2020 Dignity Workshop 01.1: A Meta-Narrative for Times of Radical Transformation
Channel: Evelin Lindner
Date: 2020-11-17

From Humiliation to Dignity: For a Future of Global Solidarity — A Meta-Narrative for Times of Radical Transformation, by Evelin Lindner

A presentation prepared on 17th November 2020 in Germany for the 17th Workshop on Transforming Humiliation and Violent Conflict that was originally scheduled to take place at Columbia University in New York City, in December 2020, but had to be conducted as a virtual gathering due to the coronavirus pandemic:
The 2020 Workshop on Transforming Humiliation and Violent Conflict representing the 35th Annual HumanDHS Conference titled ‘From a Virus Pandemic to a Pandemic of Dignity: How Can We Escape Complicity with Institutionalised Humiliation?’ 10th–12th December 2020
See www.humiliationstudies.org/whoweare/annualmeeting/35.php

• See a background text titled 'From Humiliation to Dignity: For a Future of Global Solidarity — A Meta-Narrative for Times of Radical Transformation' on www.humiliationstudies.org/whoweare/evelin02.php
• See also a presentation with a similar title prepared for another conference recorded on 16th November 2020 in Germany, with one version of 25 minutes (https://youtu.be/j_yezKgNY8A) and a longer version of one hour (https://youtu.be/GRTISHlDiRY)


• Abstract (short): The coronavirus pandemic represents an important turning point in the way human activities unfold on our planet. The virus makes it more palpable than ever before that the world has become a village, that we are all interconnected and interdependent. Never before has it been so clear that we must act together, and fast. 
• Abstract (long): The coronavirus pandemic that unfolds as we speak represents an important turning point in the way human activities unfold on our planet: For the first time, everyone is affected simultaneously. The virus makes it more palpable than ever before that the world has become a village, that we are all interconnected and interdependent. Never before has it been so clear that we must act together, and fast.
The pandemic comes on top of a list of crises that gets longer by the day: Financial crisis, credit and banking crisis, environmental and ecological crisis, biodiversity crisis, housing crisis, well-being crisis, education crisis, spiritual and moral crisis, trust and trusting crisis, indifference crisis, fake news and faking crisis, reality crisis, populism and fascism crisis... all leading to a generalised ‘time of crisis’.
It is always a shock when limits are reached that hitherto were imperceptible. Sudden tipping points change conditions so fast and drastically that it is difficult to bring about equally drastic adaptations. We, as humankind, have the choice of proceeding unimpeded with ‘business as usual’ towards the global depletion of planet Earth’s last resources, or we can rethink and shape our future path by inventing new ways of arranging our affairs on this planet. Never in our species’ history have we encountered more serious challenges. The generations alive now carry more responsibility on their shoulders than any generation before. The presently unfolding coronavirus crisis is likely to be only a small prelude. We stand at historically unparalleled crossroads.