Events / Program: Guests of the Institute

	Title	Date	Type	Speakers
	The Limits of Migration Control	Tue, 22.03.2022	Lecture	Dariusz Stola Ivan Vejvoda Ranabir Samaddar	The Limits of Migration Control Tue, 22.03.2022 Speakers: Dariusz Stola Ivan Vejvoda Ranabir Samaddar Series: Lecture Thanks to a historically unprecedented system of police control, transnational mobility from European communist states is probably the best documented social phenomenon of its kind and a unique experiment in the limits of the state control of mobility. This lecture presented some of the conclusions of Stola’s research project on migrations from communist Poland. These migrations underwent a marked evolution, from the movement of millions of people in the 1940s; to almost nil under the non-exit policy of the early 1950s; to the reemergence and gradual expansion of transnational mobility, especially within the Soviet bloc, between 1956 and 1980; to mass population flows in the late 1980s. Each trip outside the bloc, and indeed each trip abroad for most of the duration of communist rule, required applying for a permit from the Security Service. This procedure resulted in an archival collection of passport files that fills some 60 kilometers of shelf space. Despite the constraints, more than two million people eventually left Poland for good, and temporary movements occurred on a mass scale, pioneering forms of mobility that continued well after 1989. This lecture shed light on the key factors and currents of migration in communist Poland, as well as the evolution of the migration regime, from early imitation of the Soviet model to its eventual implosion. Read more
The Limits of Migration Control Tue, 22.03.2022 Speakers: Dariusz Stola Ivan Vejvoda Ranabir Samaddar Series: Lecture Thanks to a historically unprecedented system of police control, transnational mobility from European communist states is probably the best documented social phenomenon of its kind and a unique experiment in the limits of the state control of mobility. This lecture presented some of the conclusions of Stola’s research project on migrations from communist Poland. These migrations underwent a marked evolution, from the movement of millions of people in the 1940s; to almost nil under the non-exit policy of the early 1950s; to the reemergence and gradual expansion of transnational mobility, especially within the Soviet bloc, between 1956 and 1980; to mass population flows in the late 1980s. Each trip outside the bloc, and indeed each trip abroad for most of the duration of communist rule, required applying for a permit from the Security Service. This procedure resulted in an archival collection of passport files that fills some 60 kilometers of shelf space. Despite the constraints, more than two million people eventually left Poland for good, and temporary movements occurred on a mass scale, pioneering forms of mobility that continued well after 1989. This lecture shed light on the key factors and currents of migration in communist Poland, as well as the evolution of the migration regime, from early imitation of the Soviet model to its eventual implosion. Read more
	The ‘Authoritarian International’	Mon, 21.03.2022	Seminars and Colloquia	Ludger Hagedorn Martin Krygier Ricardo Pagliuso Regatieri	The ‘Authoritarian International’ Mon, 21.03.2022 Speakers: Ludger Hagedorn Martin Krygier Ricardo Pagliuso Regatieri Series: Seminars and Colloquia Ricardo Regatieri offered a Zeitdiagnose of the contemporary world focusing on lies and conspiracy theories in the age of internet, and showed how the political and communicational environment has been fertile for the rise of far-right wing leaders, parties and movements on the global level. Following that, he presented five key elements of bolsonarismo, pointing out its political rhetoric and practical consequences. He proposed that Bolsonaro and bolsonarismo can only be properly understood when considered in the intersection between global tendencies and local drivers. Read more
The ‘Authoritarian International’ Mon, 21.03.2022 Speakers: Ludger Hagedorn Martin Krygier Ricardo Pagliuso Regatieri Series: Seminars and Colloquia Ricardo Regatieri offered a Zeitdiagnose of the contemporary world focusing on lies and conspiracy theories in the age of internet, and showed how the political and communicational environment has been fertile for the rise of far-right wing leaders, parties and movements on the global level. Following that, he presented five key elements of bolsonarismo, pointing out its political rhetoric and practical consequences. He proposed that Bolsonaro and bolsonarismo can only be properly understood when considered in the intersection between global tendencies and local drivers. Read more
