DEEP THOUGHT:

THE END OF CONSENT

A friendly conversation on stuff that matters
with Andreea Petre-Goncalves

Conversations / Sat 10th May / 5-7pm

Open to everyone | Booking required
Bar open

When capitalism stood victorious over communism and the end of history was declared, opening the doors to an era of selfishness did not feel embarrassing in Eastern Europe, even though it was the antithesis of the collective norms by which our societies had been organised. A new morality of choice, freedom and democratic consent gave the new order legitimacy. It was to be an enlightened free-for-all, not brutal pillage. So enlightened did it appear, that for the couple of decades up until 9/11, even its militarised interventionist manifestations seemed like they were probably justified. All shall have democracy and free trade, whether they like it or not.

35 years on, consent is no longer required, West as much as East. The moral veneer is gone. Cheap vilification of the vulnerable is a popular outlet for our justice appetites. Capital dismantles our societal architecture, chainsaw in hand, ably fusing the technological means of mass disinformation and the legitimate levers of the nation state. Rule of law is now for pussies, democracy is for chickens. Strong men are in. Those who want Greenland can claim it. Children can go ahead and die of preventable diseases. It’s time to cut disability benefits, but never, ever to tax wealth.

The terms of engagement belong unilaterally to those with power, to be imposed over those without. Capitalism without the promise of consent is hurtling towards fascism. The dynamics of domination are reshaping everything, from our politics to our tariffed shopping baskets, from our imaginations to our sex lives.

Violence cannot be our only possible trajectory. Join us for a hopeful discussion and imagine a future worthy of our best selves.

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ABOUT THE HOST

Andreea was 8 years old when totalitarian Communism collapsed overnight in her native Romania. She saw then how quickly yesterday’s absolute truth can become tomorrow reviled atrocity. She knows that societal narratives can shift fast, and when they do, they make deep system re-set possible.

For two decades she worked for international development, human rights, health and sustainability in the EU institutions and international NGOs. In 2019 she set up Flare, a Brussels-based think-and-do tank that experiments with practical ways of shifting the collective ideas we hold of what is normal and desirable. This work builds on 15 years of her researching and writing about societal narrative shifts. She is a BMW Foundation Responsible Leader and a member of Global Diplomacy Lab.

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ADDITIONAL INFO 

FOOD & DRINK	EVENT SIZE	WHEELCHAIR
Bar open with snacks	Small (10-20)	Available on request