Rudi Laermans is professor emeritus of social theory and sociology of the arts at the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Leuven. Since its creation in 1995, he has been involved in the theoretical programme at PARTS, the international school of dance in Brussels led by Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker. He was a regular guest lecturer at various other art schools such as the Design Academy Eindhoven, the Willem De Kooning Academy (Rotterdam), Malmö Art Academy and the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts (Copenhagen). He has published numerous articles and several books on social and cultural theory, ongoing societal and political trends, cultural policy and participation, contemporary dance and visual arts. Besides his academic work, he is also an active essayist and arts critic. He often deploys a sociological perspective, but just as often advances a wider view inspired by contemporary philosophy and political theory. Selected books: Moving Together: Theorizing and Making Contemporary Dance (2015), Science under Siege: Contesting the Secular Religion of Scientism (with Dick Houtman and Stef Aupers) (2021), and the essays Gedeelde angsten [Collective Fears] (2021) and Democratie zonder politiek? [Democracy without Politics?] (2024).