Category Archives: Media

Reading Circle BACK IN SESSION: Friedrich Hayek and Carl Schmitt

Events, Media, Publications, Uncategorized, , , , , ,

December 1st, 2025

OUR READING CIRCLE IS BACK IN SESSION

Reading Circle on Friedrich Hayek and Carl Schmitt

We, the International Karl Polanyi Society (IKPS), the Institute for Spatial and Social-Ecological Transformations (ISSET) and the Institute for Law and Governance cordially invite you to join our reading circle on “Socioeconomics and Law.”

This reading circle will serve as a preparatory event for an upcoming international conference, titled “Socioeconomics and Law – The conditions of the authoritarian turn yesterday and today” that is set to take place in Vienna from May 24th to 26th 2027. At this conference and in the lead-up to this conference, we aim to engage in discussions about alternatives to the current radicalization of neoliberal thought, particularly its alignment with non-democratic and non-liberal political and legal ideologies.

After the first round of the reading circle that focused on Wendy Brown’s (2019) “In the Ruins of Neoliberalism”, the upcoming sessions will deal with texts by Friedrich Hayek and Carl Schmitt, diving into their understanding of freedom and democracy, of the state and markets and of fascism and liberalism.

The sessions will take place at Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU) on the following dates from 5pm – 6.30pm CEST:

  • Tue, December 09th, 2025, 5pm-6.30pm, WU, Building AD.0.090 (Sitzungssaal 6):
    The Road to Serfdom by Friedrich Hayek (Introduction, Chapter 1 and 2)
  • Thu, January 15th, 2026, 5pm-6.30pm:
    The Constitution of Liberty by Friedrich Hayek (Chapter 16)
  • Wed, February 25th, 2026, 5pm-6.30pm:
    Texts by and about Carl Schmitt (details will be shared soon)

To enable international participation there is also the possibility to participate in a hybrid mode. Please register via e-mail for a link to participate online.

We are looking forward to your participation and to an exciting exchange!

Andreas Novy, Verena Madner and Stefan Mayr

As additional introductory texts for the reading circle we recommend:

The new blog of the IKPS on Fascism and Liberalism: Yesterday and Today criticizes the deeply ingrained belief that economic liberalism is conducive to democracy.

Furthermore, Andreas Novy highlights – based on Wendy Brown – the role of markets and morals in Hayek’s work: Markets and Morals: The Reactionary Right’s Ideological Core.

 

Polanyi in Graz

Media

POLAYNYI-exhibition in graz

October 10th, 2025

invitation!

You are cordially invited to the finissage of our german Polanyi exhibition in Graz on November 4th where Brigitte Aulenbacher will present the “Life & Works of Karl Polanyi”!


This fall our German Karl Polanyi exhibition is shown in Graz, hosted by the Styrian Chamber of Labour.

The finissage will be held on November 6th at 4 PM at the Otto-Möbes-Academy in Stiftingtalerstraße 240 in Graz, Austria.

Our Vice-President Dr. Brigitte Aulenbacher from the Johannes Kepler University Linz will speak on the “Life and Works of Karl Polanyi” and share her insights on his biography and publications.

LOCATION:
Otto-Möbes-Academy, Stiftingtalerstraße 240; Graz, Austria.

Polanyi Exhibition
Finissage Program

EVENT! Public Lecture by 9th Vienna Karl Polanyi Visiting Professor LUCAS CHANCEL

Media

PUBLIC LECTURE BY LUCAS CHANCEL
"ENERGY, INEQUALITY and DEMOCRACY"

Public lecture by LUCAS CHANCEL

On May 21st, 2025 the Vienna Karl Polanyi Visiting Professorship will be awarded for the ninth time. This semester’s Visiting Professor Lucas Chancel will hold his Public Lecture in the Dachsaal at the Vienna Urania. 

Keynote: Energy, inequality and democracy

“Energy has always been at the heart of social inequalities, shaping hierarchies and power dynamics throughout history. 

From agrarian societies reliant on solar energy to fossil-fueled industrial revolutions, access to and control over energy resources have driven economic and political struggles. 

This lecture will explore how different energy regimes—from land-based wealth in pre-industrial societies to coal and oil-driven economies—have structured social orders, fueled conflicts over wealth distribution, and shaped political decisions about ownership and governance. Drawing on insights from economic history and environmental sciences, we will examine past efforts to democratize energy systems and how these lessons can inform today’s debates on ecological transition. 

