The Free Academy: Jacques Rupnik

The lecture will begin with a reflection on changes in the concept of Central Europe from the end of the Austrian Empire to Visegrád. It will then focus on three topics with contemporary relevance: national identity, nationalism and populism; Central European societies and the legacy of communism; and finally, the transformation and European integration of Central European countries: historical success and today's crisis.

Jacques Rupnik is a Prague-born French political scientist, historian, educator, journalist and political commentator. He specializes in Central and Eastern Europe, issues of democracy, nationalism and European integration. He is the author of numerous books and winner of the 2019 Magnesia Litera award for his book Střední Evropa je jako pták s očima vzadu (Central Europe is Like a Bird with Eyes in the Back of Its Head). After the fall of the Iron Curtain, he served as an advisor to Václav Havel, among other roles. He is a professor at Sciences Po in Paris and at the College of Europe in Bruges.