The Law and Society Institute Berlin recently hosted a compelling lecture as part of its LSI Berlin Lecture Series “Digitaler Raum und wehrhafte Demokratie.” The talk, titled “Did the Future Die of Old Age?”, was delivered by Stephen Holmes, professor at NYU Law School and Spring Fellow at the American Academy Berlin.

In his lecture, Holmes explored how the great ideological conflicts of the twentieth century, once driven by competing visions of the future, have largely dissolved. Rather than witnessing the triumph of a single dominant vision, contemporary societies appear to be experiencing a broader erosion of belief in the future itself.

He argued that mounting global challenges such as climate crisis, technological disruption, and the weakening of the transatlantic alliance have transformed perceptions of the future from a space of possibility into one of uncertainty and threat. Against this backdrop, Holmes examined the consequences for democratic politics when the idea of progress loses credibility.

Drawing on developments in the United States and their implications for Europe, he raised critical questions about how societies can maintain political engagement and institutional stability when citizens struggle to imagine a desirable future. The lecture offered a thought-provoking reflection on the shifting temporal foundations of democracy and the growing fragility of forward-looking political imagination.