International

Con­fer­ence on ‘Utopi­an Imag­i­na­tion and Dystopi­an Prac­tices’

Photo: Ilya Kalinin, Danila Raskov, Ertug Tombus

In an age of polycrisis – marked by environmental disasters, global inequality and the rise of authoritarianism – short-term fixes are no longer enough. This international conference explores how visionary, proactive thinking can help address today’s pressing challenges. At its core lies a return to utopian thinking as a symbolic resource for activism, education, the arts, politics and economics. From Plato’s Republic to Thomas More’s Utopia and today’s dystopian imaginaries, history shows that the search for better ways of living together has never ceased. The conference brings together international scholars, artists and civil society actors to explore how theory and practice, imagination and reality, humanity and the planet can be reconnected.

Organised by

  • Center for Comparative Research on Democracy (CCRD) at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

  • Gagarin Center for the Study of Civil Society and Human Rights am Bard College

  • U.S. Russia Foundation (USRF)

  • Stiftung Humboldt-Universität Berlin

Time

Friday, 6 June 2025 – Saturday, 7 June 2025; 9:00 – 17:30

Place

Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Jacob-und-Wilhelm-Grimm-Zentrum, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 1/3, 10117 Berlin

Learn more

05.06.2025