Global Governance in Crises – Eurojess Congress 2011, Geneva 23.08 – 28.08
download program version as of 22 July 2011: PDF
23.08.2011 – Tuesday
20:30 Opening session
24.08.2011 – Wednesday
Opening session: Eurojess meeting in Geneva
Where do we come from? Who are we? How are we going to work together?
The myths of Geneva
Geneva is a place where religions and ideas have contributed to the reshaping of the world. From Reformation to Enlightenment, from humanitarianism to internationalism, four major steps help us understand the significant influence of Geneva, and how it has become a crossroads where actors from the public and private sectors, from the realm of diplomacy to the world of NGOs interact.
Jesuit Centers’ contribution to the reflexion toward good global governance and fair globalization.
In our Jesuit journals, publications, and centers, we have provided reflexions from various contributors on the future of global governance as well as on the thematic areas to be addressed through better governance, ranging from refugees to trade, from peace and security to labour issues, from telecommunications to intellectual property rights. What is the special focus or concern of European Jesuit Centers’ contribution? Where do they converge toward common ideas, proposing processes of reforms or new institutional arrangements for greater democracy, amplifying the voices of peoples? In which areas do they focus? Where and how do they diverge?
A mapping of centers will be proposed for discussion with the view to enriching the analysis and encouraging joint reflexion.
Second session: The Economic–financial and economic crisis: from crisis diagnosis to policy response. A debate.
Interpretations of the root causes of the crisis differ greatly. Some analysts focus on a financial approach, other encompass reflexions on the global economic system, the increase in global inequalities both within and among countries. Some view a root in an overly regulated economy, with bad side-effects, while others blame a fragmented global governance system. Analysis and responses cannot be disconnected except for the sake of bettering comprehension and enabling further reflexion. Our debate will be somewhat artificially divided into two parts, the first on the analysis and the second on the responses.
Convergences and divergences in the analysis of the crisis
What are the growing risks of the financial sector? Do they appear as the causes or the consequences of societal changes? What does an analysis of government responses help us to understand regarding their comprehension of the crisis?
Policy responses–the role of the actors
Can global trade unions have an impact and how? Are there good responses emerging from the south? Can the banks fix themselves and, if so, how would they do it?
Trade and development: positive or negative interaction–a conversation with Pascal Lamy
The conversation will begin with the linkages between trade and development in a global view. It will further enlarge on the complexity and necessity of a reform of the global governance system and multilateral institutions more specifically.
25.08.2011 – Thursday
Third session: Climate change and social justice
The link between social justice and climate change has become an important one. New and old phenomena condition access to resources and to land tenures, often resulting in migrations. The Munich Institute and the World Council of Churches have initiated important discussions and research in this area. Our meeting will take place at the WCC and will provide an opportunity to exchange views and experience, to review the consequences of Copenhagen, and to see what the next steps are.
Key facts on Climate Change and Justice.
We are often ignorant about key factors connected with climate change. Let us have fun and share some insights.
What did we learn? Why is climate change a social justice question? How is it to be linked with global governance? Why did the World Council of Churches engage in the issue of climate change and what are the theological implications? A round table will bring together members of the WCC, Eurojess members who participated in the Copenhagen Summit and representatives of The Munich Center? The panel discussion will be followed by a group discussion.
Fourth session: Human rights and (dysfunctional) global governance
In the context of a globalization of exchange and culture, many debates arise around the global universality of human rights. Among the questions, one can consider the debate over their universality: are they part of western culture? Do they apply to debates over sexuality and the private sphere? In another context, one can question the legitimacy as well as the authority of the Human Rights Council? How efficient is it and for which agenda?
A key note address will help identify the main issues in this domain and put them into perspective.
A round table will bring together actors engaged heavily in the defence of human rights at the local level, as well as negotiators at the global level. The roundtable will try to cover various contexts, such as, human rights in business or in refugee situations, and will combine views from the East and the West and from the North and the South?
26.08.2011 – Friday
Global governance: the way forward
Looking backward and forward, this session will give the opportunity to reflect on the present, the past and the future of global governance with a critical eye. The different thematic sessions on various crises will have shed light on different dimensions required in a global governance system (not exhaustively, however). In this session, we will look at global governance from an academic perspective and then engage in dialogue with actors in Geneva. One critical aspect is the coherence and convergence of global actors and we will exchange with officials in charge of bringing some coherence. In a second step, we will engage in dialogue with members of the diplomatic community, and ask about their visions of the global governance system and its future.
The Phenomenology of Global Governance.
A short exposé will shed light on different critical aspects of global governance today. Among the questions to be looked at we mention the following: the articulation between different levels of governance (global, regional, local), the fragmentation of the global governance system (more than 240 institutions are today part of the global governance system), the responsiveness of the system (what can we learn from the Haiti experience, African development?), the shift of power and the role of new emerging entities.
Can global institutions work together?
What is to be expected from the process of UN reform and emerging new trends, such as, south-south cooperation, lessons learned from a day-by-day experience.
Sharing visions.
What are the visions that can sustain daily actions in the governance of global institutions? Where is the quest for values and how strong it is? Are our global institutions solely sustained by common interest or a sense of real politic (“what is to be done is what can be done”) or is there more to it? What is still alive of the spirit of the Human Rights Declaration? (Round table with actors in Geneva diplomatic arena)
27.08.2011 – Saturday
Departures or outing