	The Future of Work: Is Artificial Intelligence a New Road to Serfdom?	Tue, 15.03.2022	Lecture	Robert Skidelsky	The Future of Work: Is Artificial Intelligence a New Road to Serfdom? Tue, 15.03.2022 Speakers: Robert Skidelsky Series: Lecture In contemporary discussions about the future of artificial intelligence we often lose our heads. While economists offer bleak predictions of mass job losses and a deepening of already widespread precarity, Silicon Valley utopians insist that new technologies are bringing us ever closer together and will one day deliver us from work, disease and poverty. But when human life is reduced to a set of rational processes waiting to be optimized, we risk losing sight of the irreducible quality of human experience. The talk shed new light on the dream of machinery and the entailed dichotomy of liberation versus control. With his characteristic attention to the subtleties of the human condition, Robert Skidelsky offered a challenging account of what it means to pursue the good life in the age of the machines. Read more
The Future of Work: Is Artificial Intelligence a New Road to Serfdom? Tue, 15.03.2022 Speakers: Robert Skidelsky Series: Lecture In contemporary discussions about the future of artificial intelligence we often lose our heads. While economists offer bleak predictions of mass job losses and a deepening of already widespread precarity, Silicon Valley utopians insist that new technologies are bringing us ever closer together and will one day deliver us from work, disease and poverty. But when human life is reduced to a set of rational processes waiting to be optimized, we risk losing sight of the irreducible quality of human experience. The talk shed new light on the dream of machinery and the entailed dichotomy of liberation versus control. With his characteristic attention to the subtleties of the human condition, Robert Skidelsky offered a challenging account of what it means to pursue the good life in the age of the machines. Read more
	The Declaration of Universal Human Rights at Seventy-Five	Mon, 07.03.2022	Seminars and Colloquia	Adam Sitze Ludger Hagedorn Martin Krygier	The Declaration of Universal Human Rights at Seventy-Five Mon, 07.03.2022 Speakers: Adam Sitze Ludger Hagedorn Martin Krygier Series: Seminars and Colloquia In December 2023, the Declaration of Universal Human Rights (UDHR) will turn seventy-five. This talk anticipates that anniversary by considering the contributions made to the UDHR by the Chinese scholar-diplomat Peng Chun Chang (1892-1957). After discussing Chang’s involvement in the drafting of the UNDR’s Article 1, and in particular its reference to “conscience,” it will ask how, if at all, Chang’s contributions might oblige us to rethink longstanding criticisms of the UDHR’s claim to universality. Read more
The Declaration of Universal Human Rights at Seventy-Five Mon, 07.03.2022 Speakers: Adam Sitze Ludger Hagedorn Martin Krygier Series: Seminars and Colloquia In December 2023, the Declaration of Universal Human Rights (UDHR) will turn seventy-five. This talk anticipates that anniversary by considering the contributions made to the UDHR by the Chinese scholar-diplomat Peng Chun Chang (1892-1957). After discussing Chang’s involvement in the drafting of the UNDR’s Article 1, and in particular its reference to “conscience,” it will ask how, if at all, Chang’s contributions might oblige us to rethink longstanding criticisms of the UDHR’s claim to universality. Read more
	Telling History: On Creating the Polish History Museum and its Exhibitions	Mon, 21.02.2022	Seminars and Colloquia	Dariusz Stola Ludger Hagedorn Robert Kostro	Telling History: On Creating the Polish History Museum and its Exhibitions Mon, 21.02.2022 Speakers: Dariusz Stola Ludger Hagedorn Robert Kostro Series: Seminars and Colloquia “Storytelling museum” is a concept which arrived in the museum theory in the 1990s as a part of a broader phenomenon in discourse and practice called the new museology. Among the most important features of that concept was the use of new media and scenography in order to create continuity of a historical narrative. Storytelling is connected with an extensive use of electronically processed iconography and media to construct powerful simulacra appealing both to minds and emotions of visitors. That makes a history museum a powerful instrument of interpreting history and influencing audiences. Therefore, museum professionals are situated between the fields that are ascribed to history as a science and memory as a social and political phenomenon. In his talk, Robert Kostro would like to speak about intellectual and practical challenges that are connected with creating the narrative of the exhibitions in Polish History Museum. He will also place the practice of the historical museology of today in the context of different approaches to storytelling in the past. Read more
