Komplexe Freiheit

What can freedom mean today? A sociological view on freedom can explore this question only against the background of the two fundamental transformations that societies are currently facing: the processes of globalization and digitization. New limits to freedom by globalization and new delimitations of freedom by digitization activate ambivalent and paradox dynamics that at the same time are a danger to democracy. Only a democracy, however, that is also capable of learning institutionally and that expands this learning ability into resilience stands a change to preserve political freedom and therefore the freedom of individuals as well. No less than the future of freedom depends on the development of a conception of freedom that reflects the social transformations of the 21st century and the invitation to withstand new tendencies to negate freedom.