Challenging the idea that energy history is purely technical or politically predetermined, this talk will argue that moving away from fossil fuels raises fundamental questions of power and wealth redistribution—questions that remain unanswered: 
Who will control energy and material resources in the future?
How can ecological constraints lead to greater socioeconomic and political equality? 

By revisiting historical models of energy socialization in the 20th century, this lecture will advocate for a democratic energy system as essential to a future in which societies reclaim power over markets—within both the limits and possibilities of the material world.“

Public Lecture Program
Lucas Chancel
Visiting Professorship
IKPS Activities Calender

EVENT! Public Lecture by 8th Vienna Karl Polanyi Visiting Professor Anke Hassel

Media

PUBLIC LECTURE BY ANKE HASSEL Was wird aus der Arbeit? - "THE FUTURE OF WORK"

On January 8th, 2025 the Vienna Karl Polanyi Visiting Professorship will be awarded for the eighth time. This semester’s Visiting Professor Anke Hassel will hold her Public Lecture in the Dachsaal at the Vienna Urania. 

Kenyote: Was wird aus der Arbeit? – The Future of Work

“How is work organized in current times? What significance does work have in our lives and for social cohesion? These questions have gained urgent topicality; without taking them into account, individual and social designs for the future cannot be developed. Workload and lack of appreciation are important issues that also play a role in political satisfaction. The thesis of the “end of work” is a thing of the past. In the meantime, the perspective of a “flexibilised working society” dominates, in which more and more people are participating, but at the same time still has not solved the compatibility with work in relation to the family.

The modern world of work, with its sometimes contradictory parts, is like a puzzle. In the lecture, Anke Hassel explains how social change, immigration, technologies and structural change are giving work a new meaning. Finally, she explains to what extent the boundary between work and leisure time is blurred and asks the question of whether the socialization of work leads to more or less freedom.”

In the meantime you can find out more about Prof. Hassel, our Visiting Professorship and view our other upcoming activities!

8th JANUARY 2025

“Was wird aus der Arbeit? – The Future of Work”

January 8th, 2025; 7:00 PM (CET)
Dachsaal, Urania
Uraniastraße 1
1010 Wien

Program
Public Lecture Registration

Organised by:

IKPS, 
University of Vienna,
Central European University,
WU Vienna,
Volkshochschule Wien,
AK Wien

 

CEU WORKSHOP Registration
Anke Hassel
Visiting Professorship
IKPS Events

WEBINAR! “Contested Provisioning of Care & Housing”

Care&Housing, Media

JOIN OUR WEBINAR !

After a successfull Workshop on “Planning for Climate Change”, we are cordially inviting you to join the webinar in which the joint research and insights of the Conference “Imaginaries & Strategies of Good Care & Good Housing” in May 2024 will be presented. The webinar will build up on the general discussion of the previous RLS-IKPS generated academic insights, pick up the debate of the provision of decent care from the 2023 collaboration and combine it with the provision of housing based on the insights and most current work presented and developed at the WU-JKU Doc-Team 114 conference with the intention to produce a synthesized view as a basis for future. While recent experiences highlight the fragilities of these societal systems and (re)produced inequalities, they also increased the awareness of how crucial care and housing as well as their interdependencies are for human flourishing. Discussing current dynamics of marketization and communitisation of care and housing, by analysing care and housing regimes raises the question How and why these dynamics (might) differ in the three countries and two fields?

How and why these dynamics (might) differ in the three countries and two fields?

MORE HERE:

IKPS DEBATE
Conference Webpage

SPEAKERS

Hans Volmary

Benjamin Baumgartner

Florian Pimminger

Valentin Fröhlich

WEBINAR SUMMER 2024

Zoom Link

Date:
June 11th, 6 PM – 8 PM (CET)

Speakers:
Valentin Fröhlich
Benjamin Baumgartner
Florian Pimminger
Hans Volmary

Organised by:

Institute for Spatial and Social-Ecological Transformations  ISSET (formerly Institute for Multilevel-Governance and Development) (WU Vienna);
Johannes Kepler University Linz,   
International Karl Polanyi Society

In cooperation with:

Rosa Luxemburg Foundation, Brussels 

Previous Webinars of the Series on Provisioning:

WORKSHOP! Planning for Climate Change

Media, Uncategorized

planning for climate change - WORKSHOP

We are excited to announce our expert workshop on “Planning for Climate Change” funded by the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation! Join us on May 22nd @WU to explore the role of planning for socio-ecological transformation. Register now at ikps@wu.ac.at to hear experts on the topic and be a part of the dialogue! Please indicate whether you want to participate online or on location.

