MENTOR: More than a joke: humour in times of dictatorships
During the twentieth century, Europe's population had to cope with dark days due to the establishment of authoritarian and totalitarian regimes, accompanied by wars and terrible crimes including the Holocaust, the imprisonment and deportation of large parties of the societies as well as the suppression of fundamental rights such as the freedom of speech, assembly, thought, conscience, and religion. Although democratic life is mostly established in Europe the last few decades, recent developments are proving that democracy needs a persistent effort so as not to decline towards authoritarian and/or totalitarian regimes as it was, for instance, the case in the 1920’s and 1930’s.
More precisely, and due to the latest crises that the EU countries had to overpass and/or encounter such as the financial crisis, the migratory one or even the COVID-19 pandemic alongside Russian aggression against Ukraine, populists, radical movements as well as fake news came not only to emerge toxic online debates but also to make people question fundamental values of diversity, democracy and political freedom. At the same time, as content is being constantly produced and published on blogs, social media pages and various platforms, the entire European population including the youth, is in fact participating on daily basis, even unconsciously, in debates with political background.
MENTOR project focuses on educating selected target groups, with a special focus on the youth, first- and second-generation migrants as well as the general public about the importance of safeguarding democracy and fundamental rights by drawing on the lessons learned from authoritarian and totalitarian regimes, promoting a comparative approach on how humour was used during various European dictatorships. Through the analysis of these small examples of freedom in days of unfreedom, MENTOR aims to establish a better understanding of the importance of fundamental rights, the pillars of the EU.
Programme: CERV-2024-CITIZENS-REM-HOLOCAUST
Applicant: INSTITUTO IKIGAI ASOCIACION ESPANOLA PARA EL EMPRENDIMIENTO Y EL DESARROLLO PERSONAL Y PROFESIONALPartners: INSTITUTO IKIGAI ASOCIACION ESPANOLA PARA EL EMPRENDIMIENTO Y EL DESARROLLO PERSONAL Y PROFESIONAL (Spain), PANTEIO PANEPISTIMIO KOINONIKON KAIPOLITIKON EPISTIMON (Greece), SOCIAL YOUTH DEVELOPMENT CIVIL NONPROFIT SOCIETY (Greece), ESCAPE4CHANGE START-UP INNOVATIVAA VOCAZIONE SOCIALE S.R.L (Italy), WORLD UNIVERSITY SERVICE- OSTERREICHISCHES KOMITEE VEREIN (Austria), OUT OF THE BOX INTERNATIONAL (Belgium), ASPON CONSULTING LTD (Cyprus)
More about MENTOR: https://mentor-eu.com/