Neighbourhoods

In recent decades, the deadly potential inherent in neighbourly relations has become more and more obvious: the Basque conflict, Belfast, Israel-Palestine… In the former Yugoslavia, we could see how seemingly peaceful neighbourly co-existence developed into full-scale civil war. Shocked by the apparently sudden outburst of violence, we ask what makes people cease to define themselves as inhabitants of the same street and instead as belonging to different and opposing (ethnic, social, religious) groups. But we tend to forget that the borders inside and outside the neighbourhood are constantly redrawn, and that conflicts (and in most cases their regulation) are part and parcel of everyday life among neighbours. Every neighbourhood has its groups and its history.

The notion of “neighbourhood” thus brings with it the notion of “borders”. These two concepts in combination are strongly present in contemporary European cultural and political discussion: Where are the borders of Europe? Is it at all meaningful to draw such demarcation lines? Inside the European Union, where international borders seem to disappear, traces of the old divisions and hostilities persist in people’s memories and identities. Fifteen years after the fall of the Iron Curtain, neighbouring countries still have little interest in each other.

Even if every neighbourly relation – in the staircases and gardens of apartment houses as well as in international politics – seems to carry with it a potential conflict, the neighbourhood is also a place for exchange and solidarity. The theme of the 18th European Meeting of Cultural Journals, “Neigbourhoods”, provides an opportunity to discuss these questions on historical, theoretical, and practical levels.

Alongside network-related seminars, the programme includes three major sessions:

– Only Neighbours? – Turkey and EUrope
– “Love Thy Neighbour” – The Politics of Human Rights
– (Re)sounding Empires – Old Neighbours, New Conflicts?

PROGRAMME

Friday November 4

Afternoon: Arrival and Registration
Hotel Pera Palas, Mesrutiyet Cad. 98/100, Tepebasi 80050, Istanbul

14.00-17.30
For participants arriving early: a guided tour of the Sultanahamet district, departing from the hotel. Also including, after lunch at a Turkish restaurant, a tour of some of the historical sites of Istanbul: Hagia Sophia, the Archeological Museum, the Blue Mosque, and the Topkapi Palace.

18.30 Grand Opening
Pera Palas
Welcome address by Carl Henrik Fredriksson (Eurozine), Emrah Efe Çakmak (Cogito), and Osman Deniztekin (Varlik)

Inaugural speeches by the Mayor of Istanbul, Kadir Topbas, and the Turkish Minister of Culture, Atilla Koç

Introduction by Enver Ercan, President of the Turkish Writers’ Union

Opening keynote speech by Orhan Pamuk

20.00 Cocktails and introduction of participants
Pera Palas

21.30 Dinner

Saturday November 5

10.00-12.30 Conference session 1
Yapi Kredi Kültür Merkezi, Istiklal Caddesi 285, Beyoglu, Istanbul
Only Neighbours? – Turkey and EUrope
Moderator: Ayhan Kaya (Associate Professor of International Relations and Politics, Bilgi University, Istanbul)

Speakers and panellists:
Esra Akcan (architect, Columbia University and New School-Parsons School of Design, New York)
Mischa Gabowitsch (Editor-in-Chief, Neprikosnovennij Zapas, Moscow)
Hasan Bülent Kahraman (Professor of Political Science, Sabanci University, Istanbul)
Claus Leggewie (Professor of Political Science, Universität Gießen)

12.30 Lunch

14.00-16.00 Internal session
Yapi Kredi Kültür Merkezi
Eurozine – Past, Present, and Future, network discussion
Eurozine Partners
Moderator: Carl Henrik Fredriksson

18.00-20.00 Performance: Sema Dance, Sufi Music
Galata Mevlevihanesi

20.30 Dinner

Sunday November 6

10.00-12.30 Conference session 2
Yapi Kredi Kültür Merkezi
(Re)sounding Empires – Old Neighbours, New Conflicts?
Moderator: Ferda Keskin (Director of the Department of Cultural Studies, Bilgi University)

Speakers and panellists:
Emil Brix (historian and diplomat, Director at the Cultural and Political section of the Austrian Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Vienna)
Ahmet Kuyas (Professor of History, Galatasary University, Istanbul)
Tomislav Longinovic (Professor of Slavic and Comparative Literature, University of Wisconsin, Madison)
Etyen Mahçupyan (columnist at Zaman and Radikal, Senior Program Manager at the Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation)

12.30 Lunch

14.00-16.30 Conference session 3
Yapi Kredi Kültür Merkezi
“Love Thy Neighbour” – Politics of Human Rights
Moderator: Zeynep Direk (Associate Professor of Philosophy, Galatasaray University, Istanbul)

Speakers and panellists:
Ali Akay (Director of the Department of Sociology, Mimar Sinan University, Istanbul)
Susan Neiman (director, Einstein Forum, Potsdam)
Marc-Olivier Padis (Editor, Esprit, Paris)
Bülent Somay (editor and translator, Department of Comparative Literature, Bilgi University, Istanbul)

18.00-20.00 Guided City Tour
Taksim­Galata (on foot)

20.30 Closing dinner
Bosphorus (while sailing under a full moon, weather permitting)

Monday November 7

Morning: Departure

This is a preliminary programme. Times and locations might be changed and some of the speakers are still to be confirmed.