IWM Vienna

Life has been constructed as the supreme good over time, and lives have been said to be of equal value. The test of facts reveals a very different reality. Didier Fassin on the unequal value of lives: youtu.be/YFyCE5z_rDs?... © Klaus Ranger

Herzlichen Glückwunsch an IWM Permanent Fellow Ivan Krastev, der von @diepressecom.bsky.social zum „Europäer des Jahres“ gekürt wurde! Die Auszeichnung wurde in diesem Jahr erstmals gemeinsam mit der Erste Group im Rahmen der jährlichen „Österreicher:innen des Jahres“-Awards vergeben.

Philosopher Assaf Sharon explores how political manipulation can shape public opinion and undermine human freedom, in conversation with @open-society.bsky.social Vice President Leonard Benardo. Watch now on our YouTube channel: youtu.be/a4yMY-Ec2AA?...

Words are important. The way we name facts is crucial for the way we interpret them. The first of Didier Fassin’s three IWM Lectures in Human Sciences is now available on our YouTube channel: youtu.be/-fACe_JIez0?... Photo Credit: Klaus Ranger

Are 'Hyperpolitics' Provincializing Europe? Watch Anton Jäger discuss the future of Europe with Ivan Krastev, now available on our YouTube channel: youtu.be/6dhbzmd497g?...

I am proud to have had a small part in one of Boris Marte’s many good ideas and the wiser for having listened to him explain how he came to the idea of a self-critical but vital form of memorial politics. Grieving along with his friends and colleagues. www.erstestiftung.org/en/in-memory...

With the passing of Boris Marte, the IWM mourns the loss of a longtime partner, a source of inspiration, and, above all, a dear friend. We extend our deepest condolences to his family and loved ones.

This October, Didier Fassin delivers the 2026 IWM Lectures in Human Sciences. The series begins on 13 October with “Language. How to Make War With Words,” exploring how events are characterized and naturalized—or obscured or censored—and the stakes of truth-making: www.iwm.at/event/the-ti...

Tonight, Pankaj Mishra will be in conversation with Daniel Kehlmann. Join us at 8.30 pm at Das Muth: civi.iwm.at/form/vhf-202...

Important Announcement: Change of venue & time for the event featuring none other than Pankaj Mishra and Daniel Kehlmann. The good news is that registration is now open again. Come and join us! www.humanitiesfestival.at/mishra

Congratulations to IWM Rector Michael David-Fox, who has been awarded the 2026 @aseees.bsky.social Wayne S. Vucinich Book Prize for his book "Crucibles of Power: Smolensk Under Stalinist and Nazi Rule", published by Harvard University Press

Join us next week: James C. O’Brien and José Ignacio Torreblanca, in conversation with Ivana Dragičević, discuss Europe’s attempts to regulate Big Tech and how geopolitics, digital infrastructure & AI are reshaping the debate. Register: www.iwm.at/event/trends... @erstestiftung.org

The IWM is proud to announce the first cohort of the newly established Facing the Future program, run in strategic partnership with @erstestiftung.org From 22 to 28 September, 4 public debates and a roundtable will kick off the fellowship year: www.iwm.at/news/facing-...

On Wednesday, IWM Permanent Fellow Marta Bucholc will offer a different perspective on the debate around democratic resilience, exploring how illiberal democracy possesses a resilience of its own and what this means for attempts to dismantle it: www.iwm.at/event/how-re...

The IWM Month of Ideas continues: Tomorrow, @tymofiibrik.bsky.social and Kirill Rogov will enter into a conversation to examine how public opinion matters for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Ukraine’s resistance to it. Register here: www.iwm.at/event/how-do...

Tomorrow evening, historian Michael David-Fox, the IWM’s incoming fourth rector, will open the Month of Ideas with his inaugural lecture on the crisis of the humanities and social sciences. Join us via livestream: www.youtube.com/live/t53Pv69...

How can we reclaim agency amid uncertainty? Explore this year’s Vienna Humanities Festival program: www.humanitiesfestival.at With @erstestiftung.org, @open-society.bsky.social, @wien.gv.at, @akbild.bsky.social, Ö1 Intro, Volkstheater, Wien Museum, @tuwien.at & @kreiskyforum.bsky.social

Vienna was once a cradle of ideas that shaped the world. Devoted to reviving this spirit of intellectual inquiry, the IWM will kick off the new academic year with a packed program of events dedicated to critical reflection, open discussion, and new perspectives: www.iwm.at/news/time-fo...

