Climate, Capital and Democracy

Democracy is on the line today due to several overlapping crises that feed into one another. In parallel to the steady increase in social inequality, there has been growing citizen disillusionment with the democratic system and a rising popularity of the extreme right. In the background of these concerns is the ecological crisis, which currently serves as both a call to action and a target of denial on the part of movements that can be emancipatory, on the one hand, and authoritarian, on the other. How is the democratic community changing in the 21st century? What are its possible “futures” in an era characterized by weakening social ties? How do authoritarian movements incorporate the climate emergency and the eco-social crisis into their discourse to mobilize emotion?

This seminar will conclude, on 22 March, in an open debate with the public.

Thursday, March 21

09.30-09.40
Opening. Dilip Gaonkar and Camil Ungureanu

09.40-12.45
Panel 1. Rethinking the Social Question
The current crisis situation cannot be properly understood without examining the social question, nor can its treatment be reduced to just a political problem or an issue of economic growth. This panel brings together thinkers who have reflected, from a multidisciplinary perspective, on the obstacles currently affecting democratic progress.

Sofia Näsström / Craig Calhoun / Dilip Gaonkar 
Chair: David Casassas

14.30-17.30
Panel 2. Climate, Capital, and Democracy in the Anthopocene
Does the current condition of the Anthropocene have a historical and philosophical specificity? This panel focuses on a key issue – the climate crises of the Anthropocene – from the perspective of philosophy, political theory, and the social sciences.

Mukulika Banerjee / Lars Tønder / Miguel de Beistegui 
Chair: Just Serrano

17.30-18.30
Keynote: "Eco-pessimism and techno-optimism: Capitalizing on Climate Change", Robert Meister

Friday, March 22 

09.30-13.30
Panel 3. Imagining and Transforming Nature: Ecology, Far-Right, and Capital
In this final panel, we examine the new discursive practices and strategies being used by the far-right in continental Europe, where groups are appropriating debates related to the environmental crisis and offering fictitious “salvationist” solutions. Art experts, social scientists, and philosophers reflect on the rise of reactionary positions from the standpoint of the environmental crisis.

Steven Forti / Nausikaä El-Mecky / Mihaela Mihai / Camil Ungureanu / Alexandra Popartan  / Marc Sanjaume / Sofia Tipaldou 
Chair: Anna Clot-Garrell / Just Serrano