Public Lectures in Summer Semester 2024

The MPIfG has four lectures by distinguished scholars on its program of events for the coming summer semester. The first will be given on April 10 by Gabriel Abend from the University of Lucerne. In “Words and Distinctions for the Common Good,” he will discuss the issue of key words, distinctions, and classifications, and the disputes surrounding them, in social science and argues for a democratic approach to the underlying decisions. On April 24, Michael A. Wilkinson from the London School of Economics and Political Science will talk about “The End of History and the Last European.” Reflecting on postwar Europe from the perspective of the long durée of European constitutional history and the interwar breakdown of liberal democracy, he suggests that far from being “revolutionary,” as it has been characterized, postwar European constitutionalism is better understood as elitist and even counter-revolutionary. Kimberly Morgan from George Washington University will join us on June 11 for “Building State Power through Border Control and Immigration Enforcement,” in which she discusses the massive buildup of border policing and immigration enforcement in the USA since the early 2000s as an example of state expansion. The lecture series draws to a close on June 19 with Gil Eyal of Columbia University, New York, and “Trust Methods: Accounting for Who, What, When, and How to Trust.” In his critical examination of conventional approaches to studying trust in the social sciences, Eyal will argue that trusting is not a static property that can be measured by closely defined survey questions but is rather a context-dependent “skillful act.” For more information on speakers, topics, and times, please visit the MPIfG website. You can register for the talks by sending an email to this address: info@mpifg.de.