The current ecological, digital, and geopolitical transformations have challenged European market-based governance. Deep, complex, and entangled multiple crises require effective public policymaking to transform existing socio-technical as well as provisioning systems. This will not be possible without planning, i.e., coordinated and goal-oriented agency by multiple public and private actors. Learning from past successes and failures, innovative forms of planning will have to substitute current European incremental and fragmented policy making.

This dialogue-oriented expert workshop, organized by the International Karl Polanyi Society and funded by the Rosa-Luxemburg-Foundation, will explore the potential of multi-level democratic planning to steer the transformation of socio-technical and politico-economic systems. It is structured in two sessions.

The first session will use learnings from historical planning experiences to explore current renaissance of planning. The session will evaluate proposals for contemporary democratic planning  be it eco social policies to transform provisioning systems or green industrial policies to transition towards a circular economy .

The second session focuses on the political economy of climate change and the possibility, need
and potential of better planning climate neutral and climate resilient transformations.

our speakers

Basak Kus

Colleen Schneider

Board Member

Jana Brandl

Lucia Behring

Manuel Scholz-Wäckerle

Lauren McKown

Matthias Schmelzer

PhotoCredit: Lauren McKown

Solveig Degen

Tatjana Boczy

PhotoCredit: Kristina Eisfeld

Werner Raza

Program

Organised by:

International Karl Polanyi Society, 
WU Vienna

Made possible with funds from:

The Rosa-Luxemburg-Foundation Brussels.

Event! Routledge Handbook on Karl Polanyi

Media

We cordially invite you to (re)visit the works of karl polanyi

We are happy to present you with the opportunity to (re)visit the life and works of Karl Polanyi in such a fundamental way. On May 21st 2024 at 6:00 pm we welcome Polanyi-experts to share their insight into Karl Polanyi’s oeuvre:

Esteemed IKPS member, Michele Cangiani of the University Ca’Foscari in Venice who co-edited the “Routledge Handbook on Karl Polanyi” together with Polanyi connaisseur Claus Thomasberger, from the University of Applied Sciences Berlin who is also an IKPS Board member will present the finely curated contributions in their Handbook:

“Karl Polanyi is one of the most influential social scientists of our era. A report of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) begins by noting that we are in a “Polanyi era”: a time of dangerously unregulated markets, where the greatest need for decisive political action is matched by the least trust in politics.

This handbook provides a comprehensive of recent research on Polanyi’s work and ideas, including the central place occupied by his thinking on the relationship between economics and politics. The stellar line-up of contributors to this book explore Polanyi’s work reflecting the intrinsic interdisciplinarity of Polanyi’s approach to understanding our society, its place in history, its fundamental dynamics, and its contradictions, as well as the methodological issues he raises.

The handbook broadly follows a chronological structure beginning with influences on Polanyi, his formative experiences and early works. A significant section is dedicated to Polanyi’s seminal work, The Great Transformation, and its impact. Further sections also look at Polanyi’s wider influence, on various disciplines and methodological debates, and his ongoing relevance for present-day issues including debates on populism, neoliberalism and low carbon transitions.

This handbook is a vital resource for students and scholars of economics, politics, sociology, and other social sciences.”

 “we are in a “Polanyi era”: a time of dangerously unregulated markets, where the greatest need for decisive political action is matched by the least trust in politics”

DISCUSSION

Following the presentation of the Handbook we have the pleasure to welcome our 7th Vienna Karl Polanyi Visiting Professor Attila Melegh, who incorporates the works of Karl Polanyi into his research and Fabienne Décieux, IKPS Board Member and Social Scientist who will relate their research and scientific endeavours to Karl Polanyi’s works.

our Speakers:

Attila Melegh

Claus Thomasberger

Board Member

Claus Thomasberger was Professor of Economics and Foreign Economic Policy at the Berlin University of Applied Sciences until 2017.

Fabienne Décieux

Board Member & Financial Referent

Michele Cangiani

Tatjana Boczy

PhotoCredit: Kristina Eisfeld

21st May, 2024

6:00 pm

@ WU Vienna

@Executive Academy Building EA 6.032 (6th floor)

Please find your way to our gathering below.

