VALUE-BASED CONFLICTS in the REGION BETWEEN the ODER and the DANUBE Mapping Study and Good Practices
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VALUE-BASED CONFLICTS IN THE REGION BETWEEN THE ODER AND THE DANUBE mapping study and good practices editors Dušan Ondrušek Boris Strečanský Zuza Fialová editors: Dušan Ondrušek, Boris Strečanský, Zuza Fialová This mapping study is a part of the programme titledEuropean Network for Non-Violence and Dialogue (ENND), which intends to seek non-violent approaches to current value-based conflicts. It helps the collecting and sharing of the information that diverse CSOs have learned about third-party interventions and of process-based tools for public debate in seven different countries:Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania and Germany. It aims to create a functional network that will become a counterbalance to the diverging direction of Central and Eastern Europe from the ideals and values that frame the project of a united Europe and a network of civil society organisations and individuals active in intervening in value-based conflicts and de-radicalisation with the purpose of learning from one another, collecting tested conflict intervention approaches, supporting one another’s interventions and organising public campaigns promoting common goals and values. project partners: Partners for Democratic Change Slovakia Cultures Interactive – Germany Partners Bulgaria Foundation Partners Hungary Alapítvány Fundacja Partners Polska NESEHNUTÍ – Czech Republic PATRIR – Romania authors of country chapters: Bulgaria: Daniela Kolarova Czech Republic: Tatiana Dumbrava, Mariana Zbořilová, Michaela Stejskalová Germany: Tina Heise, Oliver Kossack, Anika Posselius Hungary: Júlia Vida, János Wagner, József Rostás Poland: Marcin Ślarzyński, Maciej Tański Romania: Anda Totoreanu Slovakia: Zuza Fialová researchers and contributors: Elmira Nesheva, Eva Viorela Sfarlea, Andrei Trubceac, Janek Lassau, Katarína Bajzíková, Lukáš Zorád, Juraj Havlík, Jiří Chovaneček, Johana Kollárová, Alžbeta Micsinaiová reviewers: Erik Láštic – Department of Political Science, Faculty of Arts, Comenius University Bratislava Bartek Pytlas – Geschwister-Scholl-Institut für Politikwissenschaft, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München Boris Strečanský – Center for Philanthropy, Bratislava study coordinator: Katarína Bajzíková graphic design & layout: Zuzana Číčelová picture on the cover page: Valentin Serov – The Rape of Europe; Wikimedia Commons publisher: Partners for Democratic Change Slovakia, 2018 isbn 978-80-89563-46-3 editors Dušan Ondrušek Boris Strečanský Zuza Fialová VALUE-BASED CONFLICTS IN THE REGION BETWEEN THE ODER AND THE DANUBE mapping study and good practices Content INTRODUCTION _ 5 1. New emerging challenges, old dividing lines _ 5 1.1. Fragmentation _ 6 1.2. Polarisation _ 6 1.3. Dialogue degrading because of social networks and social media _ 6 2. Methodology of conflict mapping _ 7 2.1. Value-based conflicts subjected to mapping _ 7 2.2. Conflict descriptions _ 8 2.3. Time period covered by mapping _ 9 2.4. Sources and methods of collecting information _ 9 3. Common value conflicts and their parameters _ 9 3.1. Migration crisis _ 10 3.2. Rights of LGBT people, gender philosophy, family models, abortion, position of women in society _ 13 3.3. Position of ethnic and religious minorities _ 15 3.4. Conflicts on the environment, public space, and share of the wealth _ 16 3.5. Other conflicts and their common parameters _ 17 4. Summaries for seven European countries _ 19 4.1. Bulgaria _ 19 4.2. Czech Republic _ 20 4.3. Germany _ 20 4.4. Hungary _ 21 4.5. Romania _ 22 4.6. Poland _ 22 4.7. Slovakia _ 23 References _ 23 CONFLICT ANALYSES FROM SEVEN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES _ 25 BULGARIA _ 25 Introduction _ 25 1. Ethnic conflict in Bulgaria: The burqa – a threat of Islamic radicalism and a menace to national security _ 26 2. Polarising opinions about refugees _ 30 3. Nature preservation vs. economic development _ 34 4. The LGBT community and traditional values _ 37 Resources _ 41 CZECH REPUBLIC _ 42 Introduction _ 42 1. Muslim minority vs. majority relations _ 42 2. LGBT parents’ possibility to adopt children _ 46 3. Roma children accessing quality primary education _ 48 4. Economic versus environmental values in the approach to nuclear energy _ 50 Resources _ 53 GERMANY _ 55 Introduction _ 55 1. Immigration and Integration _ 56 2. Gender rights vs. gender ideology _ 63 3. Credibility of (mainstream) media and the ‘post-truth’ society _ 66 Resources _ 70 HUNGARY _ 72 Introduction _ 72 Methodology _ 72 1. Social acceptance and equal rights of LGBT people in Hungary _ 72 2. Issue of refugees, migrants in Hungary _ 74 3. Sexism and violence against women _ 77 4. Access to the education and integration of Roma children _ 80 Resources _ 83 POLAND _ 85 Introduction _ 85 1. Conflict over the desired model of the family _ 85 2. Conflict over Education Reform _ 87 3. Conflict over the Abortion Law _ 88 4. Conflict over the admission of Muslim immigrants _ 90 5. Conflict over the status of Ukrainians in Poland _ 91 Closing Remarks _ 92 References _ 93 ROMANIA _ 96 Introduction _ 96 1. Relations between the Roma community and the majority population _ 97 2. Refugees, asylum seekers, and other migrants _ 99 3. LGBT community and majority population relations _ 102 4. Inter-gender relations _ 105 Resources _ 107 SLOVAKIA _ 109 Introduction _ 109 Methodological note _ 109 1. Migration crisis _ 109 2. Rise of the popularity of far-right extremism and ultra-nationalism _ 115 3. Roma minority _ 121 4. LGBT rights vs. the ‘traditional family’ _ 125 5. Geopolitical tension as a proxy conflict in a value-based realm _ 131 Resources _ 131 GOOD PRACTICES _ 135 1. Combating disinformation, hoaxes and hate speech _ 135 Grass Roots Initiatives Combating Extremism in Online Space – Slovakia _ 135 Sociofactor – Czech Republic _ 136 “Neue Deutsche Medienmacher” (New German Media Professionals) – Germany _ 136 Correctiv – Germany _ 137 Hate Free Culture, Choose Your Information, Encyclopaedia Tackling Migration – Czech Republic _ 137 No Hate Speech Movement – Romania _ 138 Centrum Monitorowania Dyskursu Publicznego (Center for Monitoring Public Discourse) – Poland _ 138 2. Live discussion projects promoting tolerance, understanding and de-radicalisation _ 139 Live Discussion Projects ‘Spoločná Krajina’ (Common Country), ‘Zabudnuté Slovensko’ (Forgotten Slovakia), and nomadSPACE – Slovakia _ 139 Stakeholder Management Process ‘Power Plant Forum’ in Gönyű – Hungary _ 140 Cultures Interactive e.V. – Germany _ 140 Bubap – Budapest Walk Shop – Hungary _ 141 Platform of Eight Cultural Centres to Enable Dialogue and Debates – Bulgaria _ 141 3. Projects integrating migrants or minorities, combating stereotypes and empowering communities _ 142 Multikulti Map – Bulgaria _ 142 The Initiative: I Am a Roma Doctor – Romania _ 143 Pécs Step by Step School and the Hódmezovásárhely Model – Hungary _ 143 Intercultural Workers in Brno City Municipality – Czech Republic _ 144 ‘Jugendliche ohne Grenzen’ (Youth without Borders) – Germany _ 145 Kto pomôže? (Who Will Help?) – Slovakia _ 145 Welcome Migrants and Sunday Lunch Menedék – Hungary _ 146 Kinder im Zentrum Gallus e.V. – Germany _ 146 United Colors: Social Enterprises of Roma – Slovakia _ 147 MigraNet: Regional Network for Migrant Integration – Romania _ 147 Innovative educational programme in Hejőkeresztúr – Hungary _ 148 4. Specific initiatives aimed at dialogue between LGBT and Christian communities _ 148 Christians for Gays Movement – Hungary _ 148 Same-Sex Adoption Campaign: Different Families, Same Rights – Czech Republic _ 149 Let Us Offer Each Other the Sign of Peace – Poland _ 149 Introduction 1. New emerging challenges, old dividing lines In the last quarter of a century we have been witnessing the fascinating experiment of the transformation process of the post-communist countries in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) from totalitarianism to liberal democracy. This offers a considerable amount of knowledge about the global social dynamics of the development of social conflict. This transformation is not unilateral or unidirectional and it has not been easy at all. However, the general outcomes are positive. With the exception of the former Yugoslavia, we have not experienced civil war in the CEE countries during the last 25 years, a market economy is taking root and the prevailing measures of life expectancy and quality of life are generally improving. Of course, the price for this move is high and the positive consequences of these societal changes are not distributed equally among all generations, all strata of the involved societies and all sub-regions in this territory. We are also learning important lessons about the trans- formation dynamics of whole societies from the perspectives of conflict resolution and conflict transformation. The character of the conflicts in this region is changing as well as the strategies to cope with the new emerging challenges that are rooted in the old dividing lines of our societies. In the starting phases of this large transformation process, Czech philosopher Václav Bělohradský (1992) perceived societal conflicts in the context of striving for democracy in three directions: 1. Insuppressible conflict between legitimacy and legality. Simplistically, this is about the conflict between obligation of the law for all citizens and the necessity to create such mechanisms for participation in po- litical decisions, which minimise the risk that decisions which are obligatory for everyone may harm the interests of individuals. 2. Conflict between rationality and reasonableness, whilst ‘rationality is to use every means which effectively helps us to reach our goals. Our goals are reasonable if they stand a chance of competing in the market of ideas where people criticise everything.’ (Bělohradský, V., 1992, p. 571) Reasonableness means seeking solutions which consider the partners in the changes as well. That is why reasonableness often happens to be in conflict with rationality – this means searching for ideally correct solutions. The conflict between rationality and reasonableness can, in the most extreme state, also manifest in the fact that through very rational procedures we can obtain very unreasonable results.