October
Annual Berggruen Prize for Philosophy & Culture Awarded to American Sociologist Patricia Hill Collins
An institute exploring the ideas we need for our changing world
Ideas Matter
Nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time has come. Since its founding, the Berggruen Institute has forged new conceptual frameworks to meet the challenges and harness the opportunities of the arriving future. As an independent think and action tank, we have the autonomy to step outside the usual lanes, reaching beyond academic disciplines to bridge social divides, partisan dispositions, and cultural boundaries. This cross-fertilization, joined with a unique capacity to connect and convene a diverse global network of relationships, gives us the ability to spread actionable ideas and influence events.
History
In 2010, Nicolas Berggruen and Nathan Gardels sat down with a group of scholars, business leaders, and political veterans in California to contemplate the economic and political stresses caused by the global financial crisis, the widespread perception of failing political institutions and Western democracies, and the question of how China’s rise would affect international cooperation and governance in the 21st century. The ideas that emerged led to the formation of the Berggruen Institute (BI)—a global network of thinkers that devise systemic solutions to the world’s challenges.
BI’s program focuses on themes such the Renovating Democracy, Universal Capital, The Planetary, and Future Humans, all of which together ask how we should rethink our governing institutions and systems to best support flourishing relations between humans, technology, and the planet. The BI’s cross-pollination of thematic work also has led to the incubation of Antikythera, a new program exploring the impact of planetary-scale computation.
Diverse and purposeful, our activities work to foster dialogue and the development of ideas, from keeping open channels of communication through exchanges between Chinese President Xi Jinping and our global council of former heads of government, tech executives, and global intellectuals to promoting citizens’ assemblies in Europe. In California, we are working to integrate deliberative institutions into the direct democracy process and to engage leading Silicon Valley entrepreneurs with the state’s governor in the idea of sharing wealth in the digital age through universal basic capital.
In the cultural realm, we are networking frontier technologists with Hollywood auteurs and science fiction authors who will shape the next narrative. Similarly, the Future Humans program placed philosophers and artists in tech labs to interact with the engineers of innovation.
Our China Center hosts dialogues that examine AI from the non-Western perspective of Daoism, Buddhism and Confucianism while our new center for European activities in Venice will gather policymakers and political thinkers, artists and architects, authors and scholars, scientists, and technologists to explore Europe as planetary laboratory.
Publishing is a crucial tool in Berggruen Institute’s exploration of these themes. BI launched the digital platform WorldPost in 2014, which delved into geopolitical power shifts in the post-American global order; how to renovate governance and democracy in the digital age; and advances in genetics, biosciences and artificial intelligence through a big-picture, societal lens. This content first appeared on HuffPost and then in 2018,The Washington Post exclusively published WorldPost op-eds, features, and videos. Next, BI partnered with the University of California Press on the book series “Great Transformations,” which has included the recent Renovating Democracy: Governing in the Age of Globalization and Digital Capitalism by our founders Nicolas Berggruen and Nathan Gardels. BI’s latest and celebrated platform is the independently published Noema Magazine, an award-winning magazine which shares new perspectives and synthesizes ideas from BI’s growing community of thought leaders.
Wanting to commit more robustly to thinkers whose ideas have shaped our world, the Berggruen Institute initiated the annual Berggruen Prize for Philosophy and Culture. This $1 million award is chosen by an independent jury and given to a thinker whose ideas have led us to find direction, wisdom, and improved self-understanding in a transforming world, and celebrates the significance of philosophy to society. Laureates have included Charles Taylor (2016); Onora O’Neill (2017); Martha Nussbaum (2018); Ruth Bader Ginsburg (2019); Paul Farmer (2020); Peter Singer (2021); Kojin Karatani (2022); and Patricia Hill Collins (2023).
The BI also supports younger, emerging thinkers—some with bold, relatively untested ideas—through its Berggruen Fellowship and programmatic incubation. Since 2015, Berggruen Fellows have published more than 50 books; written op-eds for media including The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Financial Times; contributed articles to the Institute’s Noema Magazine; authored white papers; provided congressional testimony; and served as expert consultants to the UN, the WHO, and other governing bodies with global impact. The BI’s academic fellowship partners have included Harvard, NYU, Oxford, Peking University, Tsinghua University, Stanford, University of Southern California, and Università Ca’ Foscari.
Seeking space where scholars can work and reflect, and where thinkers, leaders, and experts can convene, the Berggruen Institute is creating a network of physical centers. From its flagship office in downtown Los Angeles, BI went on to open a China Center at Peking University and a European center at the Casa dei Tre Oci in Venice, Italy. BI is currently developing a new Los Angeles headquarters, Monteverdi, a scholarly campus in the Santa Monica Mountains.
