Comprehensive understanding of the process of changing the old Soviet norms into others, European and Belarusan ones, is very important. And it is this comprehensive understanding that Belarus lacks.
This opinion was expressed bythe senior analyst of Humanitarian Techniques Agency and Doctor of Social Science Tatiana Vadalazhskaya to the EuroBelarus Information Service.
She pointed out that the idea of the round table on desovietization and the research programs on desovietization processes, which takes place in Minsk today, on November, 23 is to define what kind of the Soviet heritage we have and our attitude towards it.
- The point is not that the entire Soviet heritage should be absolutely destroyed. And the opinion that Belarus is the successor of many Soviet ideas, values and institutions is expressed frequently. So even if we accept this point of view, we still should think more about this heritage, we should be aware of what it is that we inherit and in what form this inheritance exists in the modern world. In this regard it seems to me that Belarus lacks this understanding of what we have, and of which standpoints exist in society on this processes – the withdrawn of the Soviet norms or their renewal, - Tatiana Vadalazhskayaexplains.
Belarus is not unique in terms of desovietization. Similar process was happening in Germany; all the countries of the former Soviet Union go through it and have a certain experience. One of the roundtable participants is Jan Zbignevich Rachinsky, a member of a board of International Society “Memorial” and a co-chairman of Moscow Memorial, the institution which pushes forward the desovietization processes in Russia.
The state of desovietization of some particular spheres (politics, international relations, science, education, lifestyle and living standards, linguistic situation) in Belarus will be the subject of the round-table discussion.
The researchers are interested in desovietization in its various aspects: the transformation of Soviet ways of combating the nonconformity in the field of work and employment (T.Vadalazhskaya), the Soviet heritage in official celebratory practice (J. Galinouskaja) and science (A. Schviatcou), the practice of cultural heritage preservation in Soviet and present times, the transformation of urban space (S. Stureika), the desovietization process of the school biology books (A. Meleshka) etc. It would seem that history textbooks should be more ideology-driven than the biology ones. But the ideologization is not the point here, and A. Meleshka analyses the Soviet argument structure itself, the way the material was handled and how the world was perceived.
Tatiana Vadalazhskayaexplored the employment ban phenomenon which is widespread these days, the situation when people have problems with professional self-realization because of their believes or actions.
- While trying to study the employment ban I came to the conclusion that this politico-social practice is built anew in a present Belarus but with the use of the “stones” from the Soviet past – stereotypes, mindsets, action mechanism. So if we will consider employment ban to be wrong and nonlegal, we need to figure this phenomenon out in order to struggle against it, - the researcher said.
The plenary reports and research findings which will be featured during the roundtable is only small part and separate aspects of desovietization. An international roundtable on desovietization is a serious discussion of the problems of desovietization and the reasons for reluctance of a series of post-Soviet countries to the transformation processes of the 21st century.
The International roundtable “The theories and practice of desovietization in the context of the 21st century transformation processes” is organized by International Consortium "EuroBelarus” and Centre for European Transformation in cooperation with the Heinrich Böll Foundation.
The Belarus Committee of ICOMOS announces the collection of cases on the effectiveness of the State List of Historical and Cultural Values as a tool of the safeguarding the cultural monuments.
On March 27-28, the Belarus ICOMOS and the EuroBelarus held an online expert workshop on expanding opportunities for community participation in the governance of historical and cultural heritage.
It is impossible to change life in cities just in three years (the timeline of the “Agenda 50” campaign implementation). But changing the structure of relationships in local communities is possible.
"Specificity is different, but the priority is general." In Valożyn, a local strategy for the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was signed.
The campaign "Agenda 50" was summed up in Ščučyn, and a local action plan for the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was signed there.
The regional center has become the second city in Belarus where the local plan for the implementation of the principles of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was signed.
Representatives of the campaign “Agenda 50” from five pilot cities discussed achievements in creating local agendas for implementing the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
It is noteworthy that out of the five pilot cities, Stoubcy was the last to join the campaign “Agenda 50”, but the first one to complete the preparation of the local agenda.
On May 28, the city hosted a presentation of the results of the project "Equal to Equal" which was dedicated to monitoring the barrier-free environment in the city.
On March 3, members of the campaign "Agenda 50" from different Belarusian cities met in Minsk. The campaign is aimed at the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
In Stolin, social organizations and local authorities are implementing a project aimed at independent living of persons with disabilities, and creating local agenda for the district.
He said Belarus would likely face economic tightening not only as a result of the coronavirus pandemic but also a Russian trade oil crisis that worsened this past winter.
In his report, philosopher Gintautas Mažeikis discusses several concepts that have been a part of the European social and philosophical thought for quite a time.
It is impossible to change life in cities just in three years (the timeline of the “Agenda 50” campaign implementation). But changing the structure of relationships in local communities is possible.