The world is currently experiencing multiple crises marked, among other phenomena, by the growing threats of war, inflation, economic crises and the broadening of inequalities, environmental disasters, the rise of the extreme right and authoritarianism, migratory dynamics, all of which have culminated in such a way as to constitute turning points for humanity as a whole.

Since its founding in 2017, the transdisciplinary research of the Maria Sibylla Merian Center for Advanced Latin American Studies (CALAS) has focused on how these crises and processes of change are provoked, (de)accelerated, perceived and reflected upon by different social actors and what strategies for coping with crises have emerged at their multiple levels. Some of the crises that have stood out within this panorama are violence, the social divides that have provoked inequalities along with the accumulation of power and wealth in the hands of elites, as well as, the socio-environmental crises in the Anthropocene epoch. Also relevant are the impacts of the multiple crises on the (re)constructions of identities of social actors in various fields, from politics and economics to cultural and artistic production. Of course, these issues are neither unique nor confined to Latin America and the Caribbean. However, the region stands out for its creative search for political and cultural strategies to confront these crises that call into question the social and political order. At the same time, they favor social change and open new ways of imagining the future.

This congress, organized by CALAS and funded by the German Federal Minstry of Education and Research, has a double purpose; on the one hand, to present and discuss significant results of eight years of research carried out with and in Latin America on phenomena that have a global dimension, but that are presented in the region in a genuine and particular way. In the doing, the aim is to connect Latin American debates with analyses produced in Germany and Europe, creating opportunities for interregional and interdisciplinary dialogue and the search for and discussion of possible solutions.

On the other hand, the purpose is to open up new fields to study crises and generate new social, cultural and political proposals. This arises from a need that goes beyond analyzing the processes of these critical junctures, but rather seeks to broaden the horizon towards new visions, imaginaries, utopias and perspectives as a result of the strategies to confront the multiple crises.

To discuss these questions, CALAS brings together more than 50 international experts in Latin American studies in this congress to be held from February 10-12, 2025 at the University of Kassel.

To attend it is necessary to register at this link::

https://veranstaltungen.uni-kassel.de/event/congresocalas

Download the programme