Date/Time
Tuesday
2 May 2017
2:00 pm - 4:00 pm

Location
Social Science Matrix

Event Type
Talk

The Social Science Matrix is proud to welcome Helga Nowotny, Professor emerita of Science and Technology Studies, ETH Zurich, and a founding member of the European Research Council. In 2007 she was elected ERC Vice President and from March 2010 until December 2013 President of the ERC. Currently she is Chair of the ERA Council Forum Austria, member of the Austrian Council and Vice-President of the Council for the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings.

Abstract

Messiness is a familiar condition – it forms the background of our daily life and of society. While we normally take it for granted, it is also an expression of resilience against disorder that threatens to take over once we face forces beyond our control. In her presentation, Professor Nowotny will focus on the temporal and spatial dimensions in which messiness becomes apparent today: broken time lines and fragmented spaces. Messiness is framed by a blurring of the world orderings inherited from modernity. Against the backdrop of rapid computerization and the rise of algorithms, we may find ourselves again in a phase of transition toward new ways of world ordering. What would it entail, especially for the social sciences?

See more here.