Is Democracy a phase-out model? • Is Human Dignity no longer inviolable? • Why are we missing a forward-looking crisis policy?
We are at a turning point, the world is in a state of major upheaval – and politics is short on political concepts and solutions. The civilizing project of democracy and the inviolability of human dignity are being called into question. The coronavirus crisis is bringing these developments into even sharper focus, acting like a contrast agent to reveal what is lacking in our society, what we have carelessly overlooked, deliberately ignored, or tolerated for too long.
The two distinguished intellectuals Michel Friedman and Harald Welzer provide precise and surprising analyses as well as instructions for how to keep our composure. Among the topics they discuss are:
• the powerful comeback of autocrats
• the return of the extreme right, nationalism, racism, and anti-Semitism
• social inequality, climate change and pandemics
They search not only for the causes of this crisis of erosion, but also for strategies for responsible, historically enlightened, and proactive policies. Drawing on their profound historical and socio-political knowledge, they also look to their own biographies to examine the contradictions of these challenging times. An invitation to take a stand and a call for stance in a time of major change!
