A Chance for the Politics of Tomorrow

Democratic institutions in Western countries are undermined by an unprecedented legitimacy crisis. Over the decades, the professionalization of political careers, the socio-economic homogeneity among elected representatives, and the absence of rotation in office have made politics a world unto itself.

This “democratic fatigue syndrome”, which David van Reybrouck mentions in his book Against Elections, is a disorder that affects countless Western societies. However, it has not yet been fully described and analysed.

The phenomenon blights our societies, it causes disinterest in politics and the emergence of populist and anti-democratic movements. Why is this happening? How can we find solutions to break through this impasse and boost the engagement of citizens in public life? In a nutshell: how can we reset democracy?

With regard to these issues, we have invited historians, political scientists, journalists and essayists to take part in a series of public debates. The aim of these debates is to exchange views, analyse the situation and propose a cure for democracy, the great invalid of the Western world.
 

Programme

Tuesday 21st February 2017 - 8PM
NEW MOVEMENTS IN THE FACE OF GLOBALIZATION: A REAWAKENING OF POLITICAL COMMITMENT?
With: Caroline Hornstein-Tomic & Massimiliano Tomba
Moderator: Enrico Ippolito

Caroline Hornstein-Tomic is Head of the Operative Department at the Federal Agency for Civic Education based in Bonn. She holds a PhD in sociology and worked as a researcher in the fields of migration, gender and identity politics, state-building and transformation processes in Central and Southeast Europe.

Massimiliano Tomba is an Italian philosopher. He has worked as a researcher and teacher at the University of Padua. His research interests concern modern political philosophy, modern and contemporary political thought, critical theory, and theories of the modern state.

Tuesday 14th March 2017 - 8PM
POLITICAL PARTICIPATION AND DIGITALIZATION: RISK OR OPPORTUNITY FOR OUR DEMOCRACY?
With: Luca De Biase & Constanze Kurz
Moderator: Jacopo Barigazzi

Luca De Biase is a historian, author, and journalist of the Italian daily Il Sole 24 Ore. He is the founder and editor of Nòva24, the weekly technology and new media insert of Il Sole 24 Ore. He teaches at the University Bocconi in Milan, and at the Universities of Padua, Pisa and Trieste.

Constanze Kurz is a German journalist and essayist. She has written and edited several books on the effects of new technologies and digitalization on our lives and on our future. In 2013 she was awarded the Theodor Heuss Medal for exemplary democratic behaviour.

Monday 20th March 2017 - 8PM
PASSIONS AND POLITICS: HOW CAN WE REACQUIRE DEMOCRATIC ENDEAVOR?
With: Carolin Emcke & Paul Ginsborg
Moderator: Ralph Bollmann

Carolin Emcke is a renowned German writer and journalist. From 1998 to 2003, she traveled to conflict regions and wrote about what she witnessed for the weekly magazine Der Spiegel. In 2016 she received the prestigious Peace Prize of the German Book Trade.

Paul Ginsborg is a historian and a leading authority on contemporary Italy. He taught European Politics at Cambridge University, before moving to Italy in 1992 to take up the chair of Contemporary European History at the University of Florence.