on a Convivial Society for All, Utopia(s) Conversations

A Perspective from China on the Future of Humanity

12. April 2024Wolfgang HofkirchnerComments: 2

GSIS Utopia(s) Conversations on a Convivial Society for All

GSIS is organising a series of conversations in various formats that tie in with the themes of our Utopia(s) Reloaded Talks in October 2023. Our Utopia(s) Conversations will revolve around a Convivial Society for All, a Sustainable Planet and Meaningful Technologies.

A convivial, i.e. liveable, society for all means, ultimately, a convivial society at the level of humanity as a whole. Before the turn of the millennium, the French philosopher and sociologist Edgar Morin described humanity as a community of destiny that does not behave as if it understands this. And this is where we need to think about global governance, revisit cultural traditions and shape new concepts, which will have repercussions on the local levels.

In this context, we invited a Chinese scholar whose Institute was already partner of the international “Homeland Earth” Campaign initiated in 2021 by the Austrian Centre for Peace after Edgar Morin. Now we fixed various conversations in co-operation with interested parties. This scholar is Professor Kang Ouyang (see photo below), Director of the Institute of Philosophy and Dean of the Institute of State Governance at the Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST) in Wuhan – the latter a university think tank for the “construction of a community with a shared future for humanity”. Ouyang was eight years Vice President of HUST (a university ranked among the top 10 of 2000 universities). Our partners in Austria are the FORUM ASIA PACIFIC at the Paris Lodron Universität Salzburg, the Institute of the Foundations of Law at the University of Graz, the International Institute for Peace in Vienna and the Department of Political Science at the University of Vienna.

We can offer you the following opportunities to participate in person or online:

• Conversations No. 1

26 April 2024, 14:00-15:30
The Tianxia Viewpoint in the Traditional Chinese Culture and the Contemporary Construction of the Community with A Shared Future for Mankind
Lecture Series Agorá
FORUM ASIA PACIFIC, Paris Lodron Universität Salzburg
Sigmund-Haffner-Gasse 18, HS 888
Read more: https://www.plus.ac.at/international-relations-department/chinese-studies-center/news-events-social-media/agora-lecture-series/?lang=en

Prof. Ouyang with Mag. Dragana Imbric at the entry of the Forum Asia Pacific [all photos – if not indicated otherwise – from Xiaokang Meng]

Scientific Director, Dr. Alexander Jost, introduces Prof. Ouyang

Executive Director, Mag. Judith Suchanek, during the discussion

Participants (among them Reinhard Heinisch, Ph.D., Professor of Austrian Politics in Comparative European Perspective – the third from the right)

• Conversations No. 2

30 April 2024, 15:00-16:30
Chinese Modernization and its Relevance for International Relations: On the Chinese Concept of Community with A Shared Future for Mankind
Global Governance Lectures:
Kang Ouyang
Discussant: Franz Winter (Prof., Institute for Religious Studies, University of Graz)
Institut für Rechtswissenschaftliche Grundlagen | Institute of the Foundations of Law
Fachbereich Global Governance| Department Global Governance
Universität Graz | University of Graz

M.Sc. Spec. Ksenia Radchenkova, Coordinator for Eastern European, Eurasian and Asian research and cooperation projects, introducing Prof. Ouyang

Mag.phil. Mag.theol. Dr.phil. Dr.theol. Franz Winter, Professor of Religious Studies and Head of the Institute for Religious Studies at the University of Graz, in discussion with Prof. Ouyang

• Conversations No. 3

6 May 2024, 18:00-20:00
China and the World
Panel:
Kang Ouyang
Susanne Weigelin-Schwiedrzik (Prof., Institute of Chinese Studies, University of Vienna)
Thomas Eder (Senior Fellow, Austrian Institute for International Affairs)
International Institute for Peace

Read more: https://www.iipvienna.com/event-calendar/2024/4/11/china-and-the-world (the event will be recorded for https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7NQQt8qVjozuVJdES0JRVw/videos)

From the left: Dr. Thomas Eder, Senior Fellow, Austrian Institute for International Affairs (ÖIIP), Prof. Susanne Weigelin-Schwiedrzik, Institute of Chinese Studies, University of Vienna, Prof. Ouyang and Mag. Stephanie Fenkart, M.A., Director, IIP

Dr. Irena Mostowicz, GSIS, at the end of the meeting [photo by Renate Quehenberger]

• Conversations No. 4

8 May 2024, 15:00-16:30
From the Traditional Worldview (Tianxia) to the Concept of a Community with a Shared Future for Mankind – China and the World in the Perspective of Human Civilization Progress
Public Guest Lecture, Internationale Politik (Bachelor):
Kang Ouyang
Doris Vogl (Mag. Dr., Universitätslektorin)
Department of Political Science, University of Vienna
Hauptgebäude, HS 1