The World and the Earth: In Conversation with David Van Reybrouck

How should our institutions respond to planetary challenges? What would politics look like if it took the interests of future generations and the living world seriously? In conversation with moderator Meta Knol, writer and historian David Van Reybrouck – currently Denker der Nederlanden (Thinker of the Netherlands and Flanders) – reflects on democracy and humanity’s relationship with the Earth.

In his essay The World and the Earth, Van Reybrouck argues that the defining challenge of our time is not only the conflict between nations, but also the growing instability of the planet itself. As climate change, environmental degradation and ecological disruption increasingly determine the shape of our societies, established political systems are struggling to cope with crises that transcend borders.

David Van Reybrouck and moderator Meta Knol explore how our understanding of politics, democracy and responsibility might evolve to encompass not just the world, understood as the human-made political order, but the Earth itself. They discuss the central ideas of The World and the Earth, drawing on examples from the cultural field that offer alternative ways of imagining politics, diplomacy and representation, including practices that give nature and the living world a voice.