Vienna Humanities Festival

Unheil und Hoffnung | Hope and Despair
Festivals

The theme of the fourth Vienna Humanities Festival was "Hope and Despair." Focal points included the year 1989 and its consequences, scientific innovation, and the future of society. Religion and radicalization, as well as the relevance of humanism for the present political situation were also discussed in depth.

We are in the midst of several interlinked global crises. Longstanding principles of rational politics have given way to ever increasing emotionalism; democracies seem to dismantle themselves in the face of authoritarian regimes; fears of economic recession and the effects of new technologies and automation loom large. Thirty years after the end of communism in Eastern Europe, liberal democracy has long ceased to be a self-evident goal. With so much despair, the prospects for hope are more urgent than ever. How can we move toward realizing more desirable futures? And what are the lessons we can learn from earlier forms of resistance. The fourth Vienna Humanities Festival took up these burning questions in 40 events that bring together leading figures from the world of academia, art, and culture.

Program and details: www.humanitiesfestival.at 

A project of the IWM, Time to Talk and Wien Museum.

Agenda

Paradox Europa: In Memoriam Ágnes Heller
(Im Rahmen der Wiener Vorlesungen)
Shalini Randeria, Ludger Hagedorn, Paul Lendvai
Lisa Nimmervoll
Begrüßung: Veronica Kaup-Hasler

Social Networks or Social Nightmares?
Roger McNamee, Evgeny Morozov, Max Schrems
Shalini Randeria

In Times of Political Change, What Role for the Arts?
Leon Botstein
Dessy Gavrilova

Demographie und die Zukunft der Wohlfahrtsgesellschaft
Bernd Marin
Andreas Schnauder

Das Unheil des Überreichtums
Martin Schürz
Shalini Randeria

Hope and Despair in Israel / Palestine
Avraham Burg
Gudrun Harrer

Biomedizin und die Zukunft der Gesundheit
Josef Penninger
Karin Pollack

Kann internationale Politik die Natur noch retten?
Alice Vadrot
Miloš Vec

Ski-Nation Österreich: #YouToo
Nicola Werdenigg
Johann Skocek

Der Kampf gegen anti-muslimischen Rassismus
Rami Ali
Eric Frey

Es ist wieder Donnerstag!
Jelena Gučanin, Can Gülcü, Michaela Moser
Cathrin Kahlweit

Wie pessimistisch soll man sein?
Hans Rauscher
Robert Misik

VinziRast und andere Plätze für Menschlichkeit
Cecily Corti
Lisa Mayr

HUNGARY 2018: Director’s Talk
Eszter Hajdú
Anja Salomonowitz, Mirjam Unger

The Light that Failed
Ivan Krastev
Eric Frey

What Went Wrong in Hungary?
Márton Gulyás
Dessy Gavrilova

Das Solidarność-Zentrum: Europas Erinnerung und Zukunft
Basil Kerski
Lisa Nimmervoll

Eine Sache des Glaubens
Michael Bünker
Brigitte Krautgartner

Mundtot: Der gefährliche Kampf um die Pressefreiheit
Rubina Möhring
Matti Bunzl

Antisemitism: Russia, Then and Now
Laura Engelstein
Matti Bunzl

Werden Social EntrepreneurInnen die Welt retten?
Marie Ringler
Florian Pollack

Selbstfahrende Autos und die Stadt der Zukunft
Mathias Mitteregger
Wojciech Czaja

When Nations Panic
Michael Geyer
Ayşe Çağlar

Hope, Despair, and Humor in Politics
Andrei Kurkov
Katherine Younger

Die Klimakrise - unsere Entscheidung
Helga Kromp-Kolb
Karl Kienzl

Gefangen in Erdoğans Türkei
Max Zirngast
Raimund Löw

Gandhi heute
Ilija Trojanow
Shalini Randeria

CHAOS: Gespräch zum Film
Sara Fattahi
Dominik Kamalzadeha

Aufruf zur Revolution der Wirtschaftswissenschaft
Christian Felber
Martina Bachler

Das Rote Wien
Werner Michael Schwarz
Johann Skocek

Hope and Despair in the Former Yugoslavia
Ivan Vejvodaz
Jon Baskin

Understanding the Illiberal Turn in Central Europe
Pavel Barša
Ludger Hagedorn