31/05/2018 - Διάλεξη | Lifestyle solidarity (Αθήνα)

In the 21st century, lifestyle solidarity invites people to care about those in need in ways that are radically different from the solidarities of the past. Just think of activist tourism as a way for people to understand and connect better to contexts of ‘crisis’.

The Guardian’s recent ad on Greece’s ‘crisis’ tourism, inviting British people to an 'activist' tour of refugee camps and poverty-stricken ‘ordinary’ people, is a case in point. In this talk, I explore the different techniques through which lifestyle solidarity is actualized today: corporate branding, celebrity advocacy and digital activism (clicking, liking, sharing etc). Reflecting on the implications that this form of solidarity has on ‘our’ cultures as much as on those in need, I suggest alternatives for a new imagination of what a 21st century solidarity might look like.

Professor Chouliaraki has written a book relevant to the subject of this lecture, published by Polity Editions in 2015: The Ironic Spectator Solidarity in the Age of Post-Humanitarianism. The book has been made available in Greek by Nissos Publications: Ο ειρωνικός θεατής. Η αλληλεγγύη χτες και σήμερα . Copies of the Greek version of the book will be made available by the publisher with a special discount on the night.

Speaker: Lilie Chouliaraki, Professor of Media and Communications at the London School of Economics and Political Science

Chair: Kevin Featherstone, Head of the European Institute; Eleftherios Venizelos Professor of Contemporary Greek Studies and Professor of European Politics

Discussant: Dimitri A. Sotiropoulos, Associate Professor of Political Science, Department of Political Science and Public Administration,National and Kapodistrian University, Athens

Date: Thursday 31 May 2018, Time: 19:00, Venue: Hermes Hall (6th Floor), Αthens Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Akadimias 7, 10671 Athens, Greece

Πηγή: lse.ac.uk