Telling History: On Creating the Polish History Museum and its Exhibitions Mon, 21.02.2022 Speakers: Dariusz Stola Ludger Hagedorn Robert Kostro Series: Seminars and Colloquia “Storytelling museum” is a concept which arrived in the museum theory in the 1990s as a part of a broader phenomenon in discourse and practice called the new museology. Among the most important features of that concept was the use of new media and scenography in order to create continuity of a historical narrative. Storytelling is connected with an extensive use of electronically processed iconography and media to construct powerful simulacra appealing both to minds and emotions of visitors. That makes a history museum a powerful instrument of interpreting history and influencing audiences. Therefore, museum professionals are situated between the fields that are ascribed to history as a science and memory as a social and political phenomenon. In his talk, Robert Kostro would like to speak about intellectual and practical challenges that are connected with creating the narrative of the exhibitions in Polish History Museum. He will also place the practice of the historical museology of today in the context of different approaches to storytelling in the past. Read more
	Framing (State) Fragility	Mon, 14.02.2022	Seminars and Colloquia	Keith Krause Sebastian Haug	Framing (State) Fragility Mon, 14.02.2022 Speakers: Keith Krause Sebastian Haug Series: Seminars and Colloquia The concept of “state failure,” launched in the early 1990s, and its current incarnation as "state fragility," rapidly became an accepted way to frame interventionary policies and practices of major multilateral actors such as the World Bank and the OECD. This talk will trace the genesis and evolution of the state fragility discourse, focusing on the way in which different organizations and actors have shaped the concept to their particular interests. The interaction of expert knowledge-creation and data with multilateral security and development policies also highlights how certain forms of "knowing the world" have been privileged in the constitution of this field of global public policy. The implications of these indicators for security governance and development assistance policies have been profound, in the Global South and beyond. Read more
Framing (State) Fragility Mon, 14.02.2022 Speakers: Keith Krause Sebastian Haug Series: Seminars and Colloquia The concept of “state failure,” launched in the early 1990s, and its current incarnation as "state fragility," rapidly became an accepted way to frame interventionary policies and practices of major multilateral actors such as the World Bank and the OECD. This talk will trace the genesis and evolution of the state fragility discourse, focusing on the way in which different organizations and actors have shaped the concept to their particular interests. The interaction of expert knowledge-creation and data with multilateral security and development policies also highlights how certain forms of "knowing the world" have been privileged in the constitution of this field of global public policy. The implications of these indicators for security governance and development assistance policies have been profound, in the Global South and beyond. Read more
	Governing through Contradictions.	Tue, 18.01.2022	Seminars and Colloquia	Ayşe Çağlar Ulrike Flader	Governing through Contradictions. Tue, 18.01.2022 Speakers: Ayşe Çağlar Ulrike Flader Series: Seminars and Colloquia Turkey is currently governed by a regime which blurs the line between authoritarian and democratic rule. While some authors tend to interpret this state as a moment of transition towards full authoritarianism, this paper argues that we should rather understand the coevalness of democratic and non-democratic practices as a deliberate and “cunning” mode of government, which we call soft authoritarian. Read more
Governing through Contradictions. Tue, 18.01.2022 Speakers: Ayşe Çağlar Ulrike Flader Series: Seminars and Colloquia Turkey is currently governed by a regime which blurs the line between authoritarian and democratic rule. While some authors tend to interpret this state as a moment of transition towards full authoritarianism, this paper argues that we should rather understand the coevalness of democratic and non-democratic practices as a deliberate and “cunning” mode of government, which we call soft authoritarian. Read more
	The “Sunny” Side Of The Holocaust. Dr. Endre Szántó’s Photo Album From His Forced Labour Service, 1940	Mon, 29.11.2021	Seminars and Colloquia	András Lénárt Ludger HagedornIngo Zechner	The “Sunny” Side Of The Holocaust. Dr. Endre Szántó’s Photo Album From His Forced Labour Service, 1940 Mon, 29.11.2021 Speakers: András Lénárt Ludger HagedornIngo Zechner Series: Seminars and Colloquia “Millions of images taken by SS propaganda teams and a smaller number of photographs taken by victims, bystanders and liberators have survived.” This is possibly the most cited sentence on the topic of Holocaust photography, written by Sybil Milton (Images of the Holocaust, 1986). However, in the case of Hungary only hundreds of images are known, and the systematic exploration of these is yet to take place. Read more
