European Book Club: “Liberal Responses to Populism” by Karen Horn & Stefan Kolev

Liberal Responses to Populism

Date: Tuesday, May 13, 2025
Time: 18:00 – 19:30
Location: Zentrum Liberale Moderne, Reinhardt­straße 15, 10117 Berlin

Liberal democracy is under pressure. Across the Western world, populist movements have surged — fuelled by disil­lu­sionment, nativism, and a growing distrust in liberal insti­tu­tions and the liberal elite. How did we arrive at this point, and what can be done to restore confi­dence in liberal ideals and their promise for a better world of tomorrow?

The new volume Liberal Response to Populism (De Gruyter 2025), edited by Karen Horn, Stefan Kolev, and Julian F. Müller, offers a multi­faceted exami­nation of this challenge. From the psychology of radical­ization to the lure of sover­eignty and from historical reflec­tions to forward-looking policy innova­tions, the book explores how liber­alism can meet the populist moment with clarity, creativity, and renewed conviction.

We invite you to join us for an evening of reflection and discussion with contrib­utors to this thought-provoking collection.

Speakers

Karen Horn
Karen Horn is a honorary professor of economics at the University of Erfurt (Germany), where she teaches the history of economic thought and economic journalism. She is partic­u­larly inter­ested in the work of Adam Smith, Friedrich A. Hayek, Walter Eucken, and James M. Buchanan, and in the tradition of liber­alism generally, with a special focus on ordolib­er­alism. At the Verein für Socialpolitik, the associ­ation of German-speaking econo­mists, she is a member of the committee for the history of economic thought. She serves as an editor of Perspek­tiven der Wirtschaft­spolitik, one of the two academic journals of the Verein, and is the co-chair of the NOUS network. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Lausanne (Switzerland).

Stefan Kolev
Stefan Kolev is the academic director of the Ludwig Erhard Forum for Economy and Society in Berlin and a professor of political economy at the University of Applied Sciences Zwickau (Germany). His research centers on the history of economic thought, especially ordolib­er­alism and Austrian economics, consti­tu­tional economics, and the future of the Social Market Economy. He is a co-editor of the ORDO Yearbook for the Order of Economy and Society and of the Journal of Contextual Economics – Schmollers Jahrbuch. He spent his last sabbatical at the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Insti­tu­tions at Princeton University (USA). He holds a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Hamburg (Germany).

Aris Trantidis
Lecturer in Inter­na­tional Relations and Politics, University of Lincoln. His research stands at the inter­section of politics and political economy, with publi­ca­tions on clien­telism, dominant party systems and semi-author­i­tarian regimes. He has published on the concept of democracy and hegemony and has written exten­sively on the Greek crisis.

Karolina Wigura (Moder­ation)
Karolina Wigura is senior Fellow at the Center for Liberal Modernity. She is Associate Professor at Warsaw University and a Member of the Board at Kultura Liberalna Foundation. Wigura was awarded fellow­ships at the Wissenschaft­skolleg zu Berlin and the Robert Bosch Academy. From 2016 to 2018, she was a Co-Director of the Polish Program “Knowledge Bridges” at St Antony’s College at the University of Oxford. Together with Jarosław Kuisz, she recently published Post-Traumatic Sover­eignty. An Essay (Suhrkamp 2023). She is a regular contributor to The New York Times and The Guardian.

This exclusive event will bring together a select group of experts for a stimu­lating dialogue. We look forward to your active participation!
If you have any questions or need further assis­tance, please feel free to reach out to Christina Russmann (christina.russmann@libmod.de) or Alexander Schwitteck (alexander.schwitteck@libmod.de). They will be happy to assist you with any inquiries.

Best regards,
Ralf Fücks, Karolina Wigura and Jarosław Kuisz