'La por al segle XXI' is the focus of the Argumenta BCN 2022

Four local facilities — Casa Golferichs, Navas, Torre Llobeta and Vil·la Florida — are taking part in the second edition of Argumenta BCN promoted by the Barcelona Civic Centre Network. It is a circuit of conferences that will be held from 22 March to 25 May, and this year is named La por al segle XXI. Entre la incertesa i la perplexitat en un món complex.

The programme is structured around five thematic axes. The expert in Artificial Intelligence, researcher at Columbia University and founder and director of the platform equipocafeína Ramon Sangüesa moderates the area linked to Els perills de la robotització i els reptes d’un món cada cop més digital. Several issues within this context will be addressed, including the digital device and the difficulties of access to technology for reasons of gender, age or race (on 7 April, in Torre Llobeta), by Karina Gibert; the overexposure to social networks, the phenomenon of YouTubers and the option of disconnection (on 27 April, in Navas), by Liliana Arroyo; and the self-exploitation at work and the digitalisation of social relations, especially after the pandemic (on 17 May, in Vil·la Florida), with Ricard Bonastre and Santiago García.

The physicist and science journalist Toni Pou will coordinate the talks on Els reptes d’una evolució científica que es qüestiona i que cada cop és més present. Nutricionist Mercè Gonzalo will give answers to the question Què hem de menjar segons la ciència? (on 19 April in Vil·la Florida); UPC professor and researcher Jordi Freixa and engineer at the Institut de Recerca en Energia de Catalunya Manel Sanmartí will talk about nuclear energy in Com més ciència, menys por (on 26 April, at Casa Golferichs); and at the head of the IrsiCaixa Living Lab for health, Rosina Malagrida, and the scientific director of the Institut de Recerca de l’Hospital de Sant Pau and the IIB Sant Pau, Jordi Surrallés, will answer the question La transparència en la investigació científica genera confiança? (on 25 May, at Navas).

Marta Piñol, PhD in Art History, will coordinate the area called Cada època, el seu monstre with a session on how it is embodied in the history of photography (on 22 March, at Casa Golferichs) with Marta Dahó, PhD in Art History and Ricardo Guixà, PhD in Fine Arts; another on the mental health of artists with painting as an exercise to ward off fears (on 29 March, at Vil·la Florida), by cultural manager Maria Concetta Mariano and the lecturer and doctor in Art History Daniel López de Rincón; and a third one on the world of cinema (on 20 April, in Navas), with the presence of the film critic, teacher and researcher Maria Adell, and a fourth on dystopian literary stories (on 21 April, in Torre Llobeta) with the lecturer Isidora Rivas.

The journalist and anthropologist João França will lead the reflections on La por de l’altre, starting with a conversation with the Brazilian journalist and exile Jean Wyllys (on 5 April, at Casa Golferichs); family care, by the social educator and labour rights activists Carmen Juares and the doctor in Law and Political Science Florencia Brizuela (on 3 May, at Vil·la Florida); and the dialogue Quan les que ningú no s’ho espera prenen la paraula between the writer and activist Brigitte Vasallo and the president of the Associació de Veïns i Veïnes de Roquetes, Amparo Iturriaga (on 5 May, at Torre Llobeta).

Lastly, cultural journalist Marta Ballesta will lead three reflections on Mitjans de comunicació, quan la fiabilitat es posa en qüestió: journalist Xavier Giró and professor of ethics and bioethics Marcel Cano will evaluate journalistic ethics (on 10 May, at Casa Golferichs); journalists Carme Verdoy and Laura Aznar will discuss press freedom, censorship and media silences in La por dels periodistes a exercir (on 18 May, at Navas); and professor and researcher Ferran Lalueza and philologist and journalist Silvia Loewe will talk about La pandèmia de les notícies falses (19 May, at Torre Llobeta).

All talks will be free of charge though require prior registration. You can book your tickets through the websites of each civic centre as each activity approaches.