World Social Summit promoted by Fondazione Roma.

Rome, 20 June 2008 - Sociologists Anthony Giddens and Zygmunt Bauman, economist Jacques Attali, Nobel laureate and economist Gary Becker, psychologist James Hillman, architect Massimiliano Fuksas, scientist Edoardo Boncinelli and writer Roberto Saviano will be amongst the leading guests at the World Social Summit to be held in Rome from 24 to 26 September 2008.

The initiative is being promoted by Fondazione Roma, a leading Italian foundation chaired by Prof. Emmanuele F.M. Emanuele, and being put on in collaboration with Fondazione Censis. The Summit also enjoys the High Patronage of the President of the Italian Republic and sponsorship by the Italian Foreign Affairs Ministry. The objective is to create a setting where it is possible have a debate and discussion involving internationally known Nobel prize winners, researchers, scholars and entrepreneurs, thereby helping to lay the groundwork so that future society is better able to face its fears.

This world summit focusing on global fears will take place over three days.

One subject of study will be our relationship with globalisation in its various aspects - social, multicultural, economic - in order to understand to what extent fear is inevitable and to what extent it is a "genetic" trait of more advanced societies. Moreover, discussions will also focus on the extent to which this fear is fuelled by flows between the world's northern and southern regions.

The summit will also analyse the mechanisms of communication that currently regulate how fears come into being and are dealt with. In actual fact, many of society's most widespread fears are not based on real threats or objective risks. Rather, they are the product of a diffused state of vulnerability, a existential sign of our times. The Summit's objective is to understand who causes this condition, who has an economic, political or media-based interest in fuelling it and, in what way language and communication can amplify fears.

A special, separate session will be devoted to the topic of safety concerns in large cities. Cities are the places where modern fears are condensed most. Based on the results of a survey carried out by Censis in ten cities around the world, an analysis will be given to the real situation in urban centres and what steps and measures have been implemented to reduce safety problems and concerns.

Finally, attention will be turned to the future of fears by trying to analyse the projection of individual anxieties and the role of science and technology in both generating and combating fears.

It is possible to take part in the WSS by registering on the website www.worldsocialsummit.org, where it is also possible to see a programme of the summit's planned events.