Past Events

	Title	Date	Type	Speakers
	How Does Scholarship Persuade?	Mon, 04.03.2019, 16:00	Seminars and Colloquia	Ewa Atanassow Geoffrey Harpham	How Does Scholarship Persuade? Mon, 04.03.2019, 16:00 Speakers: Ewa Atanassow Geoffrey Harpham Series: Seminars and Colloquia In this talk, Geoffrey Harpham identified as one of the main sources of authority in a scholarly argument an implicit–or, in some cases, explicit–conversion narrative. This narrative, in which the scholar confronts evidence that compels him or her to a conclusion very different from the expected one, is at the core of scholarship as such, and illuminates both the intimacy and the complexity of the relations between the practice of scholarship and the concept of freedom. His primary example was the work of Bernard Lategan, a scholar who became a key figure in the history of apartheid in South Africa. Read more
How Does Scholarship Persuade? Mon, 04.03.2019, 16:00 Speakers: Ewa Atanassow Geoffrey Harpham Series: Seminars and Colloquia In this talk, Geoffrey Harpham identified as one of the main sources of authority in a scholarly argument an implicit–or, in some cases, explicit–conversion narrative. This narrative, in which the scholar confronts evidence that compels him or her to a conclusion very different from the expected one, is at the core of scholarship as such, and illuminates both the intimacy and the complexity of the relations between the practice of scholarship and the concept of freedom. His primary example was the work of Bernard Lategan, a scholar who became a key figure in the history of apartheid in South Africa. Read more
	Changing Politics and Geopolitics	Tue, 26.02.2019, 18:00	Panels and Discussions	Robert Sawers	Changing Politics and Geopolitics What does it mean for Europe? Tue, 26.02.2019, 18:00 Speakers: Robert Sawers Series: Panels and Discussions President Trump has now survived his first test as US President and, barring serious findings from the Mueller Inquiry, he will run for a second term with reasonable prospects of winning. Like him or not, he is set to be the most consequential president for fifty years. An assessment of the implications of a return to the sort of great power politics that the United States is now pursuing, away from the rules based international order that Europe (and previous US Presidents) have nurtured since WWII. A look at how China and Russia are responding, and the implications for the Middle East. Read more
Changing Politics and Geopolitics What does it mean for Europe? Tue, 26.02.2019, 18:00 Speakers: Robert Sawers Series: Panels and Discussions President Trump has now survived his first test as US President and, barring serious findings from the Mueller Inquiry, he will run for a second term with reasonable prospects of winning. Like him or not, he is set to be the most consequential president for fifty years. An assessment of the implications of a return to the sort of great power politics that the United States is now pursuing, away from the rules based international order that Europe (and previous US Presidents) have nurtured since WWII. A look at how China and Russia are responding, and the implications for the Middle East. Read more
	Democracy and Conspiracy	Mon, 25.02.2019, 16:00	Seminars and Colloquia	Tobias Haberkorn	Democracy and Conspiracy On Contemporary Paranoia Mon, 25.02.2019, 16:00 Speakers: Tobias Haberkorn Series: Seminars and Colloquia Drawing on research about conspiracy theories and their communities, this talk aimed to elucidate a set of dilemmas that democratic societies find themselves in: The democratic quest for transparency, technocratic excellence, critique, certainty and control may well have undermined the foundations of democracy itself. While it is desirable to restore confidence in democratic institutions, we also have to ask ourselves if a society could be built on sustained mistrust. Read more
Democracy and Conspiracy On Contemporary Paranoia Mon, 25.02.2019, 16:00 Speakers: Tobias Haberkorn Series: Seminars and Colloquia Drawing on research about conspiracy theories and their communities, this talk aimed to elucidate a set of dilemmas that democratic societies find themselves in: The democratic quest for transparency, technocratic excellence, critique, certainty and control may well have undermined the foundations of democracy itself. While it is desirable to restore confidence in democratic institutions, we also have to ask ourselves if a society could be built on sustained mistrust. Read more