We warmly congratulate @leaypi.bsky.social on receiving the 2026 Hannah Arendt Prize! Ypi most recently joined the IWM as a Europe’s Futures Fellow & delivered the 2025 Speech to Europe, reflecting on migration, citizenship & democracy in Europe. Revisit her speech here: youtu.be/0RPWchPsGPA?...

What if asylum accommodation is a diagnostic window into the internal restructuring of our own societies? Read Paolo Novak's reflections on the divides that have emerged against the backdrop of migration: www.iwm.at/publication/...

Preparations for the Vienna Humanities Festival are in full swing. This year's festival highlights the importance of agency & explores ways to counteract the pervasive sense helplessness. The full program will be published in early September. Stay tuned & save the date! www.humanitiesfestival.at

In the latest issue of the IWMpost, historian Richard Cockett explores the century-old intellectual clash between Hans Kelsen and Carl Schmitt, and how their opposing visions continue to shape political debates today: www.iwm.at/publication/...

„Zum Teil Dirigent, zum Teil Konzertmeister“ – der zukünftige IWM-Rektor Michael David-Fox spricht im Interview mit @muellerschin.bsky.social über seine Pläne für das Institut, seine Rolle als Rektor und die Zukunft des IWM: science.orf.at/stories/3236...

"The failure of democracy leads to a stupid war, but then the person who started the stupid war can use the stupid war to try to make democracy even worse.“ I've been speaking to @timothysnyder.bsky.social at the @iwm.at for @fm4.orf.at about Trump's Iran adventure. fm4.orf.at/story/snyder...

2022 Emma Goldman Snowball Award recipient Adriana Zaharijević returned to the IWM in 2026 to deliver a keynote on the students’ protests in Serbia. An article adapted from her speech appeared in the latest issue of the IWMpost: www.iwm.at/publication/...

As part of the annual Krzysztof Michalski Memorial Lecture, IWM Permanent Fellow Ludger Hagedorn drew attention to the final episodes in the life of Czech philosopher and Charter 77 spokesperson Jan Patočka, on the occasion of the upcoming 50th anniversary of Charter 77: www.iwm.at/news/shaken-...

We are delighted to announce the appointment of Michael David-Fox as IWM rector! The distinguished historian will take up his five-year term in August 2026, becoming the fourth person to hold the position in the Institute's history. Read more here: www.iwm.at/news/michael...

The IWM invites applications for its Digital Humanism Junior Visiting Fellowship, offering a three-month research stay in Vienna (between February and June 2027) as part of the Institute's Digital Humanism Program: www.iwm.at/calls/digita... @bmimi.gv.at

From current conflicts in Europe and the future of democracy to artificial intelligence, digital transformation, and the enduring relevance of political ideas, this new issue brings together perspectives on some of the most pressing questions shaping our world today: www.iwm.at/publication/...

Im Ö1-Gespräch mit Armin Wolf beleuchtet IWM Albert Hirschman Permanent Fellow Ivan Krastev die Krise der liberalen Demokratie, die Rückkehr des Krieges als Mittel der Politik und die Zukunft Europas. Das gesamte Gespräch hier zum Nachhören: oe1.orf.at/programm/202...

Why is encounter between academia and the public significant? @anneapplebaum.wsocial.eu & Ivan Krastev on the role of public intellectuals today - and on the importance of institutions such as the IWM that support them: youtu.be/Za7NFbKwv0M?...

Heute im Radiokulturhaus - Historiker Christopher Clark über die politischen Entscheidungskulturen der Gegenwart und den Wandel souveräner Entscheidungsstile im Laufe der Zeit: www.iwm.at/event/das-mo...

Drawing on his new book "Chasing Shadows", Ronald Deibert (@citizenlab.ca) joined Ivan Krastev at the IWM to discuss spyware, AI-enabled subversion, and the hidden infrastructures of digital surveillance: youtu.be/JP3xKTGDYzA?... © Johannes Hloch

In the current conjuncture, can the spatial histories of authoritarian haunting grounds illuminate the present? Join us next week for our Monthly Lecture with Katharyne Mitchell on the spatial history of Tempelhof Field in Berlin. Register here: www.iwm.at/event/the-ha...

On 13 May, @anneapplebaum.bsky.social delivered this year’s Speech to Europe, reflecting on the multiple challenges Europe faces but also reminding us of the enormous potential it possesses: www.iwm.at/news/a-speec... Photo Credit: ERSTE Stiftung/APA-Fotoservice/Tanzer

In today's ceremonial address at the Austrian Federal Chancellery, Ivan Krastev reflects on what it means for Europeans today to consider themselves the children of May 8th, 1945 – an appeal to remain hopeful. Read the full address: www.iwm.at/news/all-eur...

