Explaining Varieties of Capitalism:

The Comparative Approach

Thursday, November 15, 2001

4:00 p.m. Olin Sang 207

The Center for German and European Studies and

The Comparative History Graduate Program
presented a lecture given by

RAPHAËLLE BRANCHE

Université de Reims

LA TORTURE PENDANT LA GUERRE D'ALGÉRIE:

Actualité Politique Française et Recherches Historiques

Dr. PETER HONIGMANN

Director of the Central Archive for Research on the History of the Jews in Germany (Zentralarchiv zur Erforschung der Geschichte der Juden in Deutschland), presented a lecture entitled:

One Hundred Years of Jewish Archives in Germany

Founded in 1987 as an establishment of the Central Council of Jews in Germany (Zentralrat der Juden in Deutschland), the conception of the Central Archives can be compared to the former General Archives of the German Jews located in Berlin 1905- 1939.

For more information on the Central Archive click here.

PROGRAM

The Center for German and European Studies [CGES] at Brandeis University in Cooperation with the Heinrich Böll Foundation, Washington , D.C. presented

International Conference on Green Politics

Co-Sponsored by the Brandeis Environmental Studies Program
and the Sustainable International Development Program at Brandeis University

Sunday, November 11, 2001

8:30am Breakfast

9:30am Welcome, Sabine von Mering, Assistant Director CGES

9:45-12 First Panel

European Greens in Government:

Challenges to Green Politics

break from 10:45 to 11am

Rationale: Greens are part of coalition governments in several European countries, in particular in Germany, France, and Belgium. In others they are significant supporters of friendly governments. This represents the remarkable successes of European Green movements and parties, but it also changes their situations. Participation in and support of government takes Greens beyond their original environmental focus into a vastly wider range of political choices, some in conflict with environmentalism. It also presents them with different kinds of difficult electoral choices. How do European Greens cope with these challenges?

Panelists:

Arnold Cassola, Federation of European Green Parties

Franz Floss, Green Party of Austria

Carl Lankowski, Foreign Service Institute, Washington, D.C.

George Ross, Director, CGES, Brandeis University

**********

12:15pm Buffet Lunch

**********

1:30pm-3:45pm Second Panel

Green Politics in the United States

break at 2:30pm

Rationale: Doing Green politics in the United States presents very different challenges. A deeply-entrenched two party system makes participation in the electoral system problematic. Green movements are thus more decentralized, and often more divided than many of their European counterparts. Some litigate, others demonstrate, while still others "educate". The Bush administration has recently taken a particularly "anti-Green" turn. Who are American Greens and what will they do?

Panelists:

Theresa Amato, National Campaign Manager, Nader 2000; President of Citizen Works

Jack Clarke, Director of Advocacy, Massachusetts Audubon Society

Anne Goeke, Co-Chair International Committee for the Green Party of the United States, Spokesperson for the Federation of Green Parties of the Americas

Laura Goldin, J.D., Environmental Studies, Brandeis University

Attila Klein, Biology, Brandeis University

Bill Walsh-Rogalski, Counsel for Special Projects, EPA New England

***********

4-6:15pm Third Panel

Greens and Global Environmental Politics

break at 5pm

Rationale: Many Green issues are "global" in the sense that they cannot be adequately addressed from within national polities. The international political system is a particularly difficult arena for Greens to work in, however. Regulating transnational problems is presently a matter for multilateral negotiations between sovereign states. This context leads to secret bargaining and least common denominator outcomes. Moreover, however global many Green issues are, Green movements and parties themselves have different perspectives and interests. Using global warming and the Kyoto process as a model, this panel will explore the complicated problems of "doing" Green politics transnationally.

Panelists:

Grace Akumu, Climate Network Africa

Ari Hershowitz, Director, BioGems Latin America Program, Natural Resources Defense Council,

Sarath Kotagama, Principal Advisor to the "Coaliton of Green Politicians" Heritha Deshapalakgna Sandanaya, Environmental Sciences, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka, Professor at the Heller School Sustainable International Development Program, Brandeis University

Sascha Müller-Kraenner, Heinrich Böll Foundation, Washington D.C

Report about the conference by Sabine von Mering:

Is US Lifestyle really non-negotiable? – International Experts on Green Politics convene at Brandeis University

