Das Glücksversprechen der Nachhaltigkeit

Event in German

Panel discussion on the compatibility of increasing environmental awareness with the individual pursuit of happiness

With: Prof. Dr Christa Liedtke (Wuppertal Institute), Dr Ines Maria Eckermann (author), Elisabeth Schumann (Weltladen Duisburg), Sascha Ivan (Tellavision Clothing)

Moderation: Sascha Devigne (Studio 47) & Josip Sosic (VHS Duisburg)

In the current debate on climate neutrality, sustainability and the renunciation of consumption are regarded as ecologically and ethically imperative standards. But can we also be happy despite the associated call for self-regulation? After all, according to liberal philosophy, it is the task of state institutions to set no unnecessary limits to the individual pursuit of happiness - an idea that is still anchored in the collective consciousness of the Western world in the form of expectations of growth and prosperity. Against this background, how is it possible to reconcile sustainable behaviour and individual happiness and what role does politics play in this? Starting from global "recipes" for worldwide well-being, we would like to address the local conditions for sustainable forms of life. On what basis can such considerations exist in a city like Duisburg, where happiness was closely linked to the fossil fuel industry for many years?

A cooperation event with the VHS Duisburg

Date: 12.03.2020, 18:30 - 20:30

Location: Lecture hall of the VHS Duisburg Mitte/Süd (VHS in the city window), Steinsche Gasse 26, 47051 Duisburg

Climate and Capitalists: The Long History of Business and Global Governance of the Environment

With Prof. Dr Glenda Sluga, Professor of International History and Capitalism at the European University Institute and visiting Professor at the University of Sidney

The lecture takes up the 1972 UN Human Environment conference: the first example of the attempted global governance of environmental issues and climate change that foundered on the challenges of development and North-South antagonisms. That history connects Delos, the ancient capital of the Athenian League, with the club of Rome, and the New International Economic Order. The talk's specific aim is to recover the importance of business and intellectual networks, in all their problematic historical messiness and stir them back into our understanding of the changing character of ‘global’ imaginaries. This is a history that reconnects debates about the environment and development, as well as the interdisciplinary not always visible connections between scientists, humanists, women activists, and businessmen. It evokes the longer history of the international governance of economic problems, and of economic actors in international politics.

Venue: Bibliothekssaal Essen, Universitätsstraße 9-11, 45141 Essen

Date: Tuesday, 21st April 2020 (18:00-19:30h)