We’re entering an era defined less by isolated crises than by systemic rivalries. @thomasgomart.bsky.social and Ivan Krastev on geopolitical “duels,” shifting power dynamics, and the growing pressure on Europe: youtu.be/-3WzkEW9iKY?... © Ben Kaulfus

At last week's Political Salon (with @erstestiftung.org, @diepressecom.bsky.social & Wien Museum), @frankfukuyama.bsky.social, Ivan Krastev, Andreas Treichl & Christian Ultsch explored rising populism, pressure on democracy & lessons from Hungary: youtu.be/fL4bD3Lv17Q?... Photo Credit: Klaus Ranger

Heute startet Vienna meets Prague! Den Auftakt macht ein besonderes Konzert: Vanda Šabaková und Luděk Šabaka (Vater und Tochter) präsentieren ein Programm für Harfe und Klavier, das Werke vom 18. Jahrhundert bis in die Gegenwart umfasst. 👉 www.viennameetsprague.com/duo-%C5%A1ab...

The liberal international order is dead—and no one should mourn its passing. Any relevant successor must and will be a planetary order whose lodestars are ecological survival and planetary habitability, argues @nilsgilman.bsky.social. 📺 Rewatch his February lecture here:

Ein Highlight der heurigen Ausgabe von Vienna meets Prague: Kurt Schwitters' dadaistische Ursonate in der Fassung von Jaromír Typlt und Pavel Novotný, erstmals in Wien aufgeführt. Sie frönt ganz dem Unsinn, und ist doch alles andere als unsinnig. 🤝 In Koop. mit @oegfl.bsky.social 👉 buff.ly/cr7erOP

Join @thomasgomart.bsky.social & Ivan Krastev for a timely discussion on the shifting global balance of power. As the post-1945 international order tilts, this talk explores how power is reshaped by conflict, competition & technological disruption: www.iwm.at/event/who-co...

On the evening of 13 May, the award-winning American-Polish historian and author @anneapplebaum.bsky.social will deliver the 5th Speech to Europe on Vienna's Judenplatz, exploring whether now is “the European Moment”, what that means, and what choices lie ahead for Europe: www.iwm.at/event/a-spee...

🗣️ Bei Pavel Novotný dreht sich alles um die Dynamik der gesprochenen Sprache. Am 23. April bringt der Lyriker und Übersetzer im Rahmen von Vienna meets Prague sinnvolle und sinnlose Prozeduren, Rituale und Sprachgewohnheiten auf die Bühne des Depots: www.viennameetsprague.com/pavel-novotn...

🔊 How do cultural spaces function as sites of political resistance? In our next Monthly Lecture, @thomasseifert.bsky.social examines the role of nightlife in shaping civic identity and dissent across Eastern Europe, drawing on material from Kyiv, Belgrade, Chișinău, and Tbilisi. 👉 buff.ly/SiJ7eFB

AI is no longer a distant possibility—it’s reshaping our economy, security, work, and democracy in real time. In one of this week's most popular videos on our YouTube channel, @tobywalsh.bsky.social explores both the opportunities and risks of increasingly powerful AI systems. 👉

🎬 Böhmen, Ende des 17. Jahrhunderts: Ein macht- und besitzgieriger Inquisitor wird gerufen, um angebliche Hexerei zu beenden. Im Rahmen unseres Festivals Vienna meets Prague zeigen wir das brisante Drama „Hexenjagd“ von Otakar Vávra aus dem Jahr 1969. 📍25.4., 20 Uhr, top Kino: buff.ly/4mZoWC1

Poesie trifft auf Klanglandschaften: Anna Luňáková bringt am 24.4. mit „City Amalgam“ Prags urbane Echos nach Wien – eine Performance zwischen Sprache, Geräusch & Imagination, gemeinsam mit Julia Miesenböck und Jakub Štourač, moderiert von Manfred Müller / @oegfl.bsky.social. ➡️ buff.ly/noAgcDb

Michael Stewart's lecture on 10 March about Romany experiences under Nazism offered a profound rethinking of race and exclusion, challenging how we understand violence in relation to the idea of a National Community (Volksgemeinschaft). In case you missed it, you can rewatch it here:

📽️ Auch Klassiker des tschechischen Kinos sind heuer wieder fester Bestandteil von Vienna meets Prague. Wir zeigen am 25.4. Krakatit von Otakar Vávra (1948) – die Geschichte des talentierten Chemikers Prokop, der sich vergeblich dagegen wehrt, dass seine Erfindung missbraucht wird: buff.ly/lGBu8lH