Life-changing technological innovation is advancing at an often unpredictable pace. Liberalism is under sustained attack, as is faith in basic scientific principles. Compassion is increasingly displaced by brutal transactional values. Can humanity remain human under such strenuous circumstances? The Vienna Humanities Festival will invite the public to reflect with intellectuals, scientists, writers, and artists.

Renowned French sociologist and author Didier Eribon returns to the questions at the heart of his book The Life, Old Age, and Death of a Working-Class Woman (Semiotext(e), 2025). Invoking the condition of elderly individuals who have lost their physical autonomy, and with it the capacity to participate in political mobilization, Eribon explores the broader issue of political voice and visibility: what conditions determine who is able to speak out politically?

After the talk, Eribon will be in conversation with Ivan Krastev, IWM Albert Hirschman Permanent Fellow.