The “Sunny” Side Of The Holocaust. Dr. Endre Szántó’s Photo Album From His Forced Labour Service, 1940 Mon, 29.11.2021 Speakers: András Lénárt Ludger HagedornIngo Zechner Series: Seminars and Colloquia “Millions of images taken by SS propaganda teams and a smaller number of photographs taken by victims, bystanders and liberators have survived.” This is possibly the most cited sentence on the topic of Holocaust photography, written by Sybil Milton (Images of the Holocaust, 1986). However, in the case of Hungary only hundreds of images are known, and the systematic exploration of these is yet to take place. Read more
	The Death and Rebirth of Democratic Internationalism: Controversies and Possibilities	Mon, 22.11.2021	Lecture	Claus Offe Ludger Hagedorn Micheline Ishay	The Death and Rebirth of Democratic Internationalism: Controversies and Possibilities Mon, 22.11.2021 Speakers: Claus Offe Ludger Hagedorn Micheline Ishay Series: Lecture The current nationalist wave has dampened hopes of managing an array of global challenges: economic, social, environmental, and public health emergencies, along with planning for the long-term impacts of technological innovations in fields like artificial intelligence and bioengineering. This lecture addressed how a new internationalism could reinvigorate policies promoting global governance based on universal human rights. It addressed three questions: what can we learn from past internationalist movements toward a liberal global order? How did the neoliberal order, established after the Cold War, lead to today’s chronic crises? What are possibilities for a future and robust internationalism encompassing three levels: civil society, the state, and global governance? Read more
The Death and Rebirth of Democratic Internationalism: Controversies and Possibilities Mon, 22.11.2021 Speakers: Claus Offe Ludger Hagedorn Micheline Ishay Series: Lecture The current nationalist wave has dampened hopes of managing an array of global challenges: economic, social, environmental, and public health emergencies, along with planning for the long-term impacts of technological innovations in fields like artificial intelligence and bioengineering. This lecture addressed how a new internationalism could reinvigorate policies promoting global governance based on universal human rights. It addressed three questions: what can we learn from past internationalist movements toward a liberal global order? How did the neoliberal order, established after the Cold War, lead to today’s chronic crises? What are possibilities for a future and robust internationalism encompassing three levels: civil society, the state, and global governance? Read more
	Democracy - A Fragile Way of Life	Tue, 15.06.2021	Lecture	Shalini Randeria Till van Rahden	Democracy - A Fragile Way of Life Tue, 15.06.2021 Speakers: Shalini Randeria Till van Rahden Series: Lecture After the Cold War ended, liberal democracy was taken for granted. Now it is in crisis: citizens distrust parliamentary politics, the people’s parties are losing members and votes, and social media are crowding out public debates. Challenging the sense of despair that informs recent studies on how democracy dies, Till van Rahden argued that it might prove more useful to explore what keeps it alive. A fruitful point of departure is the insight that democracy is not only a matter of elections and political parties, constitutions and parliaments, but is grounded in democratic experiences. The attention is less on how democratic government works, but on what equality, freedom, and justice feel like. A focus on democratic forms and aesthetics allows us to revisit the cultural and social foundations of democracy. No matter how stable a democracy may seem, it will wither and perish without ways of life that allow for and encourage democratic experiences. Read more
Democracy - A Fragile Way of Life Tue, 15.06.2021 Speakers: Shalini Randeria Till van Rahden Series: Lecture After the Cold War ended, liberal democracy was taken for granted. Now it is in crisis: citizens distrust parliamentary politics, the people’s parties are losing members and votes, and social media are crowding out public debates. Challenging the sense of despair that informs recent studies on how democracy dies, Till van Rahden argued that it might prove more useful to explore what keeps it alive. A fruitful point of departure is the insight that democracy is not only a matter of elections and political parties, constitutions and parliaments, but is grounded in democratic experiences. The attention is less on how democratic government works, but on what equality, freedom, and justice feel like. A focus on democratic forms and aesthetics allows us to revisit the cultural and social foundations of democracy. No matter how stable a democracy may seem, it will wither and perish without ways of life that allow for and encourage democratic experiences. Read more