“If you want to change things, you have to change yourself, too.” Arnold Cassola, the Secretary General of the European Federation of Greens (representing 39 countries) was one of fourteen leading politicians, scholars, and activists from Europe, Africa, South America, and Asia who convened on Sunday, November 11, on the Brandeis Campus to discuss current developments in Green Politics. The meeting was arranged by the Center for German and European Studies (CGES) at Brandeis in cooperation with the Heinrich Boell Foundation, Washington, D.C., a non-profit organization affiliated with the Green Party in Germany. In the course of the full-day program, participants tackled a wide-ranging array of issues, including the evolution of the European Green Parties, the goals of the US Greens after Ralph Nader’s successful campaign last year, and the struggles of Greens in developing countries. Carl Lankowski, an expert on German and European Politics from the Foreign Service Institute, began with an overview of the history of the German Greens Die Grünen, a party that he said was founded by those active in the 1968 student movement who chose forming an alternative political party in response to the terrorism of the RAF (Red Army Fraction) in the 1970’s. Lankowski’s research showed that the Greens, who had initially supported a decidedly anti-European stance, had since become Germany’s strongest supporters of European Integration. George Ross from CGES Brandeis pointed out the problems that come with such transformations as some Greens struggle between their leftist past and a more centrist future in his presentation of the story of French scholar Alain Lipietz, who had been elected by the French Green Party in June to be their candidate for the presidential elections next Spring, only to be de-elected in October due to internal conflicts. Arnold Cassola described the astounding success story of Greens in Europe who had within less than twenty years not only established themselves in 39 countries, but are also currently in government coalitions in Finland, Belgium, France, Germany, Slovakia, and the Ukraine. Both Cassola and Franz Floss from the Austrian Green Party pointed out that while initially relegated primarily to environmental posts when elected, European Greens are now initiating change in a variety of areas, such as immigration, agriculture, transport, and global development. Floss mentioned as an example the current Green EU Commissioner, who, by being in charge of the EU’s budget is able to draw attention to environmental issues, as he makes important funding decisions. The European Greens also sponsor the meeting of the P7 (as opposed to the traditional G7 summit)—to which they invite representatives of the seven poorest countries to discuss issues such as water resources and fostering democracy. In the discussion, Cassola also pointed out the growing diversity of the European Greens, as Eastern European Greens, suspicious of left-wing politics, are much more conservative in their political affiliation. But despite the necessity for European collaboration, Cassola emphasized that all Green parties must first and foremost succeed in national elections. European Greens are also critically accompanied by a number of very influential NGOs, Lankowski added. Success largely depends on the willingness of the Green Party voters to accept compromises. But Cassola insisted: “To achieve ten percent of something is better than zero percent of nothing.”

Attila Klein from the Environmental Studies Program at Brandeis introduced the US Panel. Annie Goeke, who is the Co-Chair for the US National Green Party, pointed out that the Greens are now a recognized party in 34 US states. As a result, 48 Green Party members were elected to official posts in local and regional elections in November. According to Goeke, the US Greens’ four key issues are electoral reform, health care, social and economic justice, and environment. Theresa Amato spoke undefensively about her work as Ralph Nader’s campaign manager in 2000. Amato argued that the US’ two-party system is essentially flawed and undemocratic, and that Nader’s success last year should be viewed as what it was: The expression of the need for a third party. Amato: “We have 23 different flavors of ice cream, and only two parties.” Nader, she claimed, campaigned for three goals: to remove barriers for a third party, to raise the issues none of the other candidates wanted to talk about, and to build the Green Party, “and he achieved them all.” But on the state and federal level Green politics remains largely a matter of NGO work and legal action, since in the US as well, as Jack Clarke from the Audubon Society quoted Congressman O’Neill: “All Politics is local.” Laura Goldin from the Environmental Studies Program at Brandeis pointed out how corporate psychology and lawsuits can be effective as more and more corporations begin to realize that they cannot afford an anti-environmentalist image. But laws must be enforced. Bill Walsh-Rogalski, Council for Special Progams for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) New England, spoke about how the EPA is going about enforcing the law in the Cape Cod and Charlesriver clean-ups. Asked how much a change in government affects the EPA, Bill Walsh-Rogalski, suggested that the difference actually was not that great, as the majority of EPA employees, most of them dedicated environmentalists, outlive several governments.

