When I think of freedom, the first thing that comes to mind is the Freedom of Movement, because I (like everyone in the Albanian diaspora) know that this freedom cannot be taken for granted and is a very moving topic at the moment. This has become even clearer since the beginning of the year with the visa liberalisation of Kosova. Starting the year with a Fireside Chat with Prof. Dr. Lea Ypi about her book "Free" was therefore exactly the right way to address this current topic.
We, the Albanian Students and Academics Association Stuttgart, were in London for the second weekend of the year, which started with this great event organised by ALSA and the Albanian societies of LSE and KCL. Even before we were there on Friday evening, we were able to contribute our questions and interests to the preparations and thus help shape the evening and provide input at least a little bit. But let's go through the events one by one. After the great welcome from the societies and ALSA and the first conversations with the attendees, Denisa from ALSA and Arber from ASAS (us) opened the evening with a short speech. Ermal and Angela then led through the evening with great moderation. Starting with questions about growing up in Stalinist-communist Albania, we were given an exclusive insight into what Lea's next book is about. Lea also told us how she wrote the Albanian version herself after the English version. Instead of simply having someone else translate it she took it upon herself. She decided to do this because otherwise, she would have left out a lot of details for the English version. In addition, by reliving the events in Albanian, she was able to come up with a lot more while rewriting, which meant that, for example, lists became more detailed. The criticism of the book was also discussed during the course of the evening and Lea told us how she dealt with it and how she came to terms with the individual points.
Following on from the topic of her book, the chat with her also covered societal and social issues. The conversation began with the general topic of refugees and how the United Kingdom and Europe are dealing with migration. It continued with the role of Albania and the Albanosphere in Europe among leading nations. The question of how aware the Albanian-speaking world is of its role and whether it can succeed in positioning itself with the interests of the major nations also played a role. In this context, the involvement of the diaspora was also discussed, and whether/how we can contribute to sustainable development in the political, economic, and social spheres. Another aspect addressed by Ermal and Angela in this context was people's hope of joining the EU and their longing that all their worries will be forgotten once they join. Lea Ypi responded to this topic with an example. In the course of researching her second book, which she is currently writing, she visited archives in both Albania and Greece (EU member states). She described going to the archives as an official procedure that was almost the same. With the same behavior of the officials and the same procedure in the same-looking buildings with the same damage and disadvantages.
It is therefore not necessarily the case that a country's problems will disappear when it joins the EU and, according to Lea, this is precisely where the danger lies. On the one hand, the euphoria of the people can turn into the opposite due to the lack of an upswing and the lack of improvement. On the other hand, the mentality of the people cannot be changed so easily, which gives room for autocrats.
In the end, Lea made time for everyone, whether it was a question about a picture, a book signing, or follow-up questions on a specific topic. I was also able to talk to her and thank her on behalf of the Stuttgart student group for a great evening. The great thing was, it was like talking to someone I've known for a long time and I think that sums up the evening very well overall. Thanks to the chosen topics and the great moderation by Angela and Ermal, who led us through the evening, the hours were over in no time. For me and everyone else, it was a great event organised by ALSA, the LSE Society, and KCL and a very interesting evening.
Many thanks from all of us from Stuttgart to everyone who contributed to this great evening! We really enjoyed being there and gained a lot of food for thought from this evening alone. And who knows, maybe we can organize a Stuttgart x London event like this in Germany in the future. In any case, you are all cordially invited!
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