Finishes: 30 April 2019, 16:00
Venue: Birkbeck Clore Management Centre, B01
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Event description:
Our situation is dangerous, there are uncertainties and elements of chaos in our environment, in international relations, in biotechnology, in sexual relations… But it is here that we should remember Mao’s old motto: “There is great disorder under heaven, so the situation is excellent!”
Let’s not lose nerve, let’s exploit the confusion as a chance to propose a new radical vision.
In January 2019, an international team of scientists proposed “a diet that says can improve health while ensuring sustainable food production to reduce further damage to the planet.” We are talking about a radical reorganization of our entire food production and distribution – so how do we do it? Is it not clear that a strong global agency is needed with the power to coordinate such measures? And does not such an agency point in the direction of what we once called “Communism”? And does the same not hold for other threats to our survival as humans? Is a similar global agency not also needed to deal with the exploding problem of refugees and immigrants, with the problem of digital control over our lives? Let’s not be afraid to tackle the problem of the new order that the ongoing disorder is calling for.
Day 1: Monday 29th April: “Was Antigone a man? Masculinity and other toxic entities.”
Day 2: Tuesday 30th April: “Nomadic proletarians? No, thanks!”
Suggested Reading
Slavoj Zizek, Chapter 1, LIKE A THIEF IN BROAD DAYLIGHT (Allen 2019).
Slavoj Žižek, International Director, Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities
World-renowned public intellectual Professor Slavoj Zizek has published over 50 books (translated into 20 languages) on topics ranging from philosophy and Freudian and Lacanian psychoanalysis, to theology, film, opera and politics, including Lacan in Hollywood and The Fragile Absolute. He was a candidate for, and nearly won, the Presidency of his native Slovenia in the first democratic elections after the break-up of Yugoslavia in 1990. Although courted by many universities in the US, he resisted offers until the International Directorship of Birkbeck's Centre came up. Believing that 'Political issues are too serious to be left only to politicians', Zizek aims to promote the role of the public intellectual, to be intellectually active and to address the larger public.
