Peter Engelmann im Gespräch mit dem französischen Philosophen und Kunsttheoretiker Jacques Rancière
In contrast to the fact that our society appears to be oriented exclusively towards consumerism, we are also looking for possibilities to dedicate our lives today to social justice and emancipation. In the first Passagen Gespräch (Passagen Conversations) at the Gorki, Peter Engelmann and Jacques Rancière discuss how such a commitment can be developed without using old revolutionary theories, which failed long ago, as crutches. The starting point is Rancière's studies of the politics and aesthetics of traditional emancipatory theories, which he developed at a critical distance from the dogmatism of Marxism and other critical theories, and continues to evolve today in new studies on concrete aesthetic practices.
Western-style capitalist democracies are currently both threatened by geopolitical conflicts and radical movements from the outside, and endangered by persistent economic and political crises from the inside. The search for alternative models for society is thereby becoming increasingly explosive. As a dialogic format for critical reflection, the Passagen Gespräch not only aim to analyse the urgent problems of our present, but also pose questions about the possibility of changing existing conditions: What is philosophy's potential to intervene? Wherein lie the subversive possibilities of artistic practice? Where are viable politico-emancipatory strategies being developed? The Passagen Gespräch bring the diversity of the Passagen publishing house's programme to the stage and into dialogue with the audience. In the theatre, as a place of encounters and cultural experiments, the open conversational situation becomes an intellectual adventure.
