International Authors' Stage: Robert Habeck (DE) in conversation with Lykke Friis

Inequality leads to polarisation in the face of major crises

"How do you manage to create bold and progressive politics without ignoring that progress and the courage to change make many people turn away, even revolt?"

That is what Robert Habeck asks in his latest book Von hier an anders: Eine politische Skizze, 2021. The book contains Habeck's analysis of society, which, according to him, has a lot to deal with: that modern capitalism is pushing on a growing economic, social and cultural inequality, which, when faced with the consequences of the climate and biodiversity crisis, will create further polarisation in society. To the detriment of precisely the ability to act on the urgent crises.

Will embrace the majority with "a new normal"

Robert Habeck is known as the visionary philosopher of German politics, and in Von hier an anders, he does not hold back from giving his political thinking a resonance in the world of philosophy - from Hegel to Hannah Arendt. Habeck will shape capitalism to promote the innovation and choices that can save humanity from planetary catastrophe. In Von hier an anders, the basic question is: How can we adapt our world to withstand the climate crisis without promoting inequality and division?

In the interview in the Diamond, Habeck will elaborate on his answer – a vision of the future where real change takes place without prohibition, but with incentives to promote sustainable choices, where increased financial support from the state for the most disadvantaged will prevent change leading to polarisation in the population. A vision where our major crises become the starting point for a new normal that benefits the majority of citizens and provides increased cohesion.

Participants

Robert Habeck

German politician and writer. Germany's Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action and Vice Chancellor since the 2021 election. He has previously shared the chairmanship of the Green Party together with Annalena Baerbock. Habeck has a PhD in Literature and Philosophy from Hamburg University, and as a fiction writer has written novels and children's books together with his wife, author Andrea Paluch.

Lykke Friis

Director of the Think Tank Europa, Candidate and PhD in Political Science, Master in European Studies from the London School of Economics, and author. Friis is a former Minister of Climate and prorector of the University of Copenhagen, and for years has been a commentator in various media when it comes to the EU's global position.