Name: Discussion with Jonathan White & Jan Zielonka: Envisioning the future
Start: 2025-09-15T16:00:00+02:00
End: 2025-09-15T18:00:00+02:00
Location: Eurac Research

Discussion with Jonathan White & Jan Zielonka: Envisioning the future

Discussion with Jonathan White and Jan Zielonka
𝐄𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞: 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐲, 𝐠𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐰
Monday, 15 September 2025 | 16:00-18:00
Eurac Research - Conference Hall
The future is not merely something that happens. It is a contested political idea that shapes our present decisions and the world we build for generations to come. This discussion brings together the perspectives of two influential political theorists who have recently contributed to the debate on future-related discussions for envisioning political projects, (re-)shaping policies, and democratic legitimacy.
Jonathan White, author of the book In the Long Run: The Future as a Political Idea (Profile Books 2024), and Jan Zielonka, author of The Lost Future: And How to Reclaim It (Yale University Press 2023) will engage in a discussion to explore our collective relationship with the future, the democratic challenges born of short-termism, the risks associated to the management of ecological, technological, and geopolitical crises, and the possibilities for reclaiming democratic agency in uncertain times.
ℹ️ The event will be held in English without simultaneous translation.
Please confirm your participation by 13 September 2025 using the following link: https://eu.surveymonkey.com/r/ITLR
Participation is free of charge.
💡 Our speakers:
Jonathan White is Professor of Politics and Deputy Head of the European Institute at the London School of Economics, where he researches and teaches on democracy, political thought and political theory. Among his recent books are Politics of Last Resort: Governing by Emergency in the European Union (Oxford University Press, 2019), and – with Lea Ypi – The Meaning of Partisanship (Oxford University Press, 2016). He was awarded the 2017 British Academy Brian Barry Prize for excellence in political science.
Jan Zielonka is Professor of Politics and International Relations at the University of Venice Ca’ Foscari and Emeritus Professor at the University of Oxford. Author of many books and articles on European political dynamics – among his recent publication, Counter-Revolution. Liberal Europe in Retreat (Oxford University Press, 2018) – he has a regular column in Rzeczpospolita and Social Europe, and also writes for Die Zeit, New Statesman, NRC Handelsblad, and Diário de Notícias.
Illustration: Eurac Research/Oscar Diodoro