What’s New in the New Europe?

The papers presented here are the result of the conference “What’s New in the New Europe? Redefining Culture, Politics, Identity” which took place July 11–15, 2016. The conference was organized by ISSEI (The International Society for the Study of European Ideas) and the Faculty of International and Political Studies, University of Lodz, Poland. It was an honor for the Faculty of International and Political Studies to be invited by ISSEI to host its 2016 biennial international conference. Previous hosts of the prestigious conference include Amsterdam (1988); Leuven (1990); Aalborg (1992); Graz (1994); Utrecht (1996); Haifa (1998); Bergen (2000); Aberystwyth (2002); Pamplona (2004); Malta (2006); Helsinki (2008); Ankara (2010); Cyprus (2012); Porto (2014).

Krystyna Kujawińska Courtney – Introduction 8 Edna Rosenthal – Opening Speech. Monday 11 July 2016 University of Łódź, Poland 12 Stefan Höjelid – Welcome speech at What’s New in the New Europe? Redefining Culture, Politics, Identity 2016 ISSEI Conference at the University of Łódź, Poland (11 July 2016–15 July 2016) 17 Krystyna Kujawińska Courtney – Poland and the European Union—Selected Problematics 24 EUROPEAN CULTURE AND ITS MULTIPLE VOICES 34 Agnieszka Miksza – European Culture and its Multiple Voices 35 Section 1 – Education Fernando Blaya, Silvia Nuere and Manuel Islán – Art and Science: 3D Technologies at the service of Culture 37 Denise Egea – The Challenge of Democratic Education in the European Union 46 Section 2 – Literature, Theatre and Film Iolanda Mănescu – Contemporary Interpretations of Ancient Drama at the National Theatre of Craiova, Romania 58 Per Bjørnar Grande – Th Lomans’ Private Apocalypse in Death of a Salesman 63 Victor Castellani – Making Fun [sic] of Hitler 73 Verita Sriratana – Švejk, Jan Dítě, Samko Tále and the First Thai Adaptation of the (Not So) Good Soldier Sha-Wake: Transnational Significance of the “Small” and “Childlike” Characters in Czech and Slovak Literature 81 Section 3 – Social Issues Shala Barczewska – Transforming Post-Communist Societies: The Thin Line between Cultural Competencies and Cultural Values 93 Rolf Hugoson – Cultural Legacy or Capital?: Towards a Theory of What European Capitals of Culture Leave Behind 103 Veronika Planková – Fighting the (Un)hidden “Enemies” of the Slovak Society 112 Jennifer Walden – “Moments of Grace?” The “Dramatic” Representation and the Aesthetic of Ageing 131 Anthi Dipla – An “Idyllic” World Against War Atrocities; Images of Elegance, Escapism and Liberation in the midst of the Peloponnesian War 138 Hans Rindisbacher – The Lingustic and Cultural Manifestations of War and Terrorism 149 POLITICS IN THE NEW EUROPE 162 Tomasz Fisiak – Politics in the New Europe 163 Section 1 – Referendum as a New Tool of Democracy Dorota Maj – Local Direct Democracy in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia: A Comparative Study 165 Marcin Pomarański – National Referendums in Hungary and Albania: A Comparative Perspective 173 Wojciech Ziętara – National Referendum as an Example for Legitimizing Authoritarian Rule (the Case of the Republic of Belarus after 1991) 181 Section 2 – New Politics through the Lens of (Modern) History and Philosophy S. N. Nyeck – Contracting Nations or Status Nations? Evidence of Strategic Bargaining in Nineteenth-Century East Africa 192 Geoffrey Hinchliffe – Politics in a Society of Control 201 Giorgos Kataliakos – Bad Influences from Outside: State Anti-cosmopolitanism in Hobbes’ Leviathan 211 Richard R. Weiner and Iván López – The New Resilience of Pacted Transition in Spain 220 A NEW ENQUIRY CONCERNING THE OLD WORLD 230 Grzegorz Zinkiewicz – A New Enquiry Concerning the Old World 231 Section 1 – Political Philosophy Endre Kiss – Innovative Perspectives of Nietzsche’s Political Philosophy in the Global Theory of Democracy 233 Mark Debono – The Blasphemy of Europe/The Europe of Blasphemy 241 Tommaso Visone – Facing Nihilism. Camusian Route to Reshape Politics 251 Maria Pia Paternò – Beyond Totalitarianism: Politics, Relationality and Narrativity 260 Kalli Drousioti – What is and is not Utopia 269 Section 2 – Concepts and Ideas Geoffrey Hinchliffe – Curiosity and Uncertainty 280 Giorgos Kataliakos – The ‘Lust of the Mind’: Curiosity in Hobbes’ Leviathan 287 Marianna Papastephanou – Peace and Wilderness 294 Cristiana Senigaglia – The Logic of Resentment in the Globalized World 305 Alexandre Rouette – The Shortcomings of a Concept Inertia and Conatus in the Philosophy of Spinoza 315 Section 3 – Epistemology Daniel Schmal – The Problem of Unconscious Perception in the Early Enlightenment: The Case of David-Renaud Boullier 323 Oberto Marrama – Conflicts of the soul and mind-body interaction in Descartes’s Passions of the Soul 332 Section 4 – Eschatology William Proios – Re-Thinking the Human Condition in the Age of Modernity 354 Stella Marega – The Meanings of Apocalypse in Eric Voegelin’s Lifelong Enquiry 362 Shala Barczewska, Paulina Barańska – Imagining the End of the World: Polish Perspectives 371