As we enter a new decade and reflect on the last, we take stock of what we’ve been able to accomplish over recent years by striving to grapple imaginatively and stepping outside the usual lanes to reach beyond academic disciplines, social silos, partisan dispositions,and cultural boundaries. This cross-fertilization conjoined with a nimble capacity to connect and convene a diverse, global network of long-standing relationships has proven uniquely valuable in today’s fragmenting world.
2023
2022
December
Annual Berggruen Prize for Philosophy & Culture Awarded to Japanese Philosopher Kojin Karatani.
June
Release of Berggruen Governance Index (2022). The Berggruen Governance Index Project is a collaborative project between the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs and the Berggruen Institute. The current iteration of the Index examines the performance of 135 countries in key areas over a 20-year period to advance our understanding of why some countries are better managed and enjoy a higher quality of life than others. To this end, the Index analyzes the relationship between democratic accountability, state capacity, and the provision of goods to serve public needs.
2021
March
Peter Singer awarded the 2021 Berggruen Prize for Philosophy and Culture at a ceremony which was held in Los Angeles together with media partner BBC News World Service..
2020
December
Celebration of Prize Laureate Dr. Paul Farmer together with media partner BBC News World Service.
November
Announced Collaboration Between Tsinghua University and University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) on Carbon Markets at “Understanding China” Conference.
October
Launch of 睿n (Ruin). The China Center’s online content platform features translated articles from Noema and original contributions by fellows and other contributors.
August
Launch of “AI Narratives in Contemporary Chinese Science Fiction” workshop series with University of Cambridge’s Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence.
July
“Cities & City Diplomacy in the Multilateral Order” workshop co-hosted by Berggruen Institute, the Brookings Institution, the United Nations Foundation, and the City of Los Angeles.
July
Launch of the Global Thinkers Series in collaboration with Caixin Media Global. The inaugural event featured Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jared Diamond and his book Upheaval.
June
Launch of Noema Magazine. Published by the Berggruen Institute, Noema explores the transformations sweeping our world publishing thoughtful, rigorous, adventurous pieces by voices from both inside and outside the Institute.
May
Briefing with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi on sovereign wealth and National Savings Plans.
April
BI joined the effort to gather 200+ signatories urging the G20 to fund the fight against COVID-19. With Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s leadership, BI actively supported the development of a global call to action urging the G20 to take emergency measures to fund the fight against the virus in vulnerable states.
March
Launch of "Renewing Democracy in the Digital Age" report in London, United Kingdom with select meetings in Brussels and Lisbon.
February
Publication of Intelligence and Wisdom: AI Meets Chinese Philosophers by CITIC Press Group and edited by Bing Song.
2019
January
Launch of Future of Capitalism program.
March
Launch of the Berggruen Seminar Series at Peking University. The series provides an opportunity for the Chinese public to have an intimate conversation with top scholars whose research resonates with the themes of the big transformations, including “AI and Society,” “Biotech and Ethics,” “Transculture,” and beyond.
March
"AI Meets Chinese Philosophers" second workshop at China Center.
April
Renovating Democracy written and published by Nicolas Berggruen and Nathan Gardels. The rise of populism in the West and the rise of China in the East have stirred a rethinking of how democratic systems work—and how they fail. Renovating Democracy serves as a point of departure that deepens and expands the discourse for positive change in governance.
May
“Rebuilding the Public Square” workshop in Madrid, Spain.
July
“Rebuilding Social Trust in the Age of Social Media” workshop in Bellagio, Italy.
October
4th "Understanding China" Conference with Xi Jinping and 21st CC in Beijing, China.
October
BI launch of "U.S.-China AI & Security Track II Dialogue". In partnership with Minderoo Foundation, Tsinghua University, and the Brookings Institution, the Berggruen Institute launched a Track II diplomatic dialogue that seeks to improve mutual understanding between the U.S. and China about security risks, safety concerns, and potential cooperation opportunities with respect to AI in the security sphere.
December
Publication of 2019 Berggruen Governance Index.
December
21st CC Meeting in New York City, NY. The Council met with Prime Minister Gordon Brown to discuss the breakdown of global institutions.
December
Celebration of Prize Laureate Ruth Bader Ginsburg together with media partner BBC News World Service.
2018
May
Launch of Transformations of the Human (ToftH) program.
June
Launch of “Tianxia" program with its first workshop on “What is Tianxia? The East Asian Context”.
July
Workshop on “The Future of Democracy” in Bellagio, Italy.
