In English with simultaneous translation into German.
The most slandered man of the year 2015 is back in Berlin, in the vault of the martinet. Defeated in his attempt to free his land from the diktat of the creditors. And yet successful: Yanis Varoufakis has demonstrated that intelligence, courage and integrity can be part of the exercise of politics. He will not be forgiven for this.
The intransigence of the greek people was not in vain. It has revealed in which desolate state the european project is. Ressources are being plundered and people driven into misery in order to maintain the fiction that debt-ridden countries will be able to pay back some day. Akin to the Eastern bloc under Brezhnev only limited sovereignty is being granted. No democratic vote is tolerated as soon as it opposes the rules of a game dictated by non-elected institutions.
Yanis Varoufakis quit his functions as a finance minister because he refused to support the EU-led coup. Since then, he tours the continent with a message: There is no national solution. The outcome of the drama will be played on the all-european stage. Not behind closed doors, but with the involvement of the public. Europe, democracy? These are good ideas which still await being put into practice.
Yanis Varoufakis discusses with Franco Berardi, Srećko Horvat and Guillaume Paoli. Together, they will draw the critical lessons of this singular year 2015 and balance the chances of a plan B for Europe.
Franco „Bifo“ Berardi (*1948) is an Italian semiologist and activist. He was a figurehead in the Bolognian autonomist movement and wrote numerous books, one of his latest being: “The Uprising: On Poetry and Finance” (2014)
Srećko Horvat (*1983) is a Croatian philosopher and former director of the Subversive Festival in Zagreb. In Germany, his books „Nach Ende der Geschichte” (2013) as well as “Was will Europa? Rettet uns vor den Rettern” (2013, with Slawoj Žižek) were published.
Guillaume Paoli (*1959) is a French author and curator of the monthly talk „Im Zentrum des Übels“ at Volksbühne. His latest books are “Demotivational Training“ (2013) and „Mao siegt – Sieg des Narzissmus-Nihilismus“ (2013).
In Kooperation mit Matthes & Seitz
