Anybody who is politically active and discussed with others about the possibility of a different society will have heard arguments like 'what you want is all very nice but it will never work, that is just not the way people are'. Ecological activists are confronted with the question what human needs need to be fulfilled to ensure a good life. Anybody living in a society characterized by grotesque consumerism, commofidication of human relationships, the marginalization of cultural and sexual minorities, and increasingly precarious working conditions feels a need to develop values that can give direction to their lives.
To answer questions about values, human nature and material needs it is necessary to formulate a vision on what it means to be human, and on the development of human society. Instead of leading to constrictions on human freedom such a vision can give direction to human life and to new possibilities to change our lives. This will be theme of the lecture: 'The meaning and relevance of a socialist humanism' by the German historian and publicist Christoph Jünke.
Christoph Jünke is chairperson of the Leo Kofler-Gesellschaft and writer of 'Sozialistisches Strandgut', a biography of the German Marxist anthropologist Leo Kofler and 'Der lange Schatten des Stalinismus. Sozialismus und Demokratie gestern und heute'. He works at the Fernuniversität in Hagen.
Tuesday 27 september · 20:00 - 23:00
IIRE, Lombokstraat 40
Amsterdam
The lecture will be in English.