Did the Future Die of Old? Lecture by Stephen Holmes

On April 27, 2026, we welcome Stephen Holmes from NYU Law School and Spring Fellow at the American Academy Berlin at the Law and Society Institute Berlin.

Did the Future Die of Old Age?

The great ideological conflicts of the twentieth century—between liberalism, communism, and fascism—were battles over competing visions of the future. Today that contest has collapsed. What we are witnessing is not the victory of one future over another but a widespread loss of faith in futurity itself. Climate catastrophe, technological displacement, and the unraveling of the Atlantic Alliance have made tomorrow appear less like a destination than a threat. This talk examines what happens to democratic politics when progress ceases to be credible—when citizens can no longer imagine a future they would want to inhabit. Drawing on recent developments in the United States and their implications for a post-American Europe, it asks how societies can sustain political commitment and institutional continuity when the horizon of expectation has gone dark.