Events / Program: Guests of the Institute

	Title	Date	Type	Speakers
	Liberalism Challenged: Debating the Causes That Weaken Liberalism, and Illiberalism’s Amplifying Feedback Loop Effect	Mon, 22.01.2024	Seminars and Colloquia	Clemena Antonova Yavor Siderov Marlene Laruelle	Liberalism Challenged: Debating the Causes That Weaken Liberalism, and Illiberalism’s Amplifying Feedback Loop Effect Mon, 22.01.2024 Speakers: Clemena Antonova Yavor Siderov Marlene Laruelle Series: Seminars and Colloquia This presentation discussed the different forms of challenges that liberalism is facing today. It looked at the structural causes that weaken liberalism or contest its hegemonic status in the Global North. It also analyzed an amplifying feedback loop, that is, that illiberalism is not the cause weakening liberal values but a product of this weakening, which it accelerates. Read more
Liberalism Challenged: Debating the Causes That Weaken Liberalism, and Illiberalism’s Amplifying Feedback Loop Effect Mon, 22.01.2024 Speakers: Clemena Antonova Yavor Siderov Marlene Laruelle Series: Seminars and Colloquia This presentation discussed the different forms of challenges that liberalism is facing today. It looked at the structural causes that weaken liberalism or contest its hegemonic status in the Global North. It also analyzed an amplifying feedback loop, that is, that illiberalism is not the cause weakening liberal values but a product of this weakening, which it accelerates. Read more
	“Architects of the Better World”: The Birth of the International Parliamentary Complex (1918–1998)	Mon, 04.09.2023	Seminars and Colloquia	Daniel Quiroga-Villamarin Ivan Vejvoda	“Architects of the Better World”: The Birth of the International Parliamentary Complex (1918–1998) Mon, 04.09.2023 Speakers: Daniel Quiroga-Villamarin Ivan Vejvoda Series: Seminars and Colloquia In this presentation, Daniel Quiroga-Villamarin argued that the “architecture of international cooperation” is a relevant question for international legal history. Instead of taking purpose-built environments for granted, he traced a genealogy of the emergence of the international parliamentary complex as a spatial technology of global governance (1918–1998). Read more
“Architects of the Better World”: The Birth of the International Parliamentary Complex (1918–1998) Mon, 04.09.2023 Speakers: Daniel Quiroga-Villamarin Ivan Vejvoda Series: Seminars and Colloquia In this presentation, Daniel Quiroga-Villamarin argued that the “architecture of international cooperation” is a relevant question for international legal history. Instead of taking purpose-built environments for granted, he traced a genealogy of the emergence of the international parliamentary complex as a spatial technology of global governance (1918–1998). Read more
	Bringing Beauty into Life: How Soviet Workers Discovered Aesthetics after Stalin	Mon, 22.05.2023	Seminars and Colloquia	Clemena Antonova Serguei OushakineFranz Graf	Bringing Beauty into Life: How Soviet Workers Discovered Aesthetics after Stalin Mon, 22.05.2023 Speakers: Clemena Antonova Serguei OushakineFranz Graf Series: Seminars and Colloquia In his talk, Oushakine focused on one aspect of late Soviet materiality: by reading closely materials published in the 1960s–1970s, he showed how Soviet sociologists, urbanists, and designers tried (though ultimately failed) to transform new mass apartments into an effectively constructed material ecosystem. Material aesthetics - not ideology - was seen as a major force that could productively shape the perceptions and demands of the Soviet individual. Read more
Bringing Beauty into Life: How Soviet Workers Discovered Aesthetics after Stalin Mon, 22.05.2023 Speakers: Clemena Antonova Serguei OushakineFranz Graf Series: Seminars and Colloquia In his talk, Oushakine focused on one aspect of late Soviet materiality: by reading closely materials published in the 1960s–1970s, he showed how Soviet sociologists, urbanists, and designers tried (though ultimately failed) to transform new mass apartments into an effectively constructed material ecosystem. Material aesthetics - not ideology - was seen as a major force that could productively shape the perceptions and demands of the Soviet individual. Read more
	Destroying Democracy by Law	Tue, 25.04.2023	Lecture	Kim Scheppele Misha Glenny	Destroying Democracy by Law Tue, 25.04.2023 Speakers: Kim Scheppele Misha Glenny Series: Lecture Until 2005, the number of democracies in the world had been steadily increasing; however, since that date, the number has declined. Even robust democracies are now showing signs of weakness and some have turned into hybrid regimes suspended between democracy and autocracy. What is killing off the world’s democracies, and what can be done about it? Read more
Destroying Democracy by Law Tue, 25.04.2023 Speakers: Kim Scheppele Misha Glenny Series: Lecture Until 2005, the number of democracies in the world had been steadily increasing; however, since that date, the number has declined. Even robust democracies are now showing signs of weakness and some have turned into hybrid regimes suspended between democracy and autocracy. What is killing off the world’s democracies, and what can be done about it? Read more
	Prelude to Ukraine: Russia's Intervention in the Syrian Civil War	Mon, 17.04.2023	Seminars and Colloquia	Itamar Rabinovich Ivan Krastev	Prelude to Ukraine: Russia's Intervention in the Syrian Civil War Mon, 17.04.2023 Speakers: Itamar Rabinovich Ivan Krastev Series: Seminars and Colloquia The talk outlined Russia's intervention, in league with Iran, in the Syrian civil war and its role in enabling Bashar al Assad to remain in power in a truncated Syria. Read more

