2007-08 Weidenfeld Debates

'Are Revolutions Contagious? Successes and Failures of Civil Society in Democratic Transitions'

28 April 2008, European Studies Centre, St Antony's College

This seminar examined what lessons could be drawn from the Central and Eastern European democratic transitions of the last two decades. The panel brought together prominent figures from Central and Eastern Europe to offer, in particular, an overview of the role of civil society in the region's democratic transitions.

Panel: Martin Butora, former dissident and former Slovak ambassador to the USA, Filip Dimitrov, former Bulgarian Prime Minister and former Bulgarian ambassador to the UN and the USA, Irakli Kakabadze, Georgian democracy activist and poet, and Alyaksandr Milinkievich, Belarusian united opposition leader in 2006.

Moderated by Mr. John Lloyd, Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at Oxford.

‘Is the Future of the Internet the Future of Knowledge?'

27 May 2008, Oxford Internet Institute

This event brought together two leading figures shaping contemporary media and academic debate on the value and potential of user-generated content on the Internet. Discussions addressed the following questions: what role do truth, trust and expertise play in the creation and dissemination of knowledge and news through the Internet? What are the risks of the Internet's "democratisation" effect? Should we regulate news production by non-professionals on the Internet?

Speakers: Larry Sanger, Editor-in Chief of Citizendium and founder of Wikipedia, and Andrew Keen, author of "The Cult of the Amateur" (2007).

Moderated by Dr Victoria Nash, Director of Graduate Studies at the Oxford Internet Institute.