	Real Existing Post-Socialism	Mon, 18.02.2019, 16:00	Seminars and Colloquia	Marci Shore Muriel Blaive	Real Existing Post-Socialism The Czech Politics of Totalitarianism Mon, 18.02.2019, 16:00 Speakers: Marci Shore Muriel Blaive Series: Seminars and Colloquia In the colloquium Muriel Blaive outlined her book project on memory politics in the Czech Republic. She especially pondered on the conflation between memory and commemoration, research and activism, history and politics. The talk broached five aspects: 1) the totalitarian paradigm adapted to the post-1989 Czech terrain; 2) an epistemology of the secret police file, and its instrumentalization; 3) oral history studies and the apparent paradox between an outward detestation of communism and a genuine nostalgia for communist times; 4) the relationship between legal prescriptions and academic quality, i.e. the law and context surrounding the creation of the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes in 2007; and 5) a reflection on collective memory manufacturing. Read more
Real Existing Post-Socialism The Czech Politics of Totalitarianism Mon, 18.02.2019, 16:00 Speakers: Marci Shore Muriel Blaive Series: Seminars and Colloquia In the colloquium Muriel Blaive outlined her book project on memory politics in the Czech Republic. She especially pondered on the conflation between memory and commemoration, research and activism, history and politics. The talk broached five aspects: 1) the totalitarian paradigm adapted to the post-1989 Czech terrain; 2) an epistemology of the secret police file, and its instrumentalization; 3) oral history studies and the apparent paradox between an outward detestation of communism and a genuine nostalgia for communist times; 4) the relationship between legal prescriptions and academic quality, i.e. the law and context surrounding the creation of the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes in 2007; and 5) a reflection on collective memory manufacturing. Read more
	Vorhang auf oder Schotten dicht? Was bleibt von 1989?	Sun, 17.02.2019, 11:00	Panels and Discussions	Basil Kerski Ludger Hagedorn Noémi KissErhard Busek, Radek Knapp, Lisa Nimmervoll	Vorhang auf oder Schotten dicht? Was bleibt von 1989? Sun, 17.02.2019, 11:00 Speakers: Basil Kerski Ludger Hagedorn Noémi KissErhard Busek, Radek Knapp, Lisa Nimmervoll Series: Panels and Discussions Im Frühsommer 1989 bekam der Eiserne Vorhang erste Risse. Im November 1989 fiel symbolträchtig die Berliner Mauer, bis Jahresende verschwanden die alten Regime in der DDR, in Polen, Ungarn, in der Tschechoslowakei, in Bulgarien und Rumänien. Es war eine historische Zäsur – politisch, wirtschaftlich, gesellschaftlich. Plötzlich schienen Freiheit und Demokratie überall möglich, und das geteilte Europa sah sich als wiedervereint. Was aber wurde aus diesem historischen Aufbruch? Was ist geblieben von 1989? Read more
Vorhang auf oder Schotten dicht? Was bleibt von 1989? Sun, 17.02.2019, 11:00 Speakers: Basil Kerski Ludger Hagedorn Noémi KissErhard Busek, Radek Knapp, Lisa Nimmervoll Series: Panels and Discussions Im Frühsommer 1989 bekam der Eiserne Vorhang erste Risse. Im November 1989 fiel symbolträchtig die Berliner Mauer, bis Jahresende verschwanden die alten Regime in der DDR, in Polen, Ungarn, in der Tschechoslowakei, in Bulgarien und Rumänien. Es war eine historische Zäsur – politisch, wirtschaftlich, gesellschaftlich. Plötzlich schienen Freiheit und Demokratie überall möglich, und das geteilte Europa sah sich als wiedervereint. Was aber wurde aus diesem historischen Aufbruch? Was ist geblieben von 1989? Read more
	Svätopluk Mikyta: Die Monochrome. Überdenken der Vergangenheit, Interpretation der Gegenwart	Tue, 12.02.2019, 19:30	Visual and Performing Arts	Nina Schedlmayer	Svätopluk Mikyta: Die Monochrome. Überdenken der Vergangenheit, Interpretation der Gegenwart Exhibition Opening Tue, 12.02.2019, 19:30 Speakers: Nina Schedlmayer Series: Visual and Performing Arts In cooperation with the Institute for Human Sciences, Knoll Galerie Wien was showing a selection of works by the Slovakian artist Svätopluk Mikyta from his series “The Monochromes” at the IWM. Svätopluk Mikyta was born in Slovakia in 1973. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava and at the State Academy of Fine Arts in Stuttgart. He lives and works in Banska Stiavnica and Brno, where he heads the Graphics and Printing Department of the Faculty of Fine Arts at the Technical University in Brno. Read more