That Green politics is also naturally global and that especially our lifestyle in the US will ultimately have to change if we want to avert global warming became clear in the last part of the conference that dealt with developing countries and the Kyoto Protocol. Ari Hershowitz related the difficulties of making Mitsubishi withdraw from building a major salt work factory in Mexico. Hershowitz pointed out how international collaboration can be effective, but that it requires a concerted effort and collaboration of environmentalists with local people in different countries. Grace Akumu from Climate Network Africa had arrived the same morning from the Climate Change Summit in Marrakesh. Akumu highlighted the awkwardness of the US presence in Marrakesh with the largest number of delegates and lobbyists despite their continued resistance to the Kyoto protocol. Akumu, whose organization is based in Nairobi, Kenya, said that despite the fact that Africans only contribute 2% to the world’s greenhouses gases, Greens in Africa had been quite successful at implementing reductions, while the US, the world’s biggest polluter, continues to remain far behind the agreed goals. Akumu highlighted adaptation and equity as the two most contentious aspects of current global environmental politics. Only 20% of people live in industrialized countries and there is growing frustration among developing countries, she said, about developed countries’ resistance to assume a larger role in the cost of global warming. Africa, she pointed out, will suffer most from climate change. Floods and drafts are already ravaging the African continent. Akumu said that it will cost the industrialized countries $300 Billion to compensate the effects of climate change in their own areas alone. But such money (or insurance) is unavailable to people in developing nations. “People there will just be washed away” she concluded. Akumu’s assessment was confirmed by Sarath Kotagama, Sri Lanka’s only environmental science professor, currently a visiting professor at the Heller School’s Sustainable International Development Program, who related his experience in trying to prevent the erection of a major coal plant in wildlife conservation land in Sri Lanka. Hershowitz, Akumu, and Kotagama agreed that international environmental organizations are battling against multinational corporations who successfully establish themselves locally in developing nations by ‘turning native’ (i.e. a Mitsubishi Salt works assuming a Spanish name) and that often the environmentalists themselves are viewed with suspicion by native populations, emphasizing the need for independent local organizations. In most cases, millions of Dollars of potential investment put poor governments at the mercy of multinational corporations, and environmentalists face imprisonment and penalties for pointing out the risks to endangered species, rare natural resources or native economies. Promising jobs or better utilities often veiled the truth, they said: The companies’ only interest lies in their profit.

The conference participants’ dedication to their work and the urgency of their commitments manifested itself in several instances in which a request for help was immediately answered with advice and support. Ari Hershowitz from the Natural Resource Defense Council in Washington took down phone numbers and contacts at the end of his talk as he headed to an important conference call. In his concluding remarks, Sascha Mueller Kraenner, Director of the Boell Foundation, also pointed out that the bombardment of Afghanistan in response to the terror acts on September 11 is posing a particular problem for Green Politicians, as many Greens also identify as pacifists. While some feel the need to support, albeit critically, the US actions in Afghanistan, many asked for more careful consideration of the consequences. As Franz Floss put it: “If you use violence, you have to think about how you use violence, and you also need to know how and when to stop.”

WALTER LAQUEUR

Generation Exodus

The Fate of Young Jewish Refugees
from Nazi Germany

Tuesday, October 16, 2001

Lunch (for invited guests): 12:00 noon - 2:00 p.m.

Public event:

Rapaporte Treasure Hall, Library
Lecture: 2:00 - 4:00 p.m.
Film: 4:00 - 6:30 p.m. (Discussion to follow)

Second Annual Colloquium on European Jewish Writers

DANIEL GANZFRIED

Switzerland, Holocaust and Back

Mr. Ganzfried, a Swiss writer and journalist, read from his book The Sender (Der Absender) and his latest work The Holocaust-Projekt (Das Holocaust-Projekt) about the events surrounding the novel Fragments (Bruchstücke einer Kindheit) by Binjamin Wilkomirski. Mr. Ganzfried wrote that he "will focus on the difficulties of imagining the world, while living in paradise."

In the evening the movie KADDISH was shown. Mr. Ganzfried co-wrote the script of this movie, which is based upon his father's life. The author was be available for discussion with students, faculty, and guests after the movie.

Two-DayGala: Vienna and the String Quartet

Re-Imagined Communities:

National Identities in the New Europe

A conference co-organized by:

11:30 12:00 noon

Keynote by Wolfgang Thierse, President of the German Parliament (read by Charles Maier):

What does it mean to be a European citizen?

12:00-13:00pm

Final Remarks

Helmut Dubiel, Center for European Studies, New York University
Stephen Hanson, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University, Cambridge
Charles Maier, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University, Cambridge
Jean-Pierre Rondas, Radio 3, Brussels

13:00pm Lunch

End of the event

Annual CGES Beginning-of-the-Year-Reception

The Director and the Executive Committee of the Center for German and European Studies at Brandeis University look forward to welcoming past and present recipients of CGES and Max Kade Research Grants, students, faculty, members of the administration and friends of the Center. All are invited!

