Ballots vs bullets? Why the future of Europe and the West is at stake in Catalonia
Wednesday, October 18th, 2017
| Date | Time | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Wednesday, October 18, 2017 | 4:00PM - 6:00PM | Seminar Room 108N, Munk School of Global Affairs 1 Devonshire Place M5S 3K7 |
Description
Registration for this event is now full. Please note that seating is provided on a first-come, first-served basis.
On October 1st, the Government of Catalonia held a referendum on the issue of secession from Spain. The Constitutional Court had ruled the referendum illegal, and the police intervened to uphold the law when the regional government openly defied the tribunal. The images of riot police trying to prevent the voting from happening made headlines all over the world. The Catalan premier proclaimed that a majority of voters were in favor of secession, and that the regional parliament will declare unilateral independence soon, despite the many observers and legal experts who allege that the whole process violates the Constitution, the Catalan laws and the regional parliament’s bylaws. How did we arrive at this situation? Does the Catalan referendum embody a people’s struggle for its liberation, as the secessionists claim, or is it just an outright attack on a well-established democracy, as those contrary to independence say? Would the European Union recognize the new state as a member of the club? Is the international media impartial or biased when reporting on the matter? Will this be just another local crisis or will it have wider political consequences? The lecture will address all these issues, and will claim that the outcome of the Catalan crisis will have a decisive impact on the future of European democracy and on the liberal regimes of the West.
SPEAKERS:
Carolina de Miguel, speaker, Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science
Francisco Beltran, speaker, Lecturer, Centre for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies
Jon Allen, discussant, Former Ambassador of Canada to Spain
Robert Austin, moderator, Associate Professor, Centre for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies
SPONSOR: Centre for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies
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