[2022 Kyobo Literary Humanities Lecture] Professor Jinwoo Lee Talks About Balance and Great Tolerance in the Era of Polarization

[Asia Economy Reporter Seomideum] Kyobo Book Centre, Daesan Cultural Foundation, and Kyobo Life Insurance will host the first Kyobo Humanities Lecture Series of 2022 by inviting Professor Jinwoo Lee, Professor Emeritus at POSTECH, to diagnose modern society where polarization has become a universal phenomenon of the 21st century and explore solutions under the theme “Balance in the Age of Polarization: Speaking of Great Inclusion.”

The lecture will be held in three sessions at 3 p.m. on the 13th of next month, and those who register in advance can participate via online live streaming. Pre-registration will be available from the 30th on the websites of Daesan Cultural Foundation and Kyobo Book Centre, and registrants will be provided with the live streaming URL. The lecture videos will be released later on the Daesan Cultural Foundation’s YouTube channel.

As economic growth contributes to social integration but also causes inequality, leading to social polarization, the “Great Divide” has emerged as a core issue of our era. To resolve the phenomenon where only a few in society benefit and prosper while the majority are pushed into subsistence labor, Professor Jinwoo Lee proposes an attitude of “Great Inclusion.”

This lecture series titled “Balance in the Age of Polarization: Speaking of Great Inclusion” will analyze social, economic, and cultural polarization and reflect on “Great Inclusion” as a solution. The topics for each lecture are ▲Lecture 1: Fairness, Social Polarization ▲Lecture 2: Sharing, Economic Polarization ▲Lecture 3: Empathy, Cultural Polarization.

The lecture outline is as follows.

Lecture 1: Fairness, Social Polarization

A society that desperately calls for fairness is an unfair society. Meritocracy, which claims that success is possible through talent and effort, today rather strengthens and solidifies social inequality. Terms such as “winner-takes-all society,” “barrier society,” and “spoon class theory” indicate the emergence of a new elite class society. Now that the ladder of social mobility has disappeared, the very “opportunity” to demonstrate ability has become a scarce resource. At a time when social cooperation is required, “fairness” is needed more than ever.

Lecture 2: Sharing, Economic Polarization

Climate change is another key issue of the 21st century. The nature conquered by humanity through capitalism and scientific technology is being destroyed more and faster in societies with severe social inequality. To simultaneously address social inequality and climate change, humanity must change the way it manages shared resources. The economy is an act of managing the means of life. This lecture examines how we should change our perspective on nature from the viewpoint of “sharing.”

Lecture 3: Empathy, Cultural Polarization

Polarization in society today creates a culture of hatred. Racism, ageism, and sexism go beyond conflicts that can be rationally resolved and instead produce expressions of contempt and hatred. This damages the emotions of “us” and destroys the morality of mutual respect and cooperation. This lecture explores why “empathy” is necessary to resolve cultural polarization in the 21st century.

Started in 2013 to offer citizens high-quality humanities lectures, the “Kyobo Humanities Lecture Series” provides the public with deep insights and wisdom about our lives and the humanities. To prevent COVID-19 infection and allow many people to enjoy quality lectures, services such as online live streaming via YouTube and edited video releases are provided.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.