Full house at the social-philosophical winter salon with Prof. Dr. Stephan Lessenich. Although Prof. Lessenich was only connected digitally, the hybrid event with the Director of the Institute for Social Research and Professor of Social Theory and Social Research at Frankfurt University led to a lively exchange.
Most of the almost 40 participants were there live in the seminar room on the Emil-Figge-Straße campus. Lessenich's recently published book "No longer normal. Gesellschaft am Rande des Nervenzusammenbruchs" (No longer normal. Society on the verge of a nervous breakdown) was well received at the Faculty of Applied Social Studies(Opens in a new tab) . His societal analysis of a climate of public irritation in the face of a succession of crises (financial crisis, refugee immigration, pandemic, war, energy crisis) is immediately apparent to prospective social workers in practice. Lessenich presented his theses and diagnoses in an entertaining exchange.
Prof. Dr. Ute Fischer, lecturer at the Faculty of Applied Social Studies and co-organizer of the social-philosophical salon, reports on the winter salon on 30 November 2022 in an interview with the online editorial team of Fachhochschule Dortmund.
It can't go on like this! This feeling has gripped many people at the moment in the face of numerous crises. Did the social-philosophical salon bring relief, Ms. Fischer?
If understanding phenomena brings relief, yes. Lessenich's pointed theses are an eye-opener when it comes to understanding the aggressive and destructive debate surrounding hot topics such as the coronavirus measures, refugee immigration, climate change and the war against Ukraine. According to the diagnosis, this multitude of crises no longer remains at a distance from one's own living environment, but becomes relevant for everyone in everyday life. It is also no longer particularly burdened sub-groups that are threatened in their existence or - no less worrying - are irritated in their identity, their life plan by, for example, the gender star and transport policy. Everyone is affected by the consequences of the crisis, everyone is nervous. The outlook, which does not describe a utopia or offer a panacea, but does see the possibilities of liberation in a new form of solidarity-based practice, also brings relief.
What key messages do you take away from Prof. Dr. Stephan Lessenich's presentation?
The accumulated crises, which have a compounding effect, affect everyone. Since power relations are reflected in the actions of the individual and have an effect on them, they can also be changed. This is Lessenich's basic dialectic of the social, which runs through all of his works. In his book, he speaks of a context of entanglement, as everyone is subject to or confronted with the dynamics of the financial market, finite resources, immigration and the end of certainties such as the gender order of past centuries. Liberation from this entanglement is only possible through collective effort, through a new hegemony that replaces the old hegemony with new certainties.
The social-philosophical salon has been around since 2017. What makes this format special?
The exchange is interdisciplinary and is open to colleagues from all faculties. However, it is primarily colleagues from the applied social sciences who use this opportunity for discussion and exemplary deep-diving. Among the many students, the majority are prospective Master's graduates. They often get involved with questions and contributions. In this hybrid format and in view of the fast pace of the discussion with an extremely eloquent guest, they were more reserved than usual this time. But as one of the Master's students put it: "It was precisely this feeling of being overwhelmed by the level of the socio-philosophical salon that spurred me on to engage intensively with the theories and works discussed by the guests."