On this four-day congress, the ZIN is represented by Jun.-Prof. Antonia Graf as well as by the ZIN staff members Pia Buschmann, Tobias Gumbert and Carolin Bohn. Jun.-Prof. Antonia Graf (together with Dr. Simone Claar and Dr. Franziska Müller from the University of Kassel) organizes the panel “Energie! Ökonomische und demokratische Herausforderungen“ (in English: “Energy! Economic and Democratic Challenges”).
The four contributions to the panel deal with different challenges and topics of current energy policy from different perspectives, for example conflicts over wind energy plants (Rosa Lehmann, University of Jena) or the organization of energy cooperatives (Emily Drewing & Sabrina Glanz, University of Bochum). ZIN staff member Pia Buschmann is also involved in the “Energy!” panel: Together with co-author Prof. Angela Oels, she explores how the German insistence on carbon energy can be explained by a so-called discursive lock-in.
Furthermore, the two ZIN-staff members Tobias Gumbert and Carolin Bohn participate in the panel “Nachhaltigkeitsgrenzen der Demokratie & Demokratische Grenzen der Nachhaltigkeit” (in English: “Sustainability Limits of Democracy & Democratic Limits of Sustainability”) (Head: Dr. Basil Bornemann, University of Basel & Dr. Henrike Knappe, IASS; University of Potsdam). They discuss the (apparent) tension between liberal freedom and limits necessary for the implementation sustainability. They point out that current policies for organizing life within biophysical boundaries often only seem to grant freedom. Consequently, they develop ideas of a “green liberal freedom” that considers limits (in line with liberal ideas) to be promoting freedom.
