European Angst

A conference on populism, extremism and Euroscepticism in contemporary European societies.

Populism, extremism and Euroscepticism are haunting Europe, creating a tense atmosphere in which fear, hate, anger and anxiety converge: a climate of European Angst. The more momentum populist parties and movements gain, the more clueless the established political, cultural and legislative institutions seem to be. And once their rhetoric and their demands seep into mainstream discourse, the outcome is unpredictable, as the referendum on Great Britain’s remaining in the EU has shown. Why is this happening now? And how are we dealing with it?

The conference European Angst will shed light on these questions in a unique way. It will leave the comfort zone of liberal consensus by inviting controversial thinkers, creating thus a space for passionate debate, for reflection and in-depth analysis.

With Herta Müller, Slavoj Žižek, Elif Shafak, Didier Eribon, Béatrice Delvaux, Klaus-Dieter Lehmann, Sonia Seymour Mikich, Paul Scheffer, Isolde Charim, Lukasz Warzecha, Beppe Severgnini, Sascha Lehnartz, Martin Ehl, Shermin Langhoff, Vladimíra Dvorakova, Firas Alshater