September
ToftH began placing researchers at sites—FAIR, Google X, MIT, Element AI, CHAI, and the h.earth at Stanford among others—to co-learn and to see the philosophical in the concrete.
December
Celebration of Berggruen Prize Laureate Martha C. Nussbaum together with media partner BBC News World Service.
December
Official launch ceremony of Berggruen Research Center at Peking University.
December
3rd "Understanding China" Conference with Xi Jinping and 21st CC in Beijing, China.
2017
August
Opening of the China Center office in Beijing, China.
August
BI Partners With the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research To Host “AI & the Human” Meeting in New York City, NY.
October
The WorldPost moves to The Washington Post.
November
Launch of "AI Meets Chinese Philosophers" Project at the China Center.
December
21st CC Meeting in New York City, NY.
December
Celebration of Berggruen Prize Laureate Onora O'Neill.
December
Launch of BI's China-based Fellowship Program.
December
Move to new office at the Bradbury Building in Downtown Los Angeles, CA.
2016
May
5-Year Anniversary Celebration in Los Angeles, CA with Mayor Eric Garcetti and Governor Jerry Brown.
September
Launch of Democracy for the Digital Society Project with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, Toomas Ilves, Reid Hoffman, and Eric Schmidt.
December
21st CC Meeting in New York City, NY with Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
December
Launch of the Berggruen Prize & Inaugural Celebration of Prize Laureate Charles Taylor at New York Public Library.
2015
February
Purchase of Monteverdi Land for future BI Scholar's Campus.
March
The WorldPost Future of Work Conference in London, United Kingdom. The conference explores how technology is revolutionizing work.
September
Fellowship Program launched. Its goal is to develop new ideas and encourage fresh thinking across cultures and disciplines.
November
2nd "Understanding China" Conference with 21st CC in Beijing, China.
2014
January
BI and The Huffington Post launch The WorldPost.
February
CFE Town Hall in Madrid, Spain.
September
Governor Jerry Brown signs Initiative Reform SB1253—the first major change to california’s initiative process in four decades—in victory for the Think Long Committee.
2013
January
21st CC Meeting in Zurich, Switzerland. The Council welcomes new member Nicolas Sarkozy and develops recommendations for the upcoming Russian G20 meeting.
May
CFE Town Hall in Paris, France. The Council proposes a “jobs plan for youth” to address the European youth unemployment crisis.
November
1st "Understanding China" Conference with 21st CC in Beijing, China. The Council meets with Premier Li Keqiang and President Xi Jinping to discuss China's role in the new global architecture.
2012
May
21st CC Meeting in Mexico City, Mexico. The Council meets in Mexico to deliver recommendations to President Calderón to help shape the green growth agenda for the upcoming G20 meeting.
May
CFE Meeting in Rome, Italy. Council members agree that reaching out to German public and elite opinion should be the group’s top short-term priority in advocating policies to ease the current crisis. The Council reaffirms its support for federalist solutions, including tighter fiscal coordination across Europe.
October
CFE Town Hall in Berlin, Germany. The Council organizes a town hall with leaders from across Europe gathering to present their perspectives on the current crisis and hear from the public.
November
Intelligent Governance for the 21st Century: A Middle Way Between West and East written and published by Nicolas Berggruen and Nathan Gardels. This volume is both a conceptual and practical guide of impressive scope to the challenges of good governance as the world continues to undergo profound transformation in the coming decades. A 2012 Financial Times Book of the Year.
2011
March
The 21st CC kicks off with a two-day meeting in New York City to discuss the future of global governance and the role of the G20. The meeting includes presentations from Jack Dorsey, Joseph Stiglitz, and Nouriel Roubini.
September
Council for the Future of Europe (CFE) launched in Brussels, Belgium. The inaugural event of the Council results in a well-attended press conference and a statement by the group entitled, “More Europe is the Answer.”
October
21st CC Meeting in Paris, France. The Council presents recommendations to President Sarkozy, urging the President to press the G20 countries to develop a credible global growth and employment strategy that aims at inclusive growth and narrowing the income gap.
October
CFE Meeting in Paris, France. The Council welcomes new member Jacques Delors, one of the founding fathers of the European Union.
November
The Think Long Committee publishes “A Blueprint To Renew California.” After a year of deliberation and consultation with experts, state and local officials, TLC proposes a set of integrated structural reforms to “reboot” California’s dysfunctional democracy by installing a new civic software.
2010
September
Berggruen Institute (BI) is founded.
September
21st Century Council (21st CC) launched in Berlin, Germany.
October
Think Long Committee (TLC) for California launched in Mountain View, CA. TLC holds a kick-off meeting with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to identify areas of study for the committee.