The world has been undergoing unprecedented transformations over the past two decades. Historical time has accelerated and thickened at the same time as a result of political, social, and economic challenges which led to new configurations of power on the global and local levels: the ongoing economic crisis, the collapse of welfare systems, the rise of obscene leaders on the global politics scene, the return of nationalism and various articulations of the far right, the pandemic and its instrumentalization for the suppression of democratic rights across the world. The list is certainly not exhaustive, yet it gives an idea of the tremendous transition that late modernity is undergoing in the West and beyond: bedrock assumptions of the political systems in the West, such as equality, democratization, or human rights face a systematic attack in the name of “security”, “economic development”, or the protection of “our European way of life”. Poverty is once again on the rise, but its demonization seems to be on the rise as well, via the re-emergence of a discourse that reproduces the unapologetic class-related discrimination of the 19th century.
Responses have been sporadic – albeit impressive and with global resonance, such as the Black Lives Matter movement. The question “what is to be done?” seems more pressing than ever, as the 21^st century seem to have dealt heavy blows to the egalitarian promise of the 20^th century. Is there still space for a politics of liberation in the current predicament? And what this politics may look like?  In this perspective, our seminar proposes to open-up an intellectual meeting space for citizens, academics, activists, artists, students and anyone interested in exploring alternatives for a politics of emancipation. This is not only a call to examine the current forms of anti-capitalist resistance but also a call for thinking through difficult times and approaching the issue from a multiplicity of fields and positions, such as politics, epistemology, theory, history, or art.
Having Greece as our entry point for these discussions, the “politics of Liberation” seminar series hopes to open up a global debate with regards to current political developments and to make the South, and in particular Athens where we are based, a centre for thinking together in challenging times.