Berliner Korrespondenzen

Berliner Korrespondenzen DIGITAL: One crisis, many faces

Exploring the political, philosophical and cultural implications of Corona

Series: »(Dis-)Orders in global Europe«

Berliner Korrespondenzen goes online – and returns to the stage. For its first digital edition, the debate series transforms the theater into a live broadcasting studio. Two keen thinkers connect from their homes to the main stage and discuss three theses on how Corona might impact our societies. The audience is invited to raise questions and critique – via any device and from anywhere. #stayhome, but don’t stay silent. 

Philosopher Susan Neiman and political analyst Ivan Krastev join our moderators on stage from Berlin and from the Bulgarian countryside to discuss philosophical, ethical and political implications of the Corona pandemic. They offer room for reflection beyond the myriad hectic comments on our rapidly changing present. We live in times of immense material and psychological uncertainty. The Corona pandemic is changing social, political and cultural realities all around the globe. While it is impossible to know what the virus’ long-term legacy will look like, one thing we can already say for certain: the world order after Corona will not be as it was. Will nationalism come back in force? Is the European project over and done for? Can we stay sane in times of lockdown without films, books, music - without culture? And what are the moral and metaphysical questions that lie behind the busy news feed updates of case numbers and political reactions?

Political analyst and essayist Ivan Krastev is one of the most important contemporary thinkers of European politics. He analyses Europe’s current conflicts along radically differing historical experiences in the former East and West. Philosopher Susan Neiman has dealt extensively with the concept of evil in Western philosophy. Her recent book compares Germany’s approach to remembering its Nazi past with the way slavery and racism are remembered in the US-American South. 
For those who cannot connect live, a recording of the discussion will be available as a video and as a podcast online.

To the Recording

English (with German Simultaneous interpretation).

For those who cannot connect live, a recording of the discussion will be available as a video and as a podcast online.


Berliner Korrespondenzen ist eine Reihe des Gorki Forum und der Allianz Kulturstiftung in Zusammenarbeit mit der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin und gefördert durch das Auswärtige Amt