A social contract for the 21st Century
What to do today for tomorrow’s world? A new contract for a new planet? What legacy for future generations? What challenges await us? Which ones are beyond us? What social justice? For whom? For when?
The international and interdisciplinary competition launched by the Maison Rousseau et Littérature aims to promote projects that examine the Social Contract in light of contemporary crises and draft a design for tomorrow. It is one of our main objectives to financially support projects that are determined to rethink a social contract by valuing collective action and encouraging future generations to commit to a free, participatory and inclusive society.
By advocating the liberation of the individual through education, and denouncing the indiscriminate exploitation of natural resources, Rousseau’s thinking ould not have been closer to today’s concerns.
The climate crisis, a lack of equal opportunity, erosion of democracy through technological change, social exclusion, the restriction of individual and collective freedoms : at a time when our society is threatened, it is urgent that we invent a new paradigm for tomorrow.
We are convinced that a new social contract for the 21st century is possible and necessary, let’s realize it together!
A campaign to support concrete impulses for a new model of society.
«A Social Contract for the 21st Century» proposes this campaign to support the realisation of the competition’s winning projects. To this end, we want to raise 50,000 CHF in 45 days!
In this period, with our decaying connectedness to nature and deep democratic tensions, yet strengthened by the momentum of mobilization and the global effects of its spread, there is a need to reflect on conditions for collective liberatory action.
We want to give this initiative a scope that matches our ambitions, convinced of the need to think together and to commit ourselves collectively to the realisation of a new model of society today.
We know that this is a significant amount of money, but we also know we can count on you!
We want to think together about proposals for the world of tomorrow!
This initiative aims to encourage the highest possible public engagement with contemporary and future societal issues. It is open to young people and adults, artists, academics, interdisciplinary research groups, associations, schools and to NGOs around the world.
By investigating avenues for a new social order serving the general interest, this competition should facilitate a collective rethinking of ecology, public health, participatory democracy, social justice, and any other key global factors, creating substantial impetus for a new model of society.
If you also believe that a new social contract adapted to contemporary emergencies is urgent, help us to realise this project!