Events / Program: Guests of the Institute

	Title Sort ascending	Date	Type	Speakers
	“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
	‘Patriotic Science’: The COVID 19 Pandemic and the Politics of Indigeneity and Decoloniality in Sri Lanka	Mon, 23.05.2022	Seminars and Colloquia	Harshana Rambukwella Ludger Hagedorn Saurabh Dube	‘Patriotic Science’: The COVID 19 Pandemic and the Politics of Indigeneity and Decoloniality in Sri Lanka Mon, 23.05.2022 Speakers: Harshana Rambukwella Ludger Hagedorn Saurabh Dube Series: Seminars and Colloquia This paper uses the Sri Lankan case to argue that decoloniality, which has become a global theoretical trend, is insufficiently self-reflexive of how its sharp East-West binary can be politically disabling for on-the-ground struggles in postcolonial societies. The fetishization of indigeneity can have devastating consequences. Read more
‘Patriotic Science’: The COVID 19 Pandemic and the Politics of Indigeneity and Decoloniality in Sri Lanka Mon, 23.05.2022 Speakers: Harshana Rambukwella Ludger Hagedorn Saurabh Dube Series: Seminars and Colloquia This paper uses the Sri Lankan case to argue that decoloniality, which has become a global theoretical trend, is insufficiently self-reflexive of how its sharp East-West binary can be politically disabling for on-the-ground struggles in postcolonial societies. The fetishization of indigeneity can have devastating consequences. 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

	Typology and Principles of Regional Integration in Comparative Perspective	Mon, 02.05.2022	Seminars and Colloquia	Clemena Antonova Mario Apostolov	Typology and Principles of Regional Integration in Comparative Perspective Mon, 02.05.2022 Speakers: Clemena Antonova Mario Apostolov Series: Seminars and Colloquia The end of the ideological Cold War divisions created a cheery sentiment of renewed unity in Europe and the world, with chances for development for all. As the stability of the bipolar structure vanished, strengthening regional integration entities seemed to become the bricks for the new organizational edifice of world society. At first, this vision was substantiated by countries coming together in various regional groupings, led by pragmatic interest, overcoming age-old perceptions of neighbours typically fighting each other. Several types of regions formed: a top-down integration as in the European Union and its institutions; a bottom-up expansion of regional supply chains as in East Asia; the more limited approach of free trade agreements as in USMCA; or simply regions without regionalism. This talk will look for common principles underpinning the various efforts at regional integration, such as the joint pursuit of peace and economic development, assistance to laggards, etc., building on existing theories (Neofunctionalism, New Regionalism and Comparative Regionalism), trying to go beyond. Read more
Typology and Principles of Regional Integration in Comparative Perspective Mon, 02.05.2022 Speakers: Clemena Antonova Mario Apostolov Series: Seminars and Colloquia The end of the ideological Cold War divisions created a cheery sentiment of renewed unity in Europe and the world, with chances for development for all. As the stability of the bipolar structure vanished, strengthening regional integration entities seemed to become the bricks for the new organizational edifice of world society. At first, this vision was substantiated by countries coming together in various regional groupings, led by pragmatic interest, overcoming age-old perceptions of neighbours typically fighting each other. Several types of regions formed: a top-down integration as in the European Union and its institutions; a bottom-up expansion of regional supply chains as in East Asia; the more limited approach of free trade agreements as in USMCA; or simply regions without regionalism. This talk will look for common principles underpinning the various efforts at regional integration, such as the joint pursuit of peace and economic development, assistance to laggards, etc., building on existing theories (Neofunctionalism, New Regionalism and Comparative Regionalism), trying to go beyond. 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 ‘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 Vienna Black Market 1943-1948	Mon, 11.03.2024	Seminars and Colloquia	Misha Glenny Nathan Marcus	The Vienna Black Market 1943-1948 Mon, 11.03.2024 Speakers: Misha Glenny Nathan Marcus Series: Seminars and Colloquia Historians have long argued against understanding the end of the Second World War in Germany or Austria as one of complete rupture. The popular concept of “Stunde Null,” which implied a total break with the past and a completely new beginning, rather served to obscure problematic continuities in both societies. Read more
The Vienna Black Market 1943-1948 Mon, 11.03.2024 Speakers: Misha Glenny Nathan Marcus Series: Seminars and Colloquia Historians have long argued against understanding the end of the Second World War in Germany or Austria as one of complete rupture. The popular concept of “Stunde Null,” which implied a total break with the past and a completely new beginning, rather served to obscure problematic continuities in both societies. Read more
	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 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