SOCIALIZATION AND PUBLIC LUXURY: Strategies for a democratic economy in the face of climate crisis

We are excited to announce an online workshop with Vincent Janz from the think-tank Commnunia on Thursday August 6th 13-15h: https://mluconf.uni-halle.de/b/jon-2tx-how-ffs

In preparation for the C-URGE final event, we will learn from and discuss with Vincent how to communicate climate amidst plural urgencies at hand of Communia's work on socialisation and public luxury.

Please feel free to circulate the workshop to interested colleagues and collaborators in your networks.

Abstract:

Land, natural resources, and means of production may be transferred to public ownership or other forms of public management pursuant to Article 15 of the German Basic Law. Initiatives such as “Expropriate Deutsche Wohnen & Co.” aim to apply the so-called “socialization clause” for the first time, thereby expropriating and socializing large real estate corporations in Berlin. But how is it that our Basic Law contains such a potentially radical lever for wresting political power over key sectors of the economy from private corporations and fundamentally democratizing them? In which areas can it be applied, which key actors are attempting to do so and to what extent can socialization offer answers and strategic orientation with regard to the looming climate crisis?

For communia, a leading vision and narrativ with which to face the existential crises of our time - from climate crisis, to increasing poverty and far right mobilization - is that of public luxury. Public Luxury means unconditional access to the goods and services that make our lives not only possible, but beautiful—for everyone. Mobility, education, housing, high-speed internet, healthcare, culture, public parks and swimming pools, healthy food: All these things need to be transferred into public, democratic property through socialization. Only through collective prosperity rather than private excess will we be able to address the climate crisis, inequality, and the crisis of democracy.

In this event, we will discuss the vision of Public Luxury, as well as the lever of socialization in order to get there. Together, we will identify the strengths and weaknesses of this approach as a narrative for a better future, and explore alliances and strategies through which we can collectively move toward this goal. The Event will be divided into a lecture (2 hours) as well as a workshop phase (2 hours) in which we will discuss these issues together and brainstorm possible mode of action.