Ethnicity

Stanford Law School
Transatlantic Technology Law Forum
559 Nathan Abbott Way
Stanford, CA 94305-8610

(650) 723-8532
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Distinguished Austrian Chair Professor (2010)
Visiting Professor, Stanford Law School
fina_kl_245x331.jpg JD, J.S.D

Siegfried Fina is co-director of the Stanford-Vienna Transatlantic Technology Law Forum (a joint venture of Stanford Law School and the University of Vienna School of Law) and an associate professor of European Union Law and Technology Law at the University of Vienna School of Law in Austria. His work focuses on the business-related and the technology-related law and policy of the European Union as well as on the legal aspects of the EU-U.S. trade and the economic governance issues of the transatlantic marketplace.

Until 2002, Fina was an associate professor of law at the Vienna University of Technology. He also is an adjunct associate professor of law at Danube University Krems in Austria. He is a member of the board of directors of the International Federation for European Law (FIDE) and a member of the European Union Studies Association of the U.S. and Austria. Fina received a JD and JSD from the University of Vienna School of Law. In addition, he received a Diploma in Business Administration from the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration, a Diploma in Political Science from the University of Vienna Department of Government and Political Science, and a post-graduate Diploma in International Studies from the University of Vienna.

Co-Director, Stanford-Vienna Transatlantic Technology Law Forum
Europe Center Research Affiliate
Associate Professor of Law, University of Vienna, Austria

This project examines the law and policy of the European Union for e-business activities as well as the relevant economic governance issues and regulatory practices including the transatlantic (EU-U.S.) marketplace. In its initial stage, the project includes the "European Union E-commerce Law: Consolidated Legislation" project. This project focuses on the legal framework of the European Union for pursuing e-business activities in Europe.

"Ethnicity in Today's Europe" will commence with a Related Presidential Lecture featuring Partha Chatterjee.

Conference Statement

Headlines today blaze with stories about the fate of Europe. There is a sense, both in Europe and around the world, that a sort of "tipping point" has been reached. A recurrent theme is the question of demographics. For instance, how are European social welfare systems going to cope with an aging population? What role will immigrants from outside Europe's borders, both recent and less recent, play in European society? What will be the impact of immigration between the member states of the European Union? What place will Europe's growing population of Muslims have in twenty-first century Europe?

As the ongoing process of unification redraws Europe's borders, as the populations of major European cities become more and more diverse, the question of ethnicity is at the forefront of many of the most important debates on the continent. On the one hand the long history of European national and ethnic identities is at play, as is the legacy of colonialism. On the other, a significant recent upswing in the movement of peoples around the globe has changed the face of Europe, often literally. Movement, of course, from outside Europe's borders into European states. But also, and crucially, movement within the space between Portugal and the Urals. Such movement certainly responds to a number of economic and social needs. At the same time, European conceptions of citizenship, equity, and nationhood often exist in tension with the realities of changing ethnic populations.

The conference "Ethnicity in Today's Europe" at Stanford will address this topic in an interdisciplinary manner. Participants will focus on the question: "What's new about the situation in Europe today?" Bringing together scholars from different disciplines, the conference will provide a historical perspective together with contributions addressing economic, social, cultural, and political issues. Some themes that may be discussed include: how the current situation mirrors or departs from the past; the role of the media in portraying the interaction between different groups; the different perspectives of specific populations within Europe; whether Europe's diversity is best described under the rubric of ethnicity, nationality, race, or some other term; similarities and differences between European nation-states with regard to diversity within their borders. Above all, participants will use their own disciplinary perspective to assess what is at stake in the interaction between peoples in Europe as the twenty-first century gets underway.

"Ethnicity in Today's Europe" is jointly presented by the Forum on Contemporary Europe and the Stanford Humanities Center.

November 7 - Related Presidential Lecture:
Bechtel Conference Center
Encina Hall
616 Serra Street

November 8-9 - Conference Panels:
Stanford Humanities Center
424 Santa Teresa Avenue
Stanford University

Rogers Brubaker Sociology, UCLA Panelist
Leslie Adelson German Studies, Cornell University Panelist
Partha Chatterjee Related Presidential Lecture; Director and Professor of Political Science, Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta; Professor of Anthropology, Columbia University, New York Keynote Speaker
Salvador Cardús Ros Sociology, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona Panelist
Carole Fink History, Ohio State University Panelist
Alec Hargreaves French, Florida State University Panelist
Kader Konuk Germanic Languages and Literatures, University of Michigan Panelist
Saskia Sassen Sociology, Columbia University Panelist
Bassam Tibi International Relations, University of Göttingen, Germany Panelist
Zelimir Zilnik filmmaker Speaker
Conferences
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