Societies like the U.S. are facing a significant democracy problem, with unprecedented divisions fueled by social media, populism, social inequality, unrest in response to racial violence and the intensification of individual isolation during the global pandemic. Insufficiently regulated by governments, the financialized global economy creates winners and losers and fuels toxic politics, with devastating consequences for our democracies. This is the recently updated and  expanded account of "democracy's discontent", by the well-known political philosopher Michael J. Sandel. His widely debated book of that title is now available in German. To reinvigorate democracy and detoxify politics, Sandel calls for an alternative to the current neoliberal vision of the economy, one that empowers citizens as participants in a shared public life.

Speakers

Michael J. Sandel is a Professor of Political Philosophy at Harvard University. His work links up enduring themes of political philosophy to the most vexing moral and civic questions of our time. Sandel's writings on topics such as justice, ethics, democracy, and markets have gained a global readership. His online lecture series on Justice has been viewed by tens of millions of people around the world, making him one of the most popular moral philosophers today.

Stefan Gosepath is Professor of Practical philosophy at Freie Universität Berlin and co-director of the collegiate research group 'Justitia Amplificata'. He is principal investigator at the Cluster of Excellence SCRIPTS as well as at further interdisciplinary research projects in Berlin. Gosepath's area of expertise is the link between moral philosophy and political theory. His research focuses on the role of equality and justice in political contexts and the tension between democracy and moral rights. He is a full member of the Academy of Sciences and Literature | Mainz.

An event of the Cluster of Excellence “Contestations of the Liberal Script (SCRIPTS)” and S. Fischer Verlag.

Programme

Lecture and Discussion/ Q&A, moderated by Stefan Gosepath.

About Michael J. Sandel's new book

”Democracy's Discontent” (Belknap Press 2022) is the fully revised and updated edition of Sandel's bestseller from 1996, now available in German for the first time as “Das Unbehagen in der Demokratie“ (S. Fischer Verlag 2023).