Dear All, at 3pm on Friday 30 January (next week), we will be hosting Alexandre Lefebvre, who is Professor of Politics and Philosophy at the University of Sydney. His talk will take place at 3pm in 'Hörsaal 3F' on the 3rd floor of NIG. Details are below. The Good Life State: Politics After Liberalism Alexandre Lefebvre (University of Sydney) Liberals keep making a mistake about the non- and post-liberal turn. The usual story is that regimes like Orbán's Hungary, Xi's China, Putin's Russia, Modi's India, and MAGA America are held together mainly by the ugly goods of politics: money, patronage, resentment, and cynical leaders gaming a duped public. Some of that is true. But it doesn't explain why these projects feel vital to supporters, why they endure, and why liberals keep acting surprised. This talk argues that many of these regimes are better understood as ruling through the good life. They're not only anti-liberal. They're positive, teleological, and willing to use the state's tools—policy, institutions, incentives, and cultural power—to shape citizens' virtues, attachments, and habits of feeling. After the talk, we will go to dinner at Rebhuhn, so please let us know if you would like to join so I can make a booking. I very much hope to see many of you there! All the Best, Alex --- Univ-Prof. Paulina Sliwa Professor of Moral and Political Philosophy Director of Training, FWF Cluster of Excellence "Knowledge in Crisis" Institute of Philosophy University of Vienna