In 2009, the French sociologist and philosopher Didier Eribon published “Retour á Reims”. It’s an autobiographical book about finding sexual identity and trying to escape a working-class background. When his father dies, the main character returns to his hometown, sees his mother again and puts these questions at stake.
With this work, Didier Eribon has tried to find a way to understand the strong changes within French working-class society. How come, that former socialists and communists all of a sudden change their perspectives, and join right-wing populist parties like Front National? This, combined with the exploding use of social media and Russian computer trolls trying to control those, has managed to reset the agenda in order to destabilize Western democracies. In which way has this influenced Brexit, the popularity of Trump, and the Russian and Chinese ambitions to overrun Western societies and democracies?
Thomas Ostermeier Theatre Director at The Schaubühne am Lehniner Platz, DE, Didier Eribon author and Professor of Philosophy at Université de Picardie Jules-Verne, FR, Björn Sandmark CEO at Göteborgs Stadsteater, Sanne Kofod Olsen Dean at Faculty of Fine, Applied and Performing Arts, University of Gothenburg, Sven-Eric Liedman Professor Emeritus of History of Ideas, Per Svensson author and journalist, former Political Editor Dagens Nyheter and Cultural Editor Expressen, and Ann Ighe Senior Lecturer of Economic History and Editor of Ord&Bild.
