CHAPTER. Challenging Propaganda Through Remembrance. CALL FOR PARTICIPANTS to the REMEMBRANCE WEEKS

Since 2014 Europe is facing the worst humanitarian crisis of refugees since World War II (WWII), the majority of them fleeing from Syria and Libya, while the economic crisis has been causing cuts to social inclusion, education and healthcare programmes. Make matters worse, populist groups’ media depicts third-country nationals as exploiters of the welfare system while criminalizing civil society organizations in solidarity, thus fueling social tensions into organized violence against people and institutions. An in-depth analysis shows that current propaganda roots in methodologies and tools developed under totalitarian regimes. Nazism and Fascism emphasized those features characterizing the public discourse during World War I and its aftermath such as nationalism, hatred of the enemy and dehumanization: all of that contributed to lay the groundwork for WWII.

In this sense the project “CHAPTER. Challenging propaganda through remembrance” aims to cast a light on propaganda before and during WWII, focusing on its role to enforce the concept of “enemy” – from national and ethnic groups to political opponents and social groups. Participants, chosen among people who aren’t active citizens yet, will act as Remembrance messengers in order to relate past events to current trends. Moreover they’ll draw attention to the role of grassroots media and peace organizations in challenging propaganda through innovative communication methodologies and tools.

The project gathers 11 partners from 9 countries – Austria, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Spain, Bulgaria – and foresees the realization of 5 Remembrance Weeks:

  • Italy (14th-23rd of June 2021)
  • Poland (25th of June – 4th of July 2021)
  • Greece (25th of July – 3rd of August 2021)
  • Austria (8th – 17th of August 2021)
  • Catalunya (23rd of September – 3rd of October 2021)

We are currently looking for 9 participants from Bulgaria, Spain, Italy, Greece, Austria, Hungary, France and Germany who want to attend the Remembrance week in Poland, Poznam, from the 25th of June till the 4th of July 2021.

Outputs of the project will be:

  • 10 Set of Infographics related to the outcomes of the Remembrance Weeks, showing the main features of propaganda
  • Animated infographics and video summarizing the project
  • Project website
  • Online campaign

About the REMEMBRANCE WEEKS

During the Remembrance Weeks participants, supported and guided by the Remembrance Messengers, will implement different activities aimed at going in depth into the following key words/topics:

  • Remembrance
  • Propaganda and media
  • Nationalism
  • Hatred of the enemy
  • Grassroots media
  • Pacifism
  • Counternarratives

The Set of Infographics will be created on the basis of the researches participants will realize during the activity, focused on 10 specific topics:

  • Fear
  • Propaganda
  • Gender
  • Freedom of speech
  • Nationalism
  • History
  • Normalization
  • Youth
  • Social Frustration
  • Hate crimes

Participants will be asked to implement some previous research on the topics listed above with relation to their local contest, both in the past during the fascist/nazi regimes and in the present, in the policies or propaganda carried on by right-wings parties or movements.

It is important to bring to the Remembrance Week every material (soft and hard), pictures, fanzines, presentation, testimony that can give a contribution to the debate and to the research realization.

Profile of the participants

The profile of the candidate should be the following:

  • Age 18+;
  • Able to understand and express themselves in English;
  • Willing to be open-minded and eager to learn from the workshops in this activity and from their peers, as well as maintain a positive attitude and a critical approach to the problematics and topics that will be reviewed;
  • Interested in the topics of fascism, anti-fascism, propaganda, counter-propaganda, anti-racism, migration, etc.;
  • Willing to contribute to the research creation with material, ideas, participation;
  • Willing to share experiences and stories from their local environment/context and to collect material that will be useful for feeding the debate and realizing the research;
  • Are committed to assist or take the lead role in planning and implementing local initiatives during the Remembrance Week in order to disseminate the learning outcomes.

Application procedure

For more details about the Remembrance Week venue and every other logistic details, please click here.

If you are interested in participating you can apply by clicking here, by registering and filling the required fields:

You will receive feedback after a few days by the reception of your application. Once received the confirmation, you can proceed in buying the flight/train/bus ticket.

For any question or doubt, please write to [email protected]

Terms and economic conditions

The project covers the costs for:

  • Travel (reimbursement up to 100 euro under reception of the Boarding Pass)
  • Board
  • Lodging
  • Local transportation
  • Health insurance

The costs for the eventual Covid-19 test cannot be reimbursed.

According to the country of origin of participants, the underwriting of SCI membership card  might be required.

Partner countries and organisations

  • Service Civil International Österreich – Austria
  • CVS-Bulgaria – Bulgaria
  • Service Civil International Hellas – Greece
  • Servizio Civile Internazionale Italia – Italy
  • Centro Studi Sereno Regis – Italy
  • Stowarzyszenie Jeden Swiat – Poland
  • Servei Civil Internacional de Catalunya Asociacion – Spain
  • Le Service Civil International – France
  • Service Civil International – Deutscher Zweig E.V. – Germany
  • Utilapu Nemzetkozi Epitotabor Halozat Egyesulet – Hungary
  • DINAMOpress – Italy
  • UNITED for Intercultural Action – Hungary

Participants from other EU program countries are also welcome to apply however priority will be given to candidates from the project partner countries.