Thursday, April 5, 2001

The Center was delighted that Dr. Karsten Voigt presented a lecture entitled:

Dr. Karsten Voigt is the Coordinator of German-American Cooperation in the Field of Intersocietal Relations, Cultural and Information Policy in the German Ministry for Foreign Affairs. Dr. Voigt, who is also the former foreign-policy spokesman of the Social Democrats' parliamentary group in the German Bundestag, has held the position since February 1999.

The job of the Coordinator is to strengthen transatlantic relations. Since Karsten D. Voigt assumed office this has meant Canada, too. The Coordinator develops new initiatives, widens the range of cooperation and ensures that the various programmes are coordinated. He expands contacts with decision-makers in all spheres of American and Canadian society - particularly in universities, research establishments and parliaments - and promotes encounters at all levels of society, not least through a wide range of exchanges.

Dr. Stefan Collignon, Professor of Political Economy at the London School of Economics, was the Deputy Director for Europe in the German Ministry of Finance from the 1998 German election to the end of 2000. In the Ministry, he was responsible primarily for European Union and particularly EMU (European Monetary Union) matters. Prior to his appointment by former Minister of Finance Oskar Lafontaine, Dr. Collignon was the research director of the Association for the European Monetary Union in Paris. In the latter capacity he co-authored and edited several books on EMU. He is an economist who combines a strong emphasis on the value of price stability with an equally strong emphasis on the effects that monetary policy has on growth, rejecting the doctrine of the long-run neutrality of money that sometimes serves as a rationale for denying that central banks have any responsibility for growth and employment. He spells all this out in his new book, which is being published by Routledge and, more briefly, in a recent paper with the provocative title, "Does the Central Bank Set the Natural Rate of Unemployment?" (as the rhetorical question implies, his answer is yes). This paper and others are available on his website: http://www.stefancollignon.de.

The Center for German and European Studies at Brandeis University co-sponsored the Andrzej Wajda Film Festival:

The National Center for Jewish Film at Brandeis University celebrated Academy Award Winning Director Andrzej Wajda's 75th birthday by hosting a mini film festival between March 1 and March 11. The film festival featured six of his films that focus on his long lasting fascination with the relationship between Poles and Jews. Wajda was the recipient of last year's Lifetime Achievement Award.

Screening Schedule:

Thursday, March 1, 7:00 p.m.
"Ashes and Diamonds" (1958) 108 min.

Saturday, March 3, 7:30 p.m.
"Samson" (1961) 117 min.

Sunday, March 4, 3:00 p.m.
"Landscape After Battle" (1970) 108 min.

Thursday, March 8, 7:00 p.m.
"The Wedding" (1973) 110 min.

Saturday, March 10, 7:30 p.m.
"Promised Land" (1975) 179 min.

Sunday, March 11, 3:00 p.m.
"Korczak" (1990) 113 min.

The film festival was held at the Wasserman Cinematheque in the Sachar Center on the Brandeis University campus in Waltham, Mass.

Please also see the website of the National Center for Jewish Film

Friday, March 2, 2001
3:00 - 4:30 p.m, Luria 1+2,
Hassenfeld Conference Center

Jonathan Davidson, Senior Advisor for Political and Academic Affairs, Delegation of the European Commission, Washington, DC spoke about:

Mr. Davidson discussed in detail the state and structure of transatlantic political relations, the New Transatlantic Agenda (in the drafting of which he took part himself), and the different forms of official dialogue between the European Union and the United States.

Monday, February 12, 2001

5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., Feldberg Lounge, Hassenfeld Conference Center

Meeting of the German Jewish Dialogue:

Professor Antony Polonsky (Albert Abramson Professor of Holocaust Studies, NEJS, Brandeis University) and Marek Lesniewski-Laas, the Honorary Consul for Poland (Respondent).

CGES Course in the spring semester 2001:

Politics 157: Seminar on the New Europe

(Tuesdays and Fridays 3:00-4:30 p.m.)

Politics 157 is a research seminar whose particular focus changes each year. This year it will explore Transatlantic (EU-US) relations after the Cold War and will use materials from comparative politics, international relations and history to do so.

The course will begin by considering Transatlantic relations in the Cold War period itself (in particular to develop an understanding of the EU) but will focus primarily on the critical juncture of 1989-1991 in which the Cold War ended, and then on the central Transatlantic issues of the day EU-US trade relationships, the evolution of EU-US security relationships (including the Yugoslavia events) and EU-US monetary interactions. The deeper goal of the course will be to develop useful understanding of the post-Cold War global situation. Knowledgeable guest speakers will be an important part of the course.

Any questions: contact Professor George Ross

Phone: x62636 or x62756

Email: gross@brandeis.edu


Top