There will be an exciting lecture series inspired by Polanyi’s concept of countermovements in Vienna and Linz in the coming months. I’m posting a short blurb below. More on the series, including the program, can be found here: https://www.vhs.at/de/gegenbewegungen I’ve the honor to act as moderator at one evening entitled: Rehabilitating the Sharing Economy. It will include a lecture by Juliet Schor, among other speakers. More info here: https://www.vhs.at/de/k/558563037

COUNTERMOVEMENTS
The lecture series takes up Karl Polanyi‘s motif of COUNTERMOVEMENTS in order to critically examine the social struggles of our time as responses to a market capitalism that has gotten out of control and to reflect on alternative designs and visions of a sustainable and just societal development.

Putting the economy in its place (March-June 2021)
Many societal problems are caused by misunderstanding the economy as a market economy and thus making ecological and social concerns secondary. Very often the particular structure of the economy proves to be destructive, which is why the first part of the series will take a closer look at alternatives.

Capitalism and democracy (October-December 2021)
Whereas the welfare capitalism of the second half of the last century was accompanied by an expansion of democracy, the latter has recently been contested in new ways. The second part of the lecture series will discuss current developments and show, how democracy is endangered nowadays and how the democratisation of society has again become the object of social struggles.