
Adam Arvidsson delivered a lecture on ‘Living Together in the Anthropocene: Reflections on the Covid Experience’. It was chaired by Ravi Sundaram.
The Covid experience showcased two future scenarios that have developed in parallel to the crisis of neoliberalism. One oriented around the tantamount principle of security and one oriented towards the neo-luddite defence of a ‘natural ‘way of life. The talk will examine the sociological foundations of these possible futures, along with their historical origins and potential future development. Concluding that both remain ultimately unsustainable- on ecological as well as economic and social grounds- I will suggest that the Covid experience also posed some novel questions for progressive thought.
Adam Arvidsson is Professor of Sociology at the University of Naples, Federico II. His researched and published on the Brands and Consumption, Creative Industries and the political economy of the Digital. His most recent book is Changemakers: The Industrious Future of the Digital Economy (Polity, 2019).
Ravi Sundaram is Professor at Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, Delhi.
Friday, 13 January 2023, 4 pm, Seminar Room and Zoom http://bit.ly/3jTgs7G