On October 5th, activist, author and scholar Angela Davis gave a talk at the University of Vienna on the occasion of its 650th anniversary. The initiative "FrauenUniJubel" (roughly translates as "WomenUniversityJubilance"), dedicated to introducing a feminist perspective into the celebrations, heightening the visibility of female scientists, and presenting contributions from women and gender studies for a sustainable societal development, invited Davis to talk about her life and work. The lecture entitled "Life between Politics and Academia" tackled a dazzling diversity of periods, issues and concepts, all held together by Davis's incomparable rhetoric and exceptional energy.
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| Photo: Angela Davis, FrauenUniJubel website |
Davis is one of the very few people, especially among those cultural icons still alive and thriving, who deserve the epithet "inspiring". After decades spent in political struggle (and several years on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives List), she has lost nothing of her fervor and passion. While others would have grown cynical, disillusioned or merely disinterested with progressing age, Davis is as radical in 2015 as she must have been in the late 1960s and early 70s. Her talk in Vienna is nestled safely somewhere between academic lecture and political propaganda speech, a position she is more than comfortable with: To accomplish their respective work, politics and academia require each other, as Davis reminds her audience by way of introduction.
