Trust and education: a way out of corruption - A Public Lecture by Antanas Mockus Sivickas

Spring 2011 | Public lectures and events | Audio and pdf

Contributor(s): Antanas Mockus Sivickas | Corruption and generalized mistrust against public officers and against fellow citizens are mayor problem in several Latin-American Cities. This mistrust could be a consequence of corruption. But it could also be a cause. Surveys show that teachers are one of the most trustable categories of citizens. Understanding that at least part of government action is teaching might be a solution. Very elementary education exercises linked to strict anti/patronage behaviours implemented in Bogota seemed to be helpful in the fight against corruption (Cultura ciudadana, 1995/2003). Last year, during presidential election, social networks made possible a horizontal learning between high autonomous and involved electors and campaigners. Messages such as "life is sacred" and "public resources, sacred resources" helped foster basic human rights and promoted meritocracy against violence, clientelism and other forms of corruption. Antanas Mockus Sivickas is former Mayor of Bogota, being elected for office in two different periods, former President of the National University of Colombia and Associated Teacher of the Sciences Faculty in the same institution. Mr. Mockus, has been a Robert F. Kennedy Visiting Professor of Latin American Studies at the David Rockefeller Canter for Latin American Studies at Harvard University. He has also been a visitor Fellow at the Nuffiel College, Oxford University. Mr. Mockus, holds a BA degree in Mathematics from the Universit de Bourgogne, Dijon, France. He also has a MA degree in Philosophy from the National University of Colombia. He is an honorary doctorate recipient of the National University of Colombia and of the Universit Paris Diderot-Paris VII. He has been a researcher in the Science Faculty of the National University of Colombia and in the in Center for the Political International Relations Studies (IEPRI) at the same university. Nowadays he is the cofounder of the Colombian Green Party, having represented that political formation during the last presidential elections in Colombia held in the year 2010. During this process, Mr. Mockus gained the second highest ballot, earning more than 3,500,000 votes. His more recent researches have turned principally in the study of coexistence and the relation between law, moral and culture.