The 57-year-old Lessenich, who was born in Stuttgart, is a professor of social theory and social research in the Faculty of Social Sciences at Goethe University and director of the Institute for Social Research in Frankfurt am Main. From 2013 to 2017 he was also chairman of the German Society for Sociology. In June 2017, he was also involved in founding the political party “mut” and became one of its founding chairmen.
In the political self-description and also in the public self-image, the institution of democracy stands for the same right to participation. In practice, however, democracy is an instance not only of opening up, but also of closing spaces for participation. Following the logics of class, competition and citizenship, these everyday demarcations structure a society riddled with inequalities that finds unity in only one thing: the ever-expanding appropriation and destruction of a nature constructed as an “environment”.
Against this background, how can a future expansion of participatory spaces be conceived? Unblocking democracy socially and at the same time limiting it ecologically: that is the civilizing task that late-industrial society sees itself confronted with. The sociologist Stephan Lessenich talks to Martin Dunst about possible solutions and perspectives for action to make democracies more solidary, more inclusive and more sustainable.
Source: Nachrichten