Directions

OUR SPEAKERS:

Editors of the book:

CLAUS THOMASBERGER,  University of Applied Sciences, Berlin
MICHELE CANGIANI, University Ca’Foscari, Venice

Experts joining the discussion:

FABIENNE DÉCIEUX, University of Vienna & Johannes Kepler University Linz
ATTILA MELEGH, Corvinus University, Budapest

Moderation:
TATJANA BOCZY, University of Vienna

Routledge Page

Organised by:

International Karl Polanyi Society, 
WU Vienna

Made possible with funds from:

The Rosa-Luxemburg-Foundation Brussels.

Beyond Growth Conference

Media, Uncategorized

BEyond growth conference vienna

The Beyond Growth Conference Austria 2024 is a congress modeled after the event of the same name in the EU Parliament in Brussels in 2023. 

The event brings together politicians and decision-makers, media representatives and multipliers.

Together with social partnership, business, science, civil society and citizens, we will develop paths to sustainable prosperity. Sales and profits must currently continue to rise. This growth pressure causes many problems – such as inflation or the climate crisis. The idea that the economy can, and even must, grow indefinitely on a planet with limited resources is increasingly being critically questioned. Growth does not automatically bring prosperity for everyone. This can be seen, for example, in the fact that many people are at risk of poverty despite working, the majority of the population has problems paying their bills and environmental problems are increasingly occurring. Our economy is reaching its limits.

The official opening of the conference takes place at the Austrian Parliament on May 13th at 9:30 after a breakfast welcome at 8:30.

Andreas Novy will give an input following the official opening with statements from Alexander Van der Bellen, the President of Austria as well as the President of the National Council of Austria.

For all of you in Vienna, save the date and join this important open forum for the cause!

WHEN?                      May 13th-15th 2024

Where?                       Austrian Parliament

Register here!

You can look at the detailed program and find out more about this important initiative here:

Instagram

Facebook

LinkedIn

More about the conference:

Conference Page
Program
Registration
Online Stream

Our 7th Karl Polanyi Visiting Professor!

Media, ,

announcement:
Attila melegh is our 7th vienna karl polanyi visiting professor

January 29th, 2024

We are happy to announce Professor Attila Melegh as our seventh Vienna Karl Polanyi Visiting Professor for the summer term 2024! 

In the course of his visit to Vienna, he will hold a PhD-seminar, an Internal Workshop at Central European University and an open lecture traditional to our visiting professorship.

Public lecture - MAY 22 - SAVE THE DATE!

Sociologist, economist and historian Attila Melegh is a professor at Corvinus University, Budapest and a senior researcher at the Demographic Research Institute. His research focuses on the global social change in the 20th century, the care crisis and international migration. Professor Melegh is also an expert on the works of Karl Polanyi and was founding director of the Karl Polányi Research Center at Corvinus University. He is the author of over a hundred scientific publications, the renowned book ‘On the East/West Slope, Globalization, Nationalism, Racism and Discourses on Central and Eastern Europe’ published at CEU Press and a new 2023 book ‘Migration Turn and Eastern Europe’ at Palgrave Macmillan.
 
To learn more about our visiting professorship which is a unique university cooperation of the University of Vienna, the Central European University (CEU) and the Vienna University of Business and Economics (WU Wien), also follow the links below.
You can find our previous professors’ Public Lecture recordings on the respective professor’s page or on our YouTube Channel.
Our Public Lectures are open to anyone interested in connecting with research conducted at these universities and our visiting professors works. You are cordially invited to the public lecture on May 22nd at 6:30 pm which we are organiszing together with the Public Learning Centres Vienna (Wiener Volkshochschulen VHS). This important Viennese institution offers adult education on diverse topics and in the 1920s Karl Polanyi has also taught at the Public Learning Centres Vienna (Wiener Volkshochschulen VHS).

phd seminar - application phase open now!

We are looking forward to students joining Prof. Melegh’s research Seminar on Global social change and the migration turn. Students can apply with a 1-page motivational letter and CV by February 21st 2024! Find out more here or by clicking on the button below.

workshop @ CEU

You can read more about his Visiting Professorship, the PhD Seminar and all the related events by clicking on the links below. 
We will inform you about details about the CEU Workshop soon.
7th Visiting Professor Attila Melegh
IKPS Activity Calender
Information on PhD Research Seminar
PREVIOUS VIENNA POLANY VISITING PROFESSORS
Public Lecture Recordings