Author Meets Critics Symposium on The Cool Water Effect
The World Values Survey Association is pleased to announce the public symposium Author Meets Critics, dedicated to the recently published open-access book The Cool Water Effect: The Geo-Climatic Source of Western Exceptionalism by Christian Welzel, Stefan Kruse, Lennart Brunkert, and Steven A. Brieger.
The event will take place on Saturday, 13 June, from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at SpinPlace, Rawa Club, University of Silesia in Katowice (Bankowa 5) and will also be available via online livestream.
About the Book
Published in the Palgrave Studies in Maritime Politics and Security series, The Cool Water Effect advances a provocative and ambitious explanation of long-term civilizational development. The book argues that a specific geo-climatic configuration—what the authors term the “Cool Water (CW) Condition,” characterized by cool seasons, steady rainfall, and coastal proximity—created favorable conditions for decentralized resource management, local autonomy, self-governance, and ultimately the emergence of emancipatory social and political institutions.
Building on comparative historical analysis and cross-national evidence, the authors revisit longstanding debates on Western exceptionalism, democratization, individualism, and human empowerment. Rather than attributing the rise of liberal-democratic institutions primarily to cultural, religious, or institutional factors, they emphasize the foundational role of geo-climatic conditions in shaping historical pathways of social development.
The symposium will provide an opportunity for critical discussion of the book’s theoretical arguments, empirical evidence, and broader implications for comparative sociology, political culture research, human development studies, and the analysis of long-term civilizational change.
Event Information
Date: Saturday, 13 June
Time: 10:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Venue: SpinPlace, Rawa Club, University of Silesia in Katowice, Bankowa 5, Poland
Online participation:
https://leuphana.zoom.us/launch/jc/94223696289
Meeting ID: 942 2369 6289
Passcode: 546641
Further Information
Open-access book information: The Cool Water Effect (Palgrave / Springer)
Project background: DFG Project: The Cool Water Effect
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