Svätopluk Mikyta: Die Monochrome. Überdenken der Vergangenheit, Interpretation der Gegenwart Exhibition Opening Tue, 12.02.2019, 19:30 Speakers: Nina Schedlmayer Series: Visual and Performing Arts In cooperation with the Institute for Human Sciences, Knoll Galerie Wien was showing a selection of works by the Slovakian artist Svätopluk Mikyta from his series “The Monochromes” at the IWM. Svätopluk Mikyta was born in Slovakia in 1973. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava and at the State Academy of Fine Arts in Stuttgart. He lives and works in Banska Stiavnica and Brno, where he heads the Graphics and Printing Department of the Faculty of Fine Arts at the Technical University in Brno. Read more
	Aid in Times of Crisis, the Crisis of Aid	Tue, 12.02.2019, 18:00	Lecture	Ilija Trojanow	Aid in Times of Crisis, the Crisis of Aid Tue, 12.02.2019, 18:00 Speakers: Ilija Trojanow Series: Lecture Aid is still regarded as an important instrument for human development, nationally and internationally. Yet, the nature of aid, its structuring and implementation has changed considerably in recent years. It has been increasingly integrated into the financial and economic system, giving rise to a thriving new industry dealing in „social bonds“ and „social business“, thus in social profiteering. The focus is on resilience, efficiency, immediacy as opposed to solidarity, human rights and profound structural change. Based on research in a dozen countries on four continents, the novelist and essayist Ilija Trojanow described these wide-ranging changes as well as some sucessful examples of substantial and sustainable transformation. Read more
Aid in Times of Crisis, the Crisis of Aid Tue, 12.02.2019, 18:00 Speakers: Ilija Trojanow Series: Lecture Aid is still regarded as an important instrument for human development, nationally and internationally. Yet, the nature of aid, its structuring and implementation has changed considerably in recent years. It has been increasingly integrated into the financial and economic system, giving rise to a thriving new industry dealing in „social bonds“ and „social business“, thus in social profiteering. The focus is on resilience, efficiency, immediacy as opposed to solidarity, human rights and profound structural change. Based on research in a dozen countries on four continents, the novelist and essayist Ilija Trojanow described these wide-ranging changes as well as some sucessful examples of substantial and sustainable transformation. Read more
	Modern Cruelty	Mon, 11.02.2019, 16:00	Seminars and Colloquia	Wolfgang Müller-FunkClemens Ruthner	Modern Cruelty A Close Reading of Ernst Jünger´s Essay "Der Arbeiter" Mon, 11.02.2019, 16:00 Speakers: Wolfgang Müller-FunkClemens Ruthner Series: Seminars and Colloquia This lecture was part of a research project which is focused on discourses on cruelty that means on a form of an organized speech that legitimates cruelty as a positive or at least as an unavoidable element of life and is essential for male identity. It is connected with a ‘realism’ arguing that cruelty is – in contrast to Sigmund Freud´s theory of death drive – a productive and creative phenomenon of culture, society and (everyday) life. One year before the Machtergreifung,” Ernst Jünger, the proponent of the “Conservative Revolution” depicts a political vision of an inexorable post-bourgeois world, in which fight and war are constitutive pillows of a new civilisation structured like a modern army. In Jünger’s utopia technique and war fits together on a discourse one could call ‘ethics of cruelty’. It is represented by the modern worker, a male-machine archetype insensitive to suffering and pain. Read more
Modern Cruelty A Close Reading of Ernst Jünger´s Essay "Der Arbeiter" Mon, 11.02.2019, 16:00 Speakers: Wolfgang Müller-FunkClemens Ruthner Series: Seminars and Colloquia This lecture was part of a research project which is focused on discourses on cruelty that means on a form of an organized speech that legitimates cruelty as a positive or at least as an unavoidable element of life and is essential for male identity. It is connected with a ‘realism’ arguing that cruelty is – in contrast to Sigmund Freud´s theory of death drive – a productive and creative phenomenon of culture, society and (everyday) life. One year before the Machtergreifung,” Ernst Jünger, the proponent of the “Conservative Revolution” depicts a political vision of an inexorable post-bourgeois world, in which fight and war are constitutive pillows of a new civilisation structured like a modern army. In Jünger’s utopia technique and war fits together on a discourse one could call ‘ethics of cruelty’. It is represented by the modern worker, a male-machine archetype insensitive to suffering and pain. Read more
