(introduction...)

This session consisted of the presentation of two videos, followed by a commentary, panel discussion, and general discussion. The discussions brought together the views of psychoanalysts, academics, educators, and experts in the fields of anthropology and sociology. The main points raised follow:

· The concept of environmentally sustainable development can be applied to psychoanalysis, in which the goal is to determine what the sustainable development of the individual can be in the environment in which he or she lives.

· The world is entering the twenty-first century with a "culture of hope," embodied by the idea of human solidarity as expressed politically through democracy rather than with a "culture of violence."

· Women's voices are being marginalized, and a process of inclusion should begin to correct this situation.

· The importance of the other can be attributed in large part to colonialism. After liberation from colonialism many people in the South continued to see themselves in the mirror of the West.

· The need to preserve cultural identity is being used by politicians in developing countries as a reason for refusing to implement democratic change.

The conference participants were shown shortened versions of two videos to provide a cultural, historical, and political framework for discussion of the factors affecting the development of the individual in the South:

· A twenty-minute excerpt of "Culture and Development," a fifty-two-minute video, written and narrated in English by Ismail Serageldin

· A thirty-seven-minute excerpt in English of "The South Slope of Liberty" ("Versant Sud de la Liberten), a two-hour video originally in French, written by Mahmoud Hussein, a pseudonym for Bahgat Elnadi and Adel Rifaat of Le Courier de l'UNESCO (The UNESCO Courier), which is published in thirty languages and distributed in 120 countries. The video is based on a book by Mahmoud Hussein. It originally aired on television in France. Elnadi and Rifaat were born in Egypt and are now French citizens.