Writing in Dark Times
Through the voices of Patricia Evangelista, Carolin Emcke, Teju Cole, and Rebecca Solnit, this cycle aims to recover the word as an essential instrument for combatting dehumanisation of the world and opening up imaginaries for a future that gives centre stage to hope, justice, and life.
How can positive ideas of the future be recovered in a world that is increasingly dominated by the discourse of collapse? This question has long been a concern of thinkers, creators, and activists who have recognised the increasing difficulty of expressing hopeful views of the future when faced with the many crises of the present. The feelings of paralysis that assail us are due not only to today’s climatic, political, and social challenges, but also to the loss of motivating narratives that can sustain collective imaginaries of the future in such convulsive times. In the absence of these narratives, recovery of the word is becoming an essential way of reviving the ability to imagine, resist, and create community.
Through the voices of journalist Patricia Evangelista, winner of the AFP Kate Webb Prize for her reporting on situations of trauma and armed conflict; philosopher and journalist Carolin Emcke who, throughout her career has been concerned with hate speech and the importance of creating narratives with human life at their centre; writer and photographer Teju Cole who, through the language of art, will speak about dehumanization in today's world; and Rebecca Solnit, a reference in feminist and ecologist thought who calls for a long-term vision when dealing with present crises, this cycle invites us to challenge the stories that limit us, and to imagine futures that are more just and liberating.
