PRINCIPLES OF UNITY
Public Debates in
Turbulent Times:
Academia and Media
March 19, 2019, 6pm
Sunset Labs Studio, Victoria
AND
via Livestream
Contemporary Western democracies suffer from a declining trust in the political process and massive disinformation in particular in social media. Yet democracy rests on the process of decision making mediated
through procedures of free public deliberation. Experts from academia, media, and various civil society communities discuss the challenges that public debates and the public engagement of academics face with a view to the futures of democracy.
What form should and could the public debate take? What role can academia and the media play in facilitating processes of public deliberation as the cornerstone of democratic practices? And what does this mean when addressing issues from a comparative transatlantic perspective?
This event was part of EUCAnet’s “Communications and Media Strategies (MSEUCA ) ” project.
Program
6:30 - 7:30 Panel 1
What role can academia and the media play in facilitating processes of
public deliberation as the cornerstone of democratic practices?
Dennis Pilon, York University
Laurel Collins, Victoria City Councillor
Ben Isitt, University of Victoria and Victoria City Councillor
Tom Junes, Human and Social Studies Foundation, Sofia
MODERATOR: Oliver Schmidtke, Centre for Global Studies, University of Victoria
7:30 - 7:35 Video Contribution
The Crises of Democracy, the Global South, and Globalization from Below?
Boaventura de Sousa Santos, University of Coimbra and
James Tully, University of Victoria
7:35 - 8:00 Panel 2
What do distinctive democratic traditions offer to the debate?
Pablo Ouziel, University of Victoria
David Owen, University of Southampton
Antje Wiener, Universität Hamburg
MODERATOR: Rebeccah Nelems, Centre for Global Studies, University of Victoria