Auf der Suche nach Europa
Curator: Helfried Carl
Innovation in Politics Institut Vienna
Epidemics and conflicts infect society with fear. Although they can bring out the best in people, they can also bring out the worst in governments and social groups.
Will the pandemic reinforce certain trends and conflicts that were already present before the virus? Will the state return stronger, will nationalism emerge more strongly, and will the lines between democracy and big-data authoritarianism be blurred? Will COVID-19 challenge some of the key assumptions on which the European Union was founded, and will this be the prelude to a wholesale transformation of the European project? If things go wrong, COVID-19 could plunge the European Union into a deep crisis; if they go right, it could consolidate the Union. What will Europe, what will the world look like after Corona?
The Russian war on Ukraine has led to societies all over Europe moving closer together, solidarity is the order of the day, and the EU is demonstrating a capacity to act as rarely before.
The question is: What comes after? Will there be a back to normal, to the single market, to open borders? What will happen to the great peace project of Europe? And what will we remember? The fact that we helped each other or that we let each other down.