Charles Taylor on "Democracy and its Crisis" Walter-Benjamin-Lectures 2019 (Day 1)

17. Juni 2019 „Losing Faith in Democracy“
Respondent: Maeve Cooke (University College Dublin, Ireland)

In June 2019, the Humanities and Social Change Center Berlin launched its new event format, the annual Walter-Benjamin-Lectures. The Canadian philosopher Charles Taylor inaugurated the prominent series. In a sequence of three evening lectures (June 17th to 19th), Taylor addressed “Democracy and its Crises”, covering various forms of democratic deterioration, such as political alienation, increasing inequality, xenophobia and polarization, as well as possible ways out of crisis.

The first lecture examines certain vulnerabilities and susceptibilities to degeneration inherent to modern democracy. Democracies suffer from a potential slide towards disproportionate power of élites, they rely on unifying political identities which can easily slide towards the exclusion of certain citizens as non-members, and they allow for opposing factions to make temporary victories irreversible. In order to flourish or even survive, democracies, far from being automatically self-sustaining, have to go on dealing with these dangers.

The Benjamin-Lectures are named after the Berlin-born philosopher Walter Benjamin and dedicated to his intellectual integrity and political commitment in the face of historical catastrophe. Each year, inspired by the Amsterdam Spinoza-lectures as well as the “Adorno-Vorlesungen” in Frankfurt, the Benjamin-Lectures will bring one leading critical theorist to Berlin. His or her public lectures will allow for a broad audience to partake in the latest debates on social and political issues of core concern. Prior to the lectures, the invited speaker will hold the Walter-Benjamin-Chair at the HSC Center Berlin and spend up to three months in close cooperation with the HSC academic community.

The Humanities and Social Change Center Berlin was founded in 2018 at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and is directed by Rahel Jaeggi. Research at the Center focuses on the crises of democracy and capitalism, spanning from diagnostic observation to conceptual groundwork. Hosting event series, a fellowship-program, and multiple research projects, the Center is a place both for scholarly work and social engagement.

http://criticaltheoryinberlin.de/en/benjamin-lectures/

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