DEEP THOUGHT

Who holds power in late capitalism and why? 

A friendly conversation on stuff that matters
with Andreea Petre-Goncalves

Conversations /Sat 19th Oct / 5-7pm

Open to everyone | Booking required
Bar open

When future generations dig up the relics of our civilisation, they may marvel that we could be bothered to invent electric milk frothers and automated curtains - but couldn’t figure out how to live well, in harmony with nature. That we could fly sliced fruit in plastic trays from different continents on jumbo jets, but didn’t have any practical solutions to end hunger for everyone. They may ask themselves why we bowed our heads obediently to religions of greed, preaching progress and innovation while despoiling the common pantry - when we possessed the wisdom, the facts and the moral fibre to know better.

As we hurtle towards somewhat darker prospects for our societal arrangements, the power of capital over policy, of technology over democracy, of greed over justice, appear hard to shake. Yet today’s normal can quickly become tomorrow’s absurdity. Not long ago, lobotomy was deemed an acceptable cure for women’s ‘hysteria’. One day we may yet look back on insistence that some must profit from the apocalypse with similar disbelief.

Who holds power in these strange times - and why? Please join us for a regenerative discussion on summoning our own power over our collective path.

In the Deep Thought series, Andreea offers opportunities to interrogate our ideas of what is normal and desirable in society. Deep Thought is a space for courage and authenticity, with no stone left unturned. We build trust, encourage each other and take action together.

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ABOUT THE HOST

Andreea was 8 years old when totalitarian Communism collapsed overnight in her native Romania. She saw then how quickly yesterday’s absolute truth can become tomorrow reviled atrocity. She knows that societal narratives can shift fast, and when they do, they make deep system re-set possible.

For two decades she worked for international development, human rights, health and sustainability in the EU institutions and international NGOs. In 2019 she set up Flare, a Brussels-based think-and-do tank that experiments with practical ways of shifting the collective ideas we hold of what is normal and desirable. This work builds on 15 years of her researching and writing about societal narrative shifts. She is a BMW Foundation Responsible Leader and a member of Global Diplomacy Lab.

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ADDITIONAL INFO 

FOOD & DRINK	EVENT SIZE	WHEELCHAIR
Bar open with snacks	Small (10-20)	Available on request