Lecture, discussion
Democracy Lecture 2017: Wendy Brown – Democracy under Attack: Apocalyptic Populism
With Wendy Brown, Ulrike Beate Guérot, Micha Brumlik, Moderated by Mathias Greffrath
An archetype of Homo Oeconomicus occupies the White House: for Donald Trump, democracy is an enemy of “free markets“ and all that counts successful is the uncompromising deal. Trump’s strongest weapon is an apocalyptic populism which fuels aggressive nationalist movements. Their goal is to abolish the democratic order: the rule of law, its institutions and the so-called “establishment.” What are the consequences of this devastating campaign against democracy? And how can it be stopped? Did Europe find viable answers in Emmanuel Macron and Jeremy Corbyn?
After lectures by Thomas Piketty (2014), Naomi Klein (2015), and Paul Mason (2016) Blätter für deutsche und internationale Politik dedicates its fourth Democracy Lecture to the threatened future of democracy. Following the lecture, Wendy Brown will be joined for a discussion by political scientist Ulrike Beate Guérot and Blätter co-editor Micha Brumlik moderated by Mathias Greffath.
Wendy Brown is one of the most pugnacious and prominent contemporary intellectuals. She is Professor for Political Science at the University of California in Berkeley. In her most recent book Undoing the Demos: Neoliberalism’s Stealth Revolution, published in 2015, she analyzes how neoliberalism produces the Homo Oeconomicus and destroys democracy. Brown’s works have been translated into more than twenty languages.
Democracy Lecture of the Blätter für deutsche und internationale Politik in cooperation with Haus der Kulturen der Welt.
With kind support from Suhrkamp Verlag
