Beatrice de Graaf in conversation with Andreas Reckwitz

Why do we feel so vulnerable and displaced in an age of abundance? In his newly translated book Verlies, Andreas Reckwitz describes the paradoxes of our modern age, in which individualization and globalization have brought new opportunities, but also evoke deep feelings of alienation and nostalgia. This afternoon, the influential German sociologist will be in conversation with historian Beatrice de Graaf.

Reckwitz analyzes loss as a fundamental problem of our time. The promise of progress has always been accompanied by loss: of security, community, and meaning. But experiences of loss conflict with the belief in progress that is essential to modernity. Now that the narrative of progress is losing its credibility and losses can no longer be made invisible, we are faced with one of the existential questions of the 21st century: can societies remain modern and at the same time deal productively with loss?

About the speakers

Andreas Reckwitz is professor of general sociology and cultural sociology at Humboldt University in Berlin. His work on late modernity has been well received in Germany, and he is considered an important voice in social debate. In 2019, Reckwitz received the prestigious Leibniz Prize. Verlies is his first book to be published in Dutch.

Beatrice de Graaf is a faculty professor and holds the chair in History of International Relations at Utrecht University. For her monograph Tegen de terreur/Fighting terror, she received the Arenberg Prize for the Best Book in European History in 2022. De Graaf conducts research on security, crisis, terrorism, and conflict from a historical perspective, often focusing on Germany and German history. She translates her insights into professional and vocational practice and makes them accessible to a wide audience and the media.