Simon Sebag Montefiore

Stalin: red tsar red monster, young tsar young monster?

A British historian and writer (b. 1965), specialized in Russian history. Educated in history at Cambridge University (Harrow School), has worked also as an investment banker in New York and war correspondent in Caucasus.

For the last decade Simon has been an independent historian and writer, author of many bestselling and award-winning books, which are translated into more than thirty languages. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, he lives in London with his wife, the novelist Santa Montefiore, and their two children.

Among his most important works in history are Prince of the Princes: The Life of Potemkin (2000), Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar (2003), Young Stalin (2007). He is also author of three novels, most recently of a historical novel Sashenka (2008).

David Ost

The Meandering Meanings of Civil Society: 

An Idea from Eastern Europe Triggered Democratic Revitalization in the West,
But Has it Become Irrelevant Today

David Ost, professor of political science at Hobart and William Smith Colleges (USA) and professor of Sociology at the Warsaw School of Social Sciences and Humanities, in Poland.

The lecture discussed the revived concept of “civil society” that was a gift provided by the eastern European anti-communist opposition to democratic theory and practice. It offered a way of thinking about politics based on political participation rather than consumption, positive engagement rather than revolutionary rejection. After communism, the idea entered the mainstream, and underwent a transformation into a concept of the voluntary sector, to the applause of some and the condemnation of others. Does the concept carry any clout today? 

Rory McLean

Creating a Traveler’s Tale

McLean kõneleb oma loomingust, milleks ta on materjali kogunud 18 aasta vältel sooritatud rännakutel.

Rory MacLean sündis ja sai hariduse Kanadas. Töötas filmi alal, kuid 1989. aastal, olles võitnud ajalehe „The Independent“ reisikirjanduse võistluse, hakkas ta tegelema proosaga. 

Esimene reisiraamat „Stalini nina, rännak läbi Euroopa“ kirjeldab Ida-Euroopat kohe pärast Berliini müüri langemist. Raamatust sai Suurbritannias bestseller. 

Teine raamat räägib Šotimaalt Kanadasse rännanud immigrantide unistustest. 

Ta on kirjutanud ka Birmast kümme aastat pärast Birma ülestõusu 1988. aastal ja hipide teekonnast Istanbulist Indiasse, mille jooksul ta kohtus inimestega, kes olid teekonnast osa võtnud või sellest osa saanud. 

Kõige uuem teos „Kadunud inimesed“ räägib nendest inimestest, kes jäid kadunuks Jugoslaavia sõdade tagajärjel. MacLean on võitnud arvukalt auhindu, ta on Suurbritannia Kuningliku Kirjandusseltsi liige ja ta teeb regulaarselt kaastööd BBC-le. Praegu elab Rory Berliinis ja Suurbritannias.

Thomas Kasulis - Zen and the Ethics of Responsiveness

What does the statement A&B are related mean? Different cultures see relations differently – on the right are so called integrity dominant cultures. 

Thomas Kasulis is Professor and past Chair of the Department of Comparative Studies in the Ohio State University with interests in Comparative Religion, Japanese Religious Thought and Western Philosophy. He has written numerous books and scholarly articles on Japanese religious thought and Western philosophy. He has co-edited for SUNY Press a three-volume series comparing Asian and Western ideas of self in different cultural arenas: Self as Body in Asian Theory and Practice (1993), Self as Person in Asian Theory and Practice (1994), and Self as Image in Asian Theory and Practice (1998). He is the author of Intimacy or Integrity: Philosophy and Cultural Difference (University of Hawaii Press, 2002), a comparative cultural philosophy of relationship based on his Gilbert Ryle Lectures of 1998.
He teaches courses listed in Comparative Studies, Philosophy, and East Asian Languages and Literatures focusing on religion and philosophies of Asia, comparative religion, and philosophy of religion.  

The topic of the lecture is zen & the ethics of responsibility/ responsiveness. As we will see, in zen tradition responsiveness is more important than responsibility, so we have to adjust our thinking a bit as normally we think of ethics as responsibility.  

Georg Sootla

Eesti provintsistumine – põhjused ja perspektiivid

Ühinemisstrateegiate sisu ja elluviimise mehhanismid, võrdlus eesti ja maailma seisundite vahel.

Kuidas toimib võimu vertikaal, selle muutused. Paradigmaatilised murrangud, mis on toimunu valitsemises (peale tacherismi ja NPM). 

•  Provints kui ääreala

• Provints kui vanamoeline

o  Tehnoloogiates (sh valitsemine)
o  Teisesus (kummalisus)

Kui suur osa eesti ühiskonnast jääb suletuks?

Murrangud valitsemise teoorias ja praktikas:

-          Governance = domineerimine vs koordineerimine, koos valitsemine

-          Formaalne struktuur vs integreeritud primaat, hoiakute muutmine mitte struktuuri muutus

-          hierarhia vs turu võrgustikud

-          organisatsioonide piiride hägustumine

-          mitmetasandiline (-kihiline) valitsemine