We are happy to present to you reading recommendations from our CONVOCO! thinkers – get inspired!
We recommend to you the Convoco Edition: To Do or Not To Do – Inaction as Form of Action
“Inaction is perhaps one of the most important acts in the context of Convid-19.”
Corinne M. Flick
Radical Hope: Ethics in the Face of Cultural Devastation (2008) by Jonathan Lear
Plenty Coups was the last great chief of the Crow Nation. His story and that of his tribe lead the author to investigate what people can fall back on when their culture disappears. It is hope that can give strength for new beginnings. This is a poetic and philosophical book that should be read slowly and has been one my most beautiful reading experiences of 2020.
Hannah Arendt: For Love of the World (2004) by Elisabeth Young-Bruehl
For me, political theorist Hannah Arendt is one of the most intelligent and fascinating women of the 20th century. For Arendt, freedom means the strength for new beginnings. She stands out through her clear reasoning, logical mind, and her personal courage to stand up for her convictions. The history of the 20th century is reflected through her life. This book is 700 pages of sheer excitement.
Max Reinhardt: Life As A Festival (2020) by Sibylle Zehle
It’s a fortunate coincidence that Max Reinhardt founded his festival in Salzburg. He embodied the avant-garde and the imagination as well as an artistic and entrepreneurial spirit. This illustrated biography reveals how extraordinary Max Reinhardt was, the man who contributed so much to contemporary theater. This book provides an impressive account of Reinhardt’s breadth of knowledge and makes us look forward to summer in Salzburg.
Shaping the World: Sculpture from Prehistory to Now (2020) by Antony Gormley and Martin Gayford
Democracy in America (1835/40) by Alexis de Tocqueville
It is tremendously exciting to see how many of the fundamental problems of modern democracy were already identified by the French writer, historian, and politician Tocqueville, be it the tensions between equality and freedom, the relationship between decentralization and democracy, or the role of religion in modern society.
Pnin (1957) by Vladimir Nabokov
This tragicomic tale of a Russian professor exiled in the United States has a lot to say about the US of the 1950s but is most of all a great book about being lost and rootless.
2030. How Today’s Biggest Trends Will Collide and Reshape the Future of Everything (2020) by Mauro F. Guillen
Has China Won? The Chinese Challenge to American Primacy (2020) by Kishore Mahbubani
AI-Superpowers: China, Silicon Valley und die neue Weltordnung (2019) by Kai-Fu Lee
More from Less (2019) by Andrew McAfee
Sapiens: A Graphic History: The Birth of Humankind (2015) by Yuval N. Harari
The Tyranny of Merit: What’s Become of the Common Good? (2020) by Michael Sandel
21 Lessons for the 21st Century (2018) by Yuval Noah Harari
The author is an exciting thinker. In this book he asks timely and important questions and encourages us to think about values and personal commitment.
The Weirdest People in the World: How the West Became Psychologically Peculiar and Particularly Prosperous (2020) by Joseph Henrich
Clashing Over Commerce: A History of US Trade Policy (2018) by Douglas A. Irwin
The Lever of Riches: Technological Creativity and Economic Progress (1992) by Joel Mokyr
The World of Yesterday (1943) by Stefan Zweig
This memoir introduces us to Stefan Zweig, a passionate European and citizen of the world, with his highs and lows in the company of his friends and contemporaries. The book is also a captivating and surprising testament to the period between the end of the 19th century and World War II.
Jakob the Liar (1969) by Jurek Becker
…a book for anyone who wants to put our lockdown problems into perspective.
Sovereign Debt Management (2014) by Rosa Lastra & Lee Buchheit (eds.)
A well written and highly competent overview of the problems of state debt and how to overcome them.
Sovereign Individual (2020) by James D. Davidson and Lord William Rees-Mogg
…anticipated the technology-driven future and how individuals and governments will respond. The book predicted much of the trends happening today.
Becoming Human (2008) by Jean Vanier
…vulnerability and the human condition, why the “weak” have as much to contribute as everyone else.
The Inner Life of Animals: Love, Grief, and Compassion (2017) by Peter Wohlleben
…a beautiful book that shows that animals are as sentient as humans.
Le Petit Robert (2017) by Alain Rey, Robert Sous, Paul Robert et al.