Venice-Delhi Seminars – Cultural differences in times of economic turbulence. Social tensions, cultural conflicts and policies of integration in Europe and India
Venice-Delhi Seminars
Cultural differences in times of economic turbulence. Social tensions, cultural conflicts and policies of integration in Europe and India
A Reset-Dialogues on Civilizations project, in cooperation with Fondazione Giorgio Cini, University of Padua, Jamia Millia Islamia and Seminar
The association Reset-Dialogues on Civilizations is promoting the Venice-Delhi Seminars, which will be held next autumn in Venice, Italy. This three day conference, organized in partnership with the Venice-based Giorgio Cini Foundation, the University of Padua, the magazine Seminar, the India Habitat Centre and the Jamia Millia Islamia University, will be – after a conference already held in India in October 2010 (see Seminar 621, 2011) – the first of a series of regular appointments to be held twice a year, in Venice and Delhi.
The overall subject addressed by this project will be Cultural Pluralism. Hence, the Venice-Delhi project aims to be an exceptional opportunity for an intellectual and intercultural exchange of knowledge between East and West, offering in-depth analyses of political, social and economic trends in societies – like the Indian and, increasingly, the European one – where cultural, ethnic and religious differences coexist. Leading scholars from India, Europe and the United States will attend the conference.
The Reset-Dialogues on Civilizations project has also been planned to involve a significant number of students, graduates and PhDs who will, at the end of the conference, receive a certificate of participation, and, after a selection made by the scientific committee based on their curricula, a financial incentive to help with travel and accommodation expenses, as well as the possibility of obtaining university credits.
Next October the Venice-Delhi Seminars will, on one hand, analyze the challenge that cultural differences and composite growing minorities are presenting to European democracies in times of financial turbulence, and on the other, Indian society’s intense pluralist experience during this phase of extremely rapid growth, while still dealing with dramatic poverty and acute inequality. As far as Europe is concerned, papers will concentrate on social tension, cultural conflict and the problems posed by the integration of migrants in these current critical times. Indians will analyze issues linked to poverty, inequality and ethnic-cultural differences (tribes, castes, denominational and racial conflict). A roundtable will be dedicated to public policies and attended by experts in this sector.
Program
Thursday, October 18th
Opening – 10.00 a.m. – 10.30 a.m.
Pasquale Gagliardi, Secretary General of the Giorgio Cini Foundation
Giuseppe Zaccaria, Rector, University of Padua
Nina zu Fürstenberg, President, Reset-Dialogues on Civilizations
First session – 10.30 a.m. – 1.00 p.m.
The economic crisis and its impact on ethnic, cultural and class divisions in society. A comparison between India and Europe.
Introduction by Giancarlo Bosetti, Director, Reset-Dialogues on Civilizations
Rajeev Bhargava, Director and Senior Fellow of the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, New Delhi
Stefano Allievi, Professor of sociology at the faculty of Communications and Political Sciences at Padua University, Italy
Discussion
Second session – 2.00 p.m. – 4.30 p.m.
What is meant by ‘modernization’ in culturally and religiously diverse societies?
Dipankar Gupta, Indian sociologist and writer
Roberto Toscano, Former Italian Ambassador to New Delhi and Tehran, president of the Intercultura Foundation and a member of ResetDoc’s scientific committee
Akeel Bilgrami, Johnsonian Professor of Philosophy, Columbia University, Faculty member of the Committee on Global Thought
Chair: Vincenzo Pace, Italian sociologist and Professor at the University of Padua, Director of the Department of Sociology and Intercultural Studies
Discussion
Friday, October 19th
Third session – 10.00 a.m. – 11.30 a.m.
Europe between fear for economic uncertainty, unemployment and re-emerging nationalisms
Michel Wieviorka, French sociologist and professor at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris, President of the Fondation Maison des Sciences de l’Homme
Nilüfer Göle, French-Turkish sociologist and Directeur d’études at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris
Chair: Emanuela Magno, University of Padua
Roundtable 11.30 a.m. – 1.00 p.m.
Global challenges for politics and the radicalization of identities
Giuliano Amato, former Prime Minister of Italy, President of the Reset-Doc’s Scientific Committee
Mani Shankar Aiyar, Member of Parliament, India, former Minister and Diplomat
Rajeev Bhargava, Director and Senior Fellow of the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, New Delhi
Akeel Bilgrami, Johnsonian Professor of Philosophy, Columbia University, Faculty member of the Committee on Global Thought
Nilüfer Göle, French-Turkish sociologist and Directeur d’études at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris
Sebastiano Maffettone, Professor in Political Philosophy and Dean of Political Science at LUISS University in Rome, Italy
Chair: Georg Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza, Honorary President, Reset-Dialogues on Civilizations
Discussion
Fourth session – 2.00 p.m. – 4.30 p.m.
Contemporary India and its roots – culture, politics and society
Peter Ronald deSouza, Senior Fellow at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies and the Director of the Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla
Antonio Rigopoulos, Professor in Indian Philosophies and Religions, University of Venice, Italy
Ananya Vajpeyi, Associate Fellow at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, New Delhi, and Senior Fellow with the American Institute of Indian Studies
Chair: Federico Squarcini, Professor in Indian Philosophies and Religions, University of Venice Ca’ Foscari, Italy
Discussion
Saturday, October 20th
Fifth session – 10.00 a.m. – 1.00 p.m.
Islam in Europe and India – past and present
Mani Shankar Aiyar, Member of Parliament, India, former Minister and Diplomat
Najeeb Jung, Vice-chancellor, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi
Olivier Roy, Professor of Social and Political Theory at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy
Chair: Renzo Guolo, Italian sociologist, Professor at the University of Padua
Conclusions
