Is it morning yet?
From Kreisky's living room online
Is it morning yet?
How the pandemic is changing Europe
What will the world look like after coronavirus?
Ivan Krastev, Bulgarian political scientist and one of today's most important intellectuals, provides orientation in times of uncertainty.
There are moments when our certainties dissolve and our collective idea of what is possible changes dramatically. People begin to ignore the present and think about the future instead - the future they hope for or the future they fear.
Sometime in March 2020, in the second week of my Covid-19 isolation, a friend emailed me an amusing set diagram. It showed twelve overlapping circles, each representing a well-known dystopia. There they all were: 1984, Brave New World, The Handmaid's Tale, Clockwork Orange and Lord of the Flies. In the small area where they all overlapped, it said: „You are here“. And indeed - that's exactly where we are. We are living through all these nightmares at the same time.
Philipp Blom is a historian, writer, translator and scientific curator of the Bruno Kreisky Forum.
Ivan Krastev's book "Seven Lessons from the Corona Crisis" will be published on 15 June 2020 under the title "Is today already tomorrow. How the pandemic is changing Europe" (translation: Karin Schuler) in the series Wissen&Werte. Economy, Society, Politics/International Politics published by Ullstein.
The interview will be held in English.