TRUST IN DEMOCRACY & HOPEFUL RHETORIC


With Arnon Grunberg moderating, philosopher Alicja Gescinska, journalist Warda el-Kaddouri and poet Dean Bowen will be investigating the role of hope in democracy’s operation.

Democracy is a fragile political structure based on trust. We live in an era where major parts of the population have lost that trust, with the call for idealistic politics simultaneously growing stronger. But just how does hopeful rhetoric work in democracy, though, in 2021? What could be considered naive and what forceful in a positive sense? And is there any difference, in this regard, between the right and the left? And how sincere can such rhetoric be in light of matters such as the climate crisis?

Based on this discussion, Arnon Grunberg will be writing an essay after the festival about Hope and Democracy.



Hope and Democracy is presented in collaboration with the Brussels-based Vlaams-Nederlands huis voor cultuur en debat deBuren.