Call for Abstracts: EFSNA's Second Biennial Conference

Erich Fromm and the Crisis of Democracy: Educational, Psychological, and Sociological Perspectives

Note: This announcement was originally posted on the website of the Program in Philosophy and Education at Teachers College, Columbia University.

The Erich Fromm Society of North America (EFSNA) is pleased to announce that its Second Biennial Conference will take place October 8-10, 2026, under the auspices of the Program in Philosophy and Education at Teachers College, Columbia University in the City of New York.

The conference theme is “Erich Fromm and the Crisis of Democracy: Educational, Psychological, and Sociological Perspectives.”

Glenn Albrecht, the Australian environmental philosopher, will be the keynote speaker. Albrecht is best known for having coined the term “solastalgia,” or the lived experience of negative environmental change. His address will be delivered through the Philosophy and Education Program’s colloquium series, and it will link Fromm’s concept of “biophilia,” or love of life, with the crisis of democracy.

Rainer Funk, Fromm’s literary executor and Director of the Erich Fromm Institute Tübingen, will also deliver a plenary address on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of Fromm’s last major book, To Have or To Be?

Abstracts may be submitted through May 1, 2026, via this Google Form. While the Society especially encourages submissions that address the conference theme, it welcomes submissions from all fields and on all topics that engage in any way with the works of Erich Fromm.

Please direct all questions and correspondence to the Conference Committee Chair, Rory Varrato, or the Assistant Chair, Chiara Berra, at rv2373@tc.columbia.edu or cb3882@tc.columbia.edu, respectively.

Travel note: The conference is prioritizing in-person presentations. However, given the ongoing uncertainty regarding travel to and within the U.S., remote presentation options via Zoom will be made available to accepted presenters who feel unsafe traveling to attend the conference in person.

Special acknowledgment: Funding for this conference has been provided by the Fund for Psychoanalytic Research through the American Psychoanalytic Association.

Flyer design by Chiara Ginevra Berra.