The French SEC and Center
Constituted in Venice in 1950 by the Italian philosopher Umberto Campagnolo, the European Company of culture (S.E.C) s’occupe of the relationship between policy and culture, the central concept, food-growing policy. The SEC recognizes responsibilities ethical and political in the broad sense and endeavoured since its creation to establish top priority in this field and to search an authentic dialogue.
Joined its beginnings by intellectuals and artists of great reputation, the SEC is initially, fulfilling the requirement of the moment, employee, successfully besides, to defend the existence of a true dialogue between the East and the West during the long years of the cold war.
Since 1989, without neglecting the major project in its eyes of European integration, the SEC also wonders about the many related questions with the phenomenon of globalization and the rebirth of new “walls” between the people and in their centre, which they are of an economic nature, ethnic or religious.
The SEC thus consists of a meeting of intellectuals and artists concerned about a future which spares the civilizing values of tolerance and peace, whose international seat is in Venice and to which are connected a certain number of national centres the majority located in East and Western Europe but also North America and of the South.
An Executive council made up of about thirty members meets each year and a General Assembly every two years on a given topic. ¹ the official language of the SEC is French but the use of other languages is allowed. The SEC counts… members approximately.
The annual review “Comprendre” testifies to the activities of the SEC. A new series has just been launched at the cost of 50 euros the number. The SEC organizes also each year a Summer School on the island of San Servolo to Venice bound for students of 3rd cycle on the topic of the food-growing policy and of its applications.
The French Center of the SEC, created at the same time that the Company itself was successively chaired by Alfred Koestler, Maurice Schuman and Henri Bartoli. Its current President is Dominique Leroy.
The French Center counts… members approximately. It organizes every approximately six weeks, of the conferences on various topics but which each time correspond to the values and the objectives of the SEC. ² the access to these conferences is free ; he however is requested from the people who wish to belong to the members of the Center an annual contribution of 50 euros. It is in addition possible to become member of the SEC international and thus to be invited with the various activities of the latter. With this intention the interested party (E) must imperatively become acquainted with the statutes of the SEC, agree to conform to it and be sponsored (E) by two members.
¹ the three last AG in… with… related successively to…
² Voir in appendix the list of the conferences. These conferences take place in the room of the Council of the University of Paris I Places of the Pantheon and are followed for those which wish it of a friendly lunch.