Changing the Debate on Europe
- Mercator Lecture 2008
“Changing the Debate on Europe“ is a twelve-month project undertaken in cooperation with the Hertie School of Governance and the London School of Economics and Political Science. How can the currently prevailing crisis rhetoric on European integration be broken up and an academically founded transformation of public discourse on Europe brought about? Five research groups will explore different facets of this question and will present their findings in November 2011 at a final international event in Berlin. Designed to be a “Dahrendorf Symposium”, this conference will seek to address topics in the spirit of Ralf Dahrendorf – topics of relevance both to academia and politics. This is in keeping with the tradition of the commemorative event held at Stiftung Mercator in honour of Ralf Dahrendorf in June 2010, a year after his death.
Structure and organization
To ensure that the project is able not only to process existing knowledge but also to further advance the current state of academic discussion as regards the issue under review, it will be divided into two components: an academic research project and an international symposium in Berlin. The format of the event makes a lively debate between speakers and participants the central focus. Politicians as well as representatives of the political administration and the media will invited to join the discussion and to take part in a creative exchange between academic and practitioner’s perspectives.
Objectives
The project’s central objectives is to produce academically sound reflections on European integration that stimulate public debate and serve as the basis for concrete policy proposals.