Why support the Wallerstein Institute

The Wallerstein Institute holds open a space for sustained, collaborative, cross-disciplinary work measured in the generation of ideas crucial to a just and open society. That kind of space has become harder to fund. In a growing number of countries, it has become harder to defend. The new authoritarianism has been unusually direct about its targets: the university, the humanities, the creative fields, and critical reflection on social systems in any form.

Through conferences and symposia, research and arts initiatives, workshops and residencies, we give people the time and space needed for the vital work of reimagining what a truly democratic world might look like. Through publications, recordings, pedagogical encounters, online platforms, and public events, we carry those ideas — and the alternatives they point toward — out to broader publics.

None of this requires large sums. All of it requires money that is not conditional on the conclusions reached.

Wallerstein argued that periods of systemic transition are when action has the most purchase, precisely because the outcome is least determined. Supporting this work is one form that action can take.

Details coming soon. Please contact info@wallersteininstitute.org with donation inquiries.