Knowledge Bridges between Poland, Britain, and Europe.  Hilary Term 2017 International Conference

“Illiberal Democracy”? Poland in a Comparative European Perspective. St Antony’s College, University of Oxford, March 3rd – 4th, 2017

Draft programme of the conference:

Friday, 3rd March​: Opening of the conference

Venue: Nissan Lecture Theatre, St Antony’s College

17.00

Leszek Kołakowski Lecture

Defective Democracies? The case of Poland in European comparison
Wolfgang Merkel (WZB Berlin Social Science Centre)
Chair: Timothy Garton Ash (St Antony’s College, Oxford)

Saturday, March 4th​: Panels

Venue: European Studies Centre, St. Antony’s College

9.00-10.30 - Panel 1: What Distinguishes Illiberal from Liberal Democracy?

Michael Freeden (University of Oxford and SOAS, University of London)
Jacques Rupnik (College of Europe, Paris)
Zdzisław Krasnodębski (University of Bremen, MEP)
Chair: Zofia Stemplowska (Worcester College, Oxford)

11.00-12.30 - Panel 2: Who Defends the Constitution and the Rule of Law?

Adam Bodnar (Polish Ombudsman)
Marta Bucholc (Käthe Hamburger Kolleg “Recht als Kultur”, Bonn, Kultura Liberalna, Warsaw)
Tóth Gábor Attila (University of Debrecen)
Christopher Lord (ARENA Centre for European Studies, Oslo)
Chair: Radosław Zubek (Hertford College, Oxford)

14.00-15.30 - Panel 3: Does Economic Neoliberalism lead to Illiberal Democracy?

Philipp Ther (Universtity of Vienna)
Joanna Tyrowicz (University of Warsaw)
Yaprak Gursoy (Istanbul Bilgi University, St Antony’s College, University of Oxford )
Chair: David Priestland (St Edmund’s Hall, Oxford)

15.45-17.15 - Panel 4: Concluding Discussion with contributions from: Timothy Garton Ash (St Antony’s College, Oxford), Norman Davies (St Antony’s College, Oxford), Jan Kubik (UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies), Anna Zalewska (University of Bath), Jan Zielonka (St Antony’s College, Oxford), Lena Kolarska-Bobińska, Krzysztof Bobiński (Unia i Polska).

The project “Knowledge Bridges Between Poland, Britain, and Europe” is supported by the Noble Foundation's Programme on Modern Poland. The supervising Fellow is Professor Timothy Garton Ash, Professor of European Studies and Isaiah Berlin Professorial Fellow, St. Antony’s College. The co-Directors of the project are Dr Jaroslaw Kuisz and Dr Karolina Wigura, to whom all substantive queries should be addressed (Kuisz@kulturaliberalna.pl, wigurak@is.uw.edu.pl). The partners of the Project include University of Warsaw, Collegium Civitas in Warsaw, and Kultura Liberalna Foundation.

Illustrator Piotr Kiezun