	Europe’s Far Right on the Rise	Mon, 04.02.2019, 16:00	Panels and Discussions	Luke Cooper Ruth WodakZoe Williams, Rafał Pankowski	Europe’s Far Right on the Rise Defending Democracy, Promoting Alternatives Mon, 04.02.2019, 16:00 Speakers: Luke Cooper Ruth WodakZoe Williams, Rafał Pankowski Series: Panels and Discussions European polities are facing a challenge from the far right unprecedented in the post-WW2 era. This new fascism is well financed, transnational and intent on turning the clock backwards on democracy, human rights, and the freedoms of minorities. They also often promote climate change denial at this dangerous moment for the ecological future of our planet, wrapping this up in a narrative of opposition to ‘experts’ and ‘elites’. Capitalising on xenophobic attitudes, and promoting a politics attune to a sense of lost ethnic privilege and resentment, the rise of the far right poses a major challenge for democratic and progressive forces. How do we analyse the causes of far right radicalisation? What steps can we take to address this ‘politics of fear’? And what alternatives are needed? And how can civil society and progressive parties respond? This event brought together campaigners, journalists, academics and politicians from across Europe in a reflective dialogue on these questions. Read more
Europe’s Far Right on the Rise Defending Democracy, Promoting Alternatives Mon, 04.02.2019, 16:00 Speakers: Luke Cooper Ruth WodakZoe Williams, Rafał Pankowski Series: Panels and Discussions European polities are facing a challenge from the far right unprecedented in the post-WW2 era. This new fascism is well financed, transnational and intent on turning the clock backwards on democracy, human rights, and the freedoms of minorities. They also often promote climate change denial at this dangerous moment for the ecological future of our planet, wrapping this up in a narrative of opposition to ‘experts’ and ‘elites’. Capitalising on xenophobic attitudes, and promoting a politics attune to a sense of lost ethnic privilege and resentment, the rise of the far right poses a major challenge for democratic and progressive forces. How do we analyse the causes of far right radicalisation? What steps can we take to address this ‘politics of fear’? And what alternatives are needed? And how can civil society and progressive parties respond? This event brought together campaigners, journalists, academics and politicians from across Europe in a reflective dialogue on these questions. Read more
	Marx, Colonialism, and India	Mon, 28.01.2019, 16:00	Seminars and Colloquia	Ranabir Samaddar	Marx, Colonialism, and India Mon, 28.01.2019, 16:00 Speakers: Ranabir Samaddar Series: Seminars and Colloquia The ways in which the colony features in Marx’s thoughts as an object of knowledge also make the colony a part of the global history of capital, and goes beyond the usual binary of colonialism/nationalism or colony/nation. It also forces us to think of associated questions of primitive accumulation, borders, universalism, concrete, etc. Colonies were founded not merely by nations; they emerged in the time of empires in whose history the given history of the nation form was scripted. Marx repeatedly raised the problematic of capitalist expansion in the time of colonialism and also raised the issue of colonial governance. In this way his writings on colonialism, particularly colonialism in India, suggested the need to study the history of modern governance that combines coercion and management of conditions of accumulation. Read more
Marx, Colonialism, and India Mon, 28.01.2019, 16:00 Speakers: Ranabir Samaddar Series: Seminars and Colloquia The ways in which the colony features in Marx’s thoughts as an object of knowledge also make the colony a part of the global history of capital, and goes beyond the usual binary of colonialism/nationalism or colony/nation. It also forces us to think of associated questions of primitive accumulation, borders, universalism, concrete, etc. Colonies were founded not merely by nations; they emerged in the time of empires in whose history the given history of the nation form was scripted. Marx repeatedly raised the problematic of capitalist expansion in the time of colonialism and also raised the issue of colonial governance. In this way his writings on colonialism, particularly colonialism in India, suggested the need to study the history of modern governance that combines coercion and management of conditions of accumulation. Read more

Past Events

Current Fellows' research