The César Manrique Foundation will host, between May 25 and 26, the international meeting 'The Mediterranean and Democracy: The Case of the Countries of the Southern Shore', which will be directed by Sami Naïr, Professor of Political Science at the University of Paris VIII, organized by the César Manrique Foundation.
This meeting aims to bring together thinkers from the Maghreb and the Middle East to analyze the so-called "dialogue of civilizations" and to what extent it could act for the development of citizenship in these countries. Behind the rhetoric about the "dialogue of civilizations" (the "conflict" of the same), hides the underlying problem, never raised but always present: the content of democracy in the countries of the southern Mediterranean and, more generally, the process of modernization of Arab Muslim societies. This problem, beyond the easy culturalism in force, must be faced frankly and from a solidarity perspective.
For two days, every afternoon, three speakers of the highest international level will discuss issues related to democracy, access to citizenship, the meaning of the American project of 'Great Middle East', the emancipation of women, multi-partyism, freedom of conscience (including religious) or Arab secular nationalism.
PARTICIPANTS
Sami Naïr, coordinator of this Meeting, is a philosopher and sociologist. He is also a professor of Political Science at the Carlos III University of Madrid. During the seventies and eighties he directed, with Simone de Beauvoir, the magazine Les Temps Modernes. In addition to his academic activity, Sami Naïr has held positions of political responsibility. He was interministerial delegate for co-development policies and international migrations under the government of Lionel Jospin, and MEP. He is a regular contributor to various international newspapers such as El País, Le Monde, Libération or El Clarín. Sami Naïr is considered one of the great European specialists in migration, co-development and Mediterranean politics.
In addition to Naïr, this meeting will be attended by Hélé Béji, writer and former ambassador of Tunisia; Régis Debray, philosopher and writer; Nassif Hitti, director of the Mission of the League of Arab States in Paris; Yahya Hakim, advisor to the Lebanese Minister of Administrative Reform and Tahar Ben Jelloun, writer.
On the 27th, the director and speakers of the Meeting will hold a closed-door meeting to prepare a document of conclusions that is intended to be sent to the European Union, the Spanish government and political authorities in the Arab world.
With this Meeting, the FCM continues with the line of interventions opened last year around the Arab world and the new world (dis)order. The relations between the West and the Arab world are approached from the geopolitical situation after the Iraq war and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Registration for the Meeting can be formalized at the César Manrique Foundation (928 84 31 38), from May 15. The number of places is limited and will be awarded in strict order of registration.
