Akadēmiskais centrsAleksandar Fatić
We have invited Dr Aleksandar Fatić from the University of Belgrade who is a prolific author and teacher with a long history of involvement in high-level training programs for anti-corruption policies and corruption theories, business ethics and criminology. He has worked in university settings, various governments, and inter-governmental organizations.
His research interests include applied ethics, political philosophy, and criminal justice theory and policy.
He will be speaking to us about The language game of Europe: identity, politics and the divided subjects. This will include references to recent developments in Europe, such as Brexit and the Middle Eastern refugee influx. These examples will be evoked to critique in Lancanian terms the uttilisation of master discourses like that of the well-known 'Europeanness' narrative.
Inta Mierina
Our life is unthinkable without clean air and water, public infrastructure, state defence and other goods jointly created or maintained by society, yet creation and maintenance of such goods are among the most critical challenges of this century. In her presentation based on the recent Human Development Report for Latvia, dr.Mierina outlines the dilemmas and challenges related to creation of public goods. The insight is given into theoretical and analytical approaches and the conclusions of the recent studies outlining the analytical framework defining the contribution to public value. Separate attention is paid to social factors either facilitating or hampering residents’ active participation in creation of public good or protection of collective resources, for the creation of public value requires coordination and mutual trust. The analysis shows that in Latvia’s case, alienation, materialism, little trust in fellow-men and the state, lack of empathy and reluctance to cooperate make people – both the elite and the rest of the population – take care of narrow individual interests rather than the greater good. The author makes a conclusion that these feelings partly stem from the weak sense of belonging to the local community that discourages donation, care for the environment and affects the general attitude to public good. Strengthening the national and local identity and facilitating participation in the future are important in order to encourage contribution to common good and facilitate maintenance of common pool resources.