Property – this is arguably modern society’s most important social institution. As such, it is the focus of an international symposium that is to be held at Goethe-Institut Athen.
Property is the origin and culmination of everything modern. And it has become an increasingly controversial topic of late. Studies show that modern ownership has displaced forms of commons, while also testifying to the ongoing influence that this has on social segregation, predicated on racism, class, and gender inequality. The established idea of property seems to be responsible, at least in part, for a whole series of global crises that are becoming increasingly apparent, among them climate change.
The argument goes that if it is indeed the case that authoritarian modes are the product of the power to dispose of one’s “own things” and the right to total control over them, then it is legitimate to examine the social alternatives. In this respect, there is little so seemingly far-fetched as the idea of opting out of the logic of property. And yet the possibility of developing alternative ownership structures or alternative forms of possession is being debated not only in the commons movement but in myriad other contexts.
The New Old Properties brings together scholars, artists, and activists from around the globe to discuss the supposed impossibility of evading modern property logic. The discussion will also refer to the local situation in Athens, taking as its starting point the characteristic features of ownership in the city, which include rapid gentrification, current issues surrounding the return of cultural artefacts, and the vigorous development of the suburbs, which were constructed on the basis of the αντιπαροχή (antiparochi) method.
With: Andreas Angelidakis (Athens/GR), Omar Degan (Mogadishu/Somalia), Frank Engster (Berlin/DE), Nikolas Kosmatopoulos (Beirut/Lebanon), Susanne Leeb (Lüneburg/DE), Ibrahim Mahama (Tamale, Ghana), Vassilis Noulas (Athens/GR), Gabriel Schimmeroth (Hamburg/DE), Radha D’Souza (London/UK), Constantina Theodorou (Athens/GR), Kathrin Wildner (Berlin/DE), Citizen's initiative “Deutsche Wohnen & Co. enteignen”
The programme can be found here:
programme: www.goethe.de/newoldproperties
contact and information:Prog-athen@goethe.de
