New Narratives: “Thinking Economics Differently”: A Summit on Art, Theory, Politics, and Civil Society

Contributions by:
Nabil Ahmed, Rheim Alkadhi, John Barker, Keti Chukhrov, Katja Diefenbach, Denise Ferreira da Silva, Gulf Labor Coalition / MTL Collective, Mohammad Abu Hajar, Srećko Horvat, Schorsch Kamerun, Hilary Koob-Sassen, PeterLicht, Neue Dringlichkeit, Boris Ondreička, Dan Perjovschi, Elizabeth A. Povinelli, David Quigley, Simon Sheikh, Shuddhabrata Sengupta, Tools for Action, Enrique Matías Viale, We cannot build what we cannot first imagine, and others

Moderation:
Peter Haury, Florian Malzacher, Katrin Mundt

On the basis of a broad network of local cultural institutions—and strongly supported by the Ministry of Science, Research and the Arts of Baden-Württemberg—the establishment of a new annual “summit meeting” is planned for Stuttgart. It will be dedicated to the main sociopolitical lines of conflict and negotiate them in the spheres of the visual and performative arts, theory, and activism. The perspective here is expressly global.

The first edition of this new project will take place from March 30 to April 2, 2017, under the title “Thinking Economics Differently” at the Kunstgebäude in Stuttgart. It will discuss alternative approaches to neoliberal financial capitalism that is based on algorithms, debt, and the myth of unlimited growth. How can such abstract structures be read, understood, and reinterpreted in face of their own contradictions? Which collective and individual forms of resistance are necessary in order to counteract the existing injustices and the mechanisms of exploitation and destruction? Which special potentials are harbored by poetry, imagination, and fiction for the concept of a different economy?

This first summit encompasses more than 20 lectures, performances, and music and film contributions from various academic, artistic, and activist contexts—regularly followed by workshops. The main focus during the four days is on the exploration of diverse forms of articulation that go beyond the classical academic formats—and on an intense joint debate based on a wide spectrum of discourses.

In view of climate change, the neo-feudal drive of financial capitalism, increasingly strong nationalism and racism, as well as a populism that deliberately operates on the basis of disinformation and demagogy, our concern is to initiate long-term reflection on both political and aesthetic conceptions of societal change.

In so doing, we need to deal with the problem that a disturbing wave of political change is going on at present. With the growing number of demagogues who have been democratically elected (Donald Trump in the USA, Viktor Orbán in Hungary, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Turkey, Narendra Modi in India, Vladimir Putin in Russia, etc.), we are facing a shift toward societies in which nationalism, racism, sexism, and homophobia are politically implemented, and in which pluralism and freedom of speech are massively restricted.

Thus, it is not a matter of fighting against neoliberal conditions only, but also against anti-democratic and neofascist tendencies, and it seems as if new languages, imaginations, and collective forms of agency are called for in such fight.

Moreover, the complexity of the current political, societal, and economic conditions requires a reconsideration of concepts such as class, solidarity, law, and justice, but also of our forms and tools of critique and resistance. The summit aims at offering a forum for exactly these concerns.

A project by
Akademie Schloss Solitude
Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen
Schauspiel Stuttgart
Staatliche Akademie der Bildenden Künste Stuttgart
Theater Rampe
Württembergischer Kunstverein Stuttgart

Idea and concept
Christine Peters, Iris Dressler
In cooperation with
Silke Albrecht, Marie Bues, Hans D. Christ, Klaus Dörr, Martina Grohmann, Jan Hein, Jean-Baptiste Joly, Elke aus dem Moore, Katrin Spira

Main support
Ministerium für Wissenschaft, Forschung und Kunst Baden-Württemberg

Supported by
Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen (ifa)

In cooperation with
Die Anstifter
Fritz-Erler-Forum Baden-Württemberg
Hannah-Arendt-Institut
Heinrich Böll Stiftung Baden-Württemberg
Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung Baden-Württemberg

Languages
German, English (simultaneous translation)

Entrance
Free

Information / registration / press contact:
gebhard_lehner [​at​] wkv-stuttgart.de / T +49 (0) 172 344 69 77