(Re)Imagining Freedom of Expression in Postdigital Societies

7 April 2025, 6:30 pm @ Diplomatische Akademie Wien

This event explores the relationship between freedom of expression and cancel culture by discussing how these terms are invoked to instigate culture wars and stifle dissent in relation to political struggles over public memory, identities and belonging.

Dessy Gavrilova will look at freedom of expression in the context of the current political developments both in the USA and in Europe. How does the dramatic political change that we witness today in the USA and the new regime’s utilization of the topic redefine the battle ground for freedom of expression? Does the frontier of the battle for freedom of speech need to be reframed today, and if so - how? How do progressive agendas like Woke affect the politics of freedom of expression? And can culture survive in the context where “cancel culture” is normalized?

Giulia Pelillo will explore the historical and cultural roots of both the term cancel culture and the practice of cancelling. She elaborates on cancel culture as a cultural product of technological, economic and cultural developments that originated in the 18th and 19th centuries and have been dramatically affected recently by the digitalisation and datafication of communication. Against this background, the talk will look at the politics of cancelling to discuss how freedom of expression can be safeguarded to promote social cohesion rather than polarising societies.

This event will be broadcast live at https://www.da-vienna.ac.at/live.

2 June 2025, 6:00 pm @ Diplomatische Akademie Wien

More information on the event will be provided soon.

8 October 2025 @ Austrian UNESCO Commission / Postsparkasse

More information on the event will be provided soon.