Humanities Festival - Ayşe Zarakol: Is the Disorder of Our Times Unprecedented?
AYŞE ZARAKOL IN CONVERSATION WITH BETSY REED
SONNTAG / SUNDAY, 28.09.2025
AKADEMIE DER BILDENDEN KÜNSTE WIEN, AULA
Most observers—at least in the West—agree that the 21st century has been particularly tumultuous. But while some explain the volatility of our times by reference to historical analogies, e.g. moments in the 20th century that witnessed power transitions, others claim that we are in a moment of polycrisis for which there is no precedent. AYŞE ZARAKOL, Professor of International Relations at the University of Cambridge, holds that mainstream discourse on international relations is wrong to assume that the 21st century will resemble its predecessor. However, as she will argue in conversation with Guardian US editor BETSY REED, there are other historical precedents that we can use to better theorize about the current predicament.
Part of the Vienna Humanities Festival 2025.
In 2025, the Vienna Humanities Festival was organized by the Institute for Human Sciences (IWM Vienna) and Time To Talk (TTT) in cooperation with ERSTE Foundation, the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, the City of Vienna, the Open Society Foundations, Ö1 Intro, the Volkstheater, and the Wien Museum.
Learn more about the Vienna Humanities Festival here: https://www.humanitiesfestival.at