A debate (previously announced as Mind The Gap!*)

On equality and democracy and what is at stake for man and the world

There are quite a few yawning gaps these days: that between those with wealth and those without, between those who are on board and those who are excluded, between the salary of the CEO and that of the worker, the gap between ‘politics’ and the citizen, between ballot democracy and citizens’ participation, etc. The system is in crisis and the answers offered by the political world have so far been totally inadequate. A just transition is needed to close these gaps. As Richard Wilkinson has said: ‘Inequality is the greatest obstacle to achieving transition’.

Burning Ice and the Louis Paul Boon Circle will be developing this topic in a debate involving several specialists: Chantal Mouffe, a professor at the University of Westminster, known for her advocacy of an ‘agonistic’ politics, Jan Vranken, professor emeritus at the University of Antwerp, initiator of the social exclusion yearbooks and the Belgian Poverty Report, an expert in poverty issues and Philippe Van Parijs, philosopher (teaches at UCL, KUL and Oxford), native of Brussels and founder of the Basic Income Earth Network (BIEN).

They will discuss the topic of inequality at national and international levels and the crisis in democracy. The speakers will first give their arguments individually and will then talk about possible remedies, with Gie Goris in the chair.

A debate on a pressing issue, taking as its motto ‘Change the world, it needs it’ (Bertolt Brecht).