We all know what 9/11 stands for. But what is the meaning of 9/15? On September 15, 2008, the major American bank Lehman Brothers went bankrupt; its collapse marked the beginning of the economic crisis. One year after Lehman, the IWM invited researchers and politicians to discuss the societal consequences of the crash. During a Tischner Debate in Warsaw it became clear that while the financial crisis is unlikely to end capitalism, it may undermine the economic model of self-regulating markets. Roman Frydman and Michael Goldberg argue that this model has failed, on page 13 of this iwmpost. Not just the market’s “invisible hand” has lost credibility, but also the policies of moderate leftists in Europe. The conference “Social Solidarity and the Crisis of Economic Capitalism” asked for the reasons behind this development. Robert Kuttner’s article on pages 1, 4 and 5 provides some answers.
As we all know the Copenhagen Summit did not save the planet from climate change; Copenhagen did not become “Hopenhagen.” In their guest contributions, Franz Fischler and Paweł Świeboda outline the future of climate policy. They call for a second industrial revolution to bring about a low-emission global economy.
However, 2009 was not just a year of crisis, it was also a year of retrospection. In 1989 the Berlin Wall fell and Europe was reunited. Still, a common history of the postwar era, accepted by both Western and Eastern Europeans, has yet to be written. Twenty years after the Fall of the Wall, the conference “Tomorrow’s Yesterday” showed that such a common history is possible only if objective historiography takes the place of particular national narratives. On page 7, Slavenka Drakulic, discussing the example of former Yugoslavia, describes the frightening alternative to objectivity: the creation and proliferation of myths.
The Roma are commonly ignored in Europe’s history. Few seem to notice that they are facing increasing racist violence. Milena Jesenská Fellow Lisa Bjurwald wrote a jolting feature on hateful politicians, an ignorant public, and the fear of the Roma; you can find it on page 14.
I hope you enjoy reading,
Sven Hartwig
Download the IWMpost 102 as a PDF
Content
Reason, God, Love, Death – In Memoriam of Leszek Kołakowski
The Crisis of the Left / by Robert Kuttner
Conference on Memory
Tomorrow’s Yesterday / by Csilla Kiss
Tito Between Legend & Thriller / by Slavenka Drakulic
Debates and Lectures
Militant Rhetorics, Soviet Assassinations, Globalized Women, Phenomenology in Europe – Monthly Lectures
Climate and Solidarity, Art and Politics – Lecture Series
Balkan Perspectives, the Habsburg Empire, Equality Policies, Memory and Identity – Further Events
Tischner Debates in Warsaw
Market Mysticism / by Roman Frydman and Michael D. Goldberg
From the Fellows
Unwanted by All–by Lisa Bjurwald
Fellows and Guests, Varia
Publications
Guest Contributions on Climate Politics
Was zu tun ist–von Franz Fischler
Revolution in the Making–by Paweł Świeboda
