The conference initiator and patron is Andrzej S. Kamiński, professor of Georgetown University, United States, founder of the Institute and untiring promoter of the “Belarusian issue”. The conference was held under the supervision of the executive director Eulalia Łazarska and with the financial support from the National Endowment for Democracy and Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung.

The created great opportunity to exchange thoughts, participate in wider discussions, and, of course, sew the seeds of new ideas in the Belarusian intellectual thought. “Revolt in the name of freedom” is deeply rooted in the Belarusian history; even though it was subdued in the period of Russian and Soviet occupation. It has reminded of itself to the world by numerous examples of struggle in Belarusian cities and towns, famous uprisings of the 19th century, different forms of protest in culture. Democracy and civil society in case of Belarus were not imposed externally; they result from the Belarusian experience from the past.

The first part of the book “History is a teacher of life in freedom” contains texts by a number of Belarusian historians, who critically analyzed major facts in the national history by evaluating victories and losses in the fight for freedom. On the one hand, Professor Antoni Mironowicz analyzes the phenomenon of peaceful coexistence of different cultural and religious traditions in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. On the other hand, professor Zachar Šybieka draws attention to the difficult, even tense relations between Belarusians and Jews in the Tsarist Russia. Ina Sorkina decribes at what level small town dwellers were determined to fight for their lost freedom, especially right after the Russian annexation at the turn of the 19th century. Anatol Trafimčyk shows peculiarities of the Belarusian resistance to Rzeczpospolita’s assimilation policy. The Soviet period became the central part for Uladzimir Liachoŭski’s and Aleh Dziarnovič’s research. Uladzimir Liachoŭski depicts the peculiarities of the Sluck uprising, and Aleh Dziarnovič writes about the Belarusian humanities researchers in the post-war BSSR and their proclivity for intellectual independence.

The second part of the book “Culture laughs at politics” is devoted to the analysis of different cultural phenomena. The text by Andrej Rasinski, a culture expert and a film critic, deserves special attention. The author singled out and described two types of carnival in Belarus: 1) the one that laughs at authoritarianism (Bakhtin’s carnival), and 2) “authoritarian” carnival, a cynic laughter of a violator who destroys human values. Uladzimir Valodzin touches upon a topic that rarely appears in the focus of historians, but it should appear in the context of the “revolt” of Belarusian hippies in the BSSR. A poet Valaryna Kustava dwells on the modern Belarusian (“post-tutejšyja”) literature. Piotr Rudkoŭski’s article is devoted to the forms of the Catholic Church participation in the life of the Belarusian society and also to the problematic issues associated with the Catholic Church.

Discussion of the “revolt in the name of freedom” could not omit the issue of the national idea and European integration. There is still no consensus in Belarus whether the “national choice” and the “European choice” are complementary or mutually exclusive options. The articles by Swedish scholar Per Anders Rudling, Belarusian Alaksiej Lastoŭski and Hungarian András Rácz tackle with different aspects of this issue. The Swedish scholar describes the peculiarities of the creation of the Belarusian nation. The Belarusian researcher presents the genealogy of the Belarusian statehood in the historical memory of Belarusians. The Hungarian scholar analyses practical aspects of “Europeanization of Belarus”. The text by Iryna Kaštalian has a slightly different topic. It is devoted to the role of religion and religious ceremonies in the everyday life of Belarusians.

Authors of the text: Piotr Rudkoŭski, Kaciaryna Kolb (editors of the book)

Source: Preface to the book of conference papers

The book is published in Belarusian and English

ISBN: 978-83-64054-32-7

CONTENTS

• Piotr Rudkoŭski, Kaciaryna Kolb. Preface
• Andrzej S. Kamiński. Introduction. Reflections on Self-goverment and Citizenship

• Antoni Mironowicz. Religious Tolerance along the Polish-Belarusian Borderline
• Ina Sorkina. The Revolt in the Name of Freedom: the Fight of Small Town Dwellers for the Lost Freedom and Land in 18th–19th centuries
• Zachar Šybieka. Jews and Belarusians in the Fight for Freedom in Tsarist Russia (1795–1904)
• Uladzimir Liachoŭski. Awakened by Sluck Uprising
• Anatol Trafimčyk. Resistance Attitudes of the Belarusian Population in interwar Poland (illustrated with the Example of Kruhovičy Village and Commune)
• Aleh Dziarnovič. The Academic Discussion of the Mid 1960s in Belarus: between Freedom of Creativity and Political Denunciation

• Andrej Rasinski. Two Carnivals of Contemporary Belarus
• Uladzimir Valodzin. First Generation of Minsk Hippies (2nd half of 1960s – 1st half of 1970s)
• Valiaryna Kustava. Contemporary Belarusian Literature (sučbiellit) in the Post–tutejšyja Era: People beyond Their Time
• Piotr Rudkoŭski. Why Doesn’t Religion Laugh at Politics?

• Per Anders Rudling. The Rise and Fall of the Belarusian National Movement: Historical Preconditions and Prospects for the Future
• András Rácz. The “Belarusian Trap”: The EU’s Relations with Belarus
• Iryna Kaštalian. Between Church and the Government or Religious Life of an Ordinary Person in After–war Belarus
• Aliaksiej Lastoŭski. The Genealogy of National Statehood in the Historical Memory of Belarusians