter-University Centre Dubrovnik

An independent international centre for advanced studies

8 | IDENTITÄT EUROPAS

The Crisis of Politics, The Crisis of the Political
Duration
02 Sep 2013 - 07 Sep 2013
Language
English
Course directors :
Goran Gretić , University of Zagreb, Croatia
Wolfgang Heuer , Free University of Berlin, Germany
Zoran Kurelić , University of Zagreb, Croatia
Waltraud Meints-Stender , University of Applied Sciences Niederrhein, Germany
Gilbert Merlio , Sorbonne University, France
Janusz Wiśniewski , University of Poznań, Poland
Cristina Sánchez , Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain
Course description:

Today we are witnessing the crisis of politics on different levels, the crises that urges to redefine both the notion of the political and the role of political science in the explanation of these contemporary social challenges. What is our understanding of the political today? Where does the political reside its space? What constitutes both the political and its opposites? How to respond to the growing domination of the political in different spheres of our life? Can we solve the crisis without politics? These and some other issues make us return to the redefinition of the political and the concepts traditionally associated with it, such as power, representation, political action, justice, ideas and narratives, sovereignty, responsibility, etc.

The political arena diminishes as the site of political judgement and civil action, as well as the place of the emergence of shared power. Instead, it becomes a mere technical administration conducted by the economic interest to the most. Namely, it is under the onslaught of economics, expert knowledge, technification and the presence of various types of violence. All of these are happening before the eyes of citizens who are becoming mere spectators in an alienated political theatre, the theatre which profoundly affects their lives as well as the quality of democracy and politics in general.

On the other hand, politics is currently facing new forms of systematic violence, ranging from economic violence to social exclusion, and the violence of the non-state subjects.

Course lecturers:
Nebojša Blanuša , University of Zagreb, Croatia
Zrinka Božić Blanuša , University of Zagreb, Croatia
Goran Gretić , University of Zagreb, Croatia
Wolfgang Heuer , Free University of Berlin, Germany
Bojana Klepač Pogrmilović , University of Zagreb, Croatia
Zoran Kurelić , University of Zagreb, Croatia
Siegfried Meike , Ruhr University Bochum, Germany
Waltraud Meints-Stender , University of Applied Sciences Niederrhein, Germany
Cristina Sánchez , Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain