Politisch Lesen // Der ZweiEinsDrei Buchklub im HausDrei

Reading Politics // The ZweiEinsDrei Book Club at HausDrei

Gloomy Outlook? 

In the second season of Political Reading, we want to explore utopias and dystopias. Does it even make sense to imagine a future that is more than just a logical continuation of the present? Perhaps, instead of pondering utopias, we should study the latest reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and then rack our brains over damage control? And aren’t dystopias primarily suited to fostering collective depression? 

One could counter that, especially today—in the face of climate change and growing global injustice—we lack concrete utopias more than ever. Dystopias, as depressing as they may be, not only give us a foreshadowing of a future that threatens us if we fail to prevent the “business as usual” of the present from continuing. They could also be read as an encouragement to resist. 

Over the course of seven Monday evenings (spread out over twelve weeks), we will discuss three dystopian novels and a series of shorter texts on the potential of utopian thinking. Perhaps we will even succeed in collectively envisioning concrete utopias. As with the first season of “Political Reading,” we want to try not only to develop a well-informed approach to pressing social issues, but also to engage in conversation about possible courses of action. 

We will read the following texts (some in excerpts): 

• Octavia Butler, *The Parable of the Sower* [published in the U.S. in 1993, set in the year 2024] 

• Tatsuzō Ishikawa, The Last Utopia [published in Japan in 1952, set in the year 2027] 

• John Lanchester, *The Wall* [a dystopia by a British author born in Hamburg about climate change and forced migration] 

• Michael Hirsch / Kilian Jörg, Puncture the Status Quo! 

• Artur Becker, Left. The Beginning and End of a Utopia (excerpt) 

• as well as short texts by Ernst Bloch, Ursula K. Le Guin, Volker M. Heins, Ágnes Heller, and Donatella Di Cesare 

Dates: Sept. 14, Sept. 21, Oct. 5, Oct. 19, Nov. 2, Nov. 16, Nov. 23 

Each session begins at 7:30 p.m. –duration: two hours maximum 

Location: HausDrei – Altona-Altstadt Neighborhood Cultural Center in August-Lütgens-Park, Hospitalstraße 107, 22767 Hamburg 

The seven evenings are not standalone events where only one text is discussed each time. Instead, the discussion is intended to span the entire cycle. We will revisit some texts multiple times. It is therefore important to attend as many evenings as possible. 

To participate, you must have read the text to be discussed in advance.  

“Political Reading” is a collaborative project between HausDrei and the ZweiEinsDrei bookstore. The evenings are organized and moderated by Klaus Neumann. Until a few years ago, Klaus was a professor of history at an Australian university. He is the author of the book *Blumen und Brandsätze: Eine deutsche Geschichte 1989–2023* (Flowers and Molotov Cocktails: A German History 1989–2023), published in 2024, which examines the treatment of refugees in Hamburg and Saxon Switzerland. 

This is the second season of “Politisch Lesen.” Thematically, it follows on from the first season (in spring/early summer 2026), in which we addressed the question: “Is a new fascism on the horizon?” However, participation in the first season is not a prerequisite for participating in the second. 

Further information (including details about the texts and the order in which they will be read) will be provided after registration. To ensure a productive discussion, the number of participants is limited. 

Registrations—please send them by September 1topolitischlesen@web.de—will beconsidered in the order they are received.Unfortunately, participation without prior registration is not possible.