The conference seeks to examine the various reactions to the so-called crisis of character while trying to map out a potential future: How do conflicting pressures of flexibility and self-actualization transform our culture and the way in which we conduct our communal life? What kind of interdependencies exist between the ongoing fragmentation of Self and general developments in the workplace, in politics, and in the media?
 
Concept: Martin Schaad, Potsdam
Participants: Zygmunt Bauman, Leeds; Wendy Doniger, Chicago; Alain Ehrenberg, Paris; Eva Illouz, Jerusalem; Sudhir Kakar, Goa; Matthias Kross, Potsdam; Geert Lovink, Amsterdam; Glenn Most, Pisa/Chicago; Robert Pippin, Chicago; Dieter Thomä, St. Gallen