Europe Calling “(In)justice and populism – What role economic justice plays in the defence of democracy”

Recording here / Key scenes below:

Dear friends!

There is no democracy that is not currently struggling with attacks, especially from right-wing populists and right-wing extremists. Democracies worldwide are in retreat, and autocracies are on the rise, as the “Democracy Report 2023” shows. More and more people around the world are losing their rights, their freedom and often their lives.

But how can populism and extremism become so strong that democracy ceases to exist? One explanation is the role of economic and social injustice. People who feel unfairly treated in their political system are more open to forces that want to abolish this system.

In our next Europe Calling, we want to discuss exactly what role economic injustice plays and how more justice in the economy and society can be an antidote with the following guests and all of you:

• Eric Protzer is a researcher at the Harvard Growth Lab at Harvard University, USA. In his much-discussed book “Reclaiming Populism: How Economic Fairness Can Win Back Disenchanted Voters”, he argues that it is not the inequality in outcomes that drives people to populism, but the inequality of opportunity to advance socially and economically

• Professor Ulrike Malmendier has been a member of the German government’s Council of Economic Experts (the so-called “Wirtschaftsweisen”) since 2022 and is Professor of Economics and Finance at the University of California, Berkeley, USA. As a behavioural economist, she is particularly interested in human behaviour in economic situations.

• Xan López is a climate activist, one of the editors of the magazine Corriente Cálida (“Warm Stream”) and informal advisor for the progressive electoral coalition SUMAR in Spain. Together with the social democratic PSOE, SUMAR forms the current Spanish government with SUMAR leader Yolanda Díaz as Second Deputy Prime Minister.

• Rasmus Andresen is a German MEP and spokesperson for the German Greens in the European Parliament. In the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs and the Committee on Budgets, he campaigns for greater fairness in the economy and in tax matters, among other things.

• Moderation: Maximilian Fries, Managing Director of Europe Calling e.V.

Date: Monday, 18 March 2024, 8:00 pm – 9:30 pm CET (Brussels/Berlin/Paris)

Join us yourself and invite others.

The webinar will be simultaneously translated into German and English.

With European greetings,

Maximilian Fries and everyone at Europe Calling