	War, Work and Want: How OPEC Caused Mass Migration and Revolution	Tue, 11.04.2023	Lecture	Ivan Vejvoda Randall Hansen	War, Work and Want: How OPEC Caused Mass Migration and Revolution Tue, 11.04.2023 Speakers: Ivan Vejvoda Randall Hansen Series: Lecture In the early 1970s, there was every reason to believe that large-scale immigration to Europe and America would end. In fact, global migration has tripled. This lecture asked why. Read more

	Christ the Savior – Orthodoxy’s Ground Zero	Mon, 27.03.2023	Seminars and Colloquia	Lucy Ash Misha Glenny	Christ the Savior – Orthodoxy’s Ground Zero Mon, 27.03.2023 Speakers: Lucy Ash Misha Glenny Series: Seminars and Colloquia Using stories of individual priests, individual churches and individual cities, Ash traced the story of the Russian Orthodox Church back to its roots one thousand years ago and to show that, whatever the violent and extreme changes of political power, those at the top of the church have done whatever it takes to curry favor. Read more
Christ the Savior – Orthodoxy’s Ground Zero Mon, 27.03.2023 Speakers: Lucy Ash Misha Glenny Series: Seminars and Colloquia Using stories of individual priests, individual churches and individual cities, Ash traced the story of the Russian Orthodox Church back to its roots one thousand years ago and to show that, whatever the violent and extreme changes of political power, those at the top of the church have done whatever it takes to curry favor. Read more
	Music in Flight: The "Jewish Express" and the Bolivian Cantata	Mon, 20.03.2023	Seminars and Colloquia	Andrea Orzoff Ludger Hagedorn	Music in Flight: The "Jewish Express" and the Bolivian Cantata Mon, 20.03.2023 Speakers: Andrea Orzoff Ludger Hagedorn Series: Seminars and Colloquia This talk presented in Bolivian miniature the larger arguments of Andrea Orzoff’s book manuscript, Music in Flight: Migration from Hitler’s Europe and Musical Politics in Latin America. The author begun with the story of Erich Eisner, a Prague German who directed Bolivia’s national orchestra, examining the ironies of Eisner’s Bolivian career. Through Eisner, Orzoff visited the chaotic mass migration to Bolivia, the country’s troubled modernization, and the dissemination of scientific racism and eugenics-inflected antisemitism to Latin America. Read more
Music in Flight: The "Jewish Express" and the Bolivian Cantata Mon, 20.03.2023 Speakers: Andrea Orzoff Ludger Hagedorn Series: Seminars and Colloquia This talk presented in Bolivian miniature the larger arguments of Andrea Orzoff’s book manuscript, Music in Flight: Migration from Hitler’s Europe and Musical Politics in Latin America. The author begun with the story of Erich Eisner, a Prague German who directed Bolivia’s national orchestra, examining the ironies of Eisner’s Bolivian career. Through Eisner, Orzoff visited the chaotic mass migration to Bolivia, the country’s troubled modernization, and the dissemination of scientific racism and eugenics-inflected antisemitism to Latin America. Read more
	Move Over, Mona Lisa. Move Over, Jane Eyre: Making the World’s Universities, Museums, and Libraries More Welcoming to Everyone	Mon, 27.02.2023	Lecture	Ayşe Çağlar Peggy Levitt	Move Over, Mona Lisa. Move Over, Jane Eyre: Making the World’s Universities, Museums, and Libraries More Welcoming to Everyone Mon, 27.02.2023 Speakers: Ayşe Çağlar Peggy Levitt Series: Lecture Across the world, calls for greater equity in the halls of academia, museum galleries, and libraries are loud and clear. If everyone agrees that business as usual is no longer acceptable, why is progress so slow? In this presentation, Peggy Levitt argued that the simple answer is that the lack of diversity in intellectual and cultural institutions is the product of a supply chain of exclusions that leave out a broader set of experiences at every turn. Read more
Move Over, Mona Lisa. Move Over, Jane Eyre: Making the World’s Universities, Museums, and Libraries More Welcoming to Everyone Mon, 27.02.2023 Speakers: Ayşe Çağlar Peggy Levitt Series: Lecture Across the world, calls for greater equity in the halls of academia, museum galleries, and libraries are loud and clear. If everyone agrees that business as usual is no longer acceptable, why is progress so slow? In this presentation, Peggy Levitt argued that the simple answer is that the lack of diversity in intellectual and cultural institutions is the product of a supply chain of exclusions that leave out a broader set of experiences at every turn. Read more
	Non-Territorial Autonomy and National Minorities in Interwar Europe	Mon, 20.02.2023	Seminars and Colloquia	Börries Kuzmany Katherine Younger Marina Germane	Non-Territorial Autonomy and National Minorities in Interwar Europe Mon, 20.02.2023 Speakers: Börries Kuzmany Katherine Younger Marina Germane Series: Seminars and Colloquia This talk examined the concept of non-territorial autonomy (NTA) as a common ideological platform shared by numerous ethnic minorities in interwar Europe, with a particular focus on Jews and Germans. Through a reflection upon the advantages and pitfalls of NTA, Marina Germane explored the limits to minorities’ cooperation in a world of nation-states. Read more
Non-Territorial Autonomy and National Minorities in Interwar Europe Mon, 20.02.2023 Speakers: Börries Kuzmany Katherine Younger Marina Germane Series: Seminars and Colloquia This talk examined the concept of non-territorial autonomy (NTA) as a common ideological platform shared by numerous ethnic minorities in interwar Europe, with a particular focus on Jews and Germans. Through a reflection upon the advantages and pitfalls of NTA, Marina Germane explored the limits to minorities’ cooperation in a world of nation-states. Read more