Por Redaccion 
The eighth edition of the Forum of Culture has inaugurated its first day this Friday, February 21, where topics such as the fear of living under threat, the fear of immigration, and «extremist» policies are going to be addressed.
It has been assured in a press conference prior to the start of the first talk by the speakers Jorge Volpi, Seyran Ates, Lea Ypi, and David Le Breton, accompanied by the director of the Forum of Culture, Óscar Blanco.
In this sense, the inaugural dialogue began at 10:30 am under the title ‘Since Fear is Fear’, where they have discussed a reflection on the various ways of analyzing fear or its role in history by the German sociologist and philosopher Heinz Bude and the authors Jorge Volpi and María Hesse.
In this way, Volpi has asserted that in the country he comes from, Mexico, «violence has always existed», although since 2006 when Felipe Calderón was proclaimed president and launched what is known as «the war against drug trafficking», the country, which had been a place of «subterranean violence», became one of «explicit violence» and one of the «most violent in the world».
Additionally, he has emphasized that from 2006 until now in Mexico, there are figures «reminiscent of a civil war», such as half a million violent deaths and nearly 200,000 missing persons, so that «fear is permanently installed in Mexican society, faced with this blind violence that has not stopped in recent years».
In addition, he has added «the constant threats from Donald Trump from the United States», something that he said makes Mexico’s situation «much more fragile» and, thus, «the fear that already existed towards internal violence is now concomitant with the fear towards this external aggression».
Subsequently, the Calderón Theater, the official headquarters during the celebration of the Forum of Culture, will host the conversation ‘Free in the face of threat’ at 1:00 pm with the lawyer and author Seyran Ates, the writer and academic Lea Ypi, and the poet, curator, and artist Daria Serenko as protagonists.
In this context, Seyran Ates has pointed out that her fear began when she was «very young» as a political activist or for supporting women’s rights and human rights. She studied law and explained that in 2017 she founded a «liberal mosque» that promotes gender equality and supports the LGBTIQ community, even though her «haters» call her a «childless lesbian».
«I am afraid, but fear never stops me from doing what I want to do,» the lawyer declared, adding that, even if they send her threats, she will continue, although her «greatest fear» is that «they would abuse her through her family members».
On the other hand, Seyran Ates has stated that, at 62 years old, she had «never seen such high levels of fear» in society, a fear that she said comes «from extremism», although she noted that she is «really sad» that the political discussion focuses on the «far-right», while «the aggression from political Islamism is increasing».
«This does not mean we should ignore the danger of the right, but the discussion should not only focus on this type of extremism,» she concluded.
Lea Ypi, for her part, detailed that she grew up in Albania under a communist regime, where she said that as a child, she was «convinced that she lived in a safe and free society», when in reality her parents and grandparents had «suffered generations of persecution under the regime».
«When I think about the theme of fear, I prefer to talk more about the opposite of fear, which is courage, because when societies become more aggressive, when levels of political violence rise, it’s not because they have more power, but because they have more fear,» she pointed out.
Likewise, she stated that fear «is not the same everywhere» because it depends on your age, your family, your socioeconomic level, or your intellectual environment, as, in her opinion, her family «managed» and managed «that fear» so that she «did not grow up subject to it».
Next, at 5:00 pm, it is the turn of the sociologist and anthropologist David Le Breton and the writer and academic McKenzie Wark, in a talk where they will reflect on the challenge of escaping the established norms in a technological society in ‘Rebellions and rebellions’.
Thus, they will discuss how there is «some rebellion» against fear in those positions «that escape the beaten paths and established paths in a society dominated by new technologies».
Additionally, they will talk about how those who rebel against those positions «more or less accepted by the majority» teach «other ways of facing life» and can open windows «to a different world», without falling into «quixotic» fantasies.