November 2019

THE THIRD SOCRATES CAFE IN SARAJEVO: PATRIOTISM VS. NATIONALISM


The theme "Patriotism vs. Nationalism" caused numerous disagreements among the participants at the third Socrates cafe in Sarajevo, held on November 7th, 2019. Cafe facilitator, journalist, Suad Beganović, together with participants, inquired correlation between these terms, whether they are mutually exclusive and what their negative implications are. Participants were interested in whether criticism of the state and seeking justice are patriotic acts, and why individuals who dared to criticize state are declared traitors and foreign mercenaries.

The goal of the Socratic dialogical method is opening new questions, what this cafe approved. Some of the questions that have been opened are - is the state an imaginary concept, and if so, what is the concept itself; what are criteria for patriotism, and what are the motives and interests behind everything.