“Acceleration, Alienation, Resonance”

In his presentation, he will explore the consequences the phenomenon of social acceleration has for modern life. Late modern societies are characterised by a constant increase in the speed of technological innovation, social change and everyday life, leading to a pervasive sense of time pressure and instability. While acceleration promises growth, efficiency and progress, it simultaneously produces forms of alienation, as individuals experience the world as mute, unresponsive and beyond their control. As a counter-concept, he wants to introduce “resonance” – a mode of relating to the world characterised by mutual responsiveness, transformation and meaningful connection – but uncontrollable and unpredictable. The talk outlines the dynamics of acceleration, examines its link to alienation, and discusses resonance as a possible pathway toward a more fulfilling form of modernity.

Speaker

Professor Dr. Hartmut Rosa, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize winner 2023, is Professor of Sociology and Social Theory at Friedrich Schiller University in Jena, Germany, and Director of the Max Weber Centre for Advanced Cultural and Social Studies at the University of Erfurt. He has been an Affiliated Professor at the Department of Sociology, New School for Social Research, New York, 2001-2006. In 1997, he received his PhD in Political Science from the Humboldt Universität zu Berlin. After that, he held teaching positions at the universities of Mannheim, Jena, Augsburg and Essen. His publications focus on Social Acceleration, Resonance and the Temporal Structures of Modernity and have been translated into more than 25 languages.

 

• Prof. Dr. Hartmut Rosa – Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prizewinner 2023 (DFG)(interner Link)
• Prof. Dr. Hartmut Rosa – University of Jena(externer Link)
• Prof. Dr. Hartmut Rosa – Max-Weber-Kolleg (University of Erfurt)(externer Link)

Event Details

Date	Wednesday, 11 March 2026
Schedule	17:30-18:00    Registration with tea/coffee   18:00-18:15    Welcome talks by German Embassy New Delhi, DFG; ICAS MP and Introduction of Prof. Rosa   18:15-19:30    Leibniz lecture by Prof. Hartmut Rosa followed by Q&A   19:30                End of lecture
Venue	India International Centre,  Kamaladevi Complex,  Seminar Hall 1, 2 and 3,  New Delhi
Organisation	Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation), The Centre of Advanced Studies: Metamorphoses of the Political (ICAS:MP) in collaboration with the German Embassy New Delhi
Registration	As seating is limited, please register by 5 March by sending an email to ujjwal.arora@mwsindia.org(externer Link)

Here you can find the event flyer(Download).