VIDEO REPORT

TEDx Potenza 2025

The Performative Power of Words
Luisa Errichiello

On the occasion of the second edition of TEDx Piazza Pagano, held on 28 June 2025 at the “Dinu Adamesteanu” National Archaeological Museum in Potenza and dedicated to the theme “The Performative Power of Words,” Luisa Errichiello, Research Director at the National Research Council of Italy – Institute for Studies on the Mediterranean (CNR-ISMed), delivered a highly timely talk.

Starting from the ancient symbol of the Tao, her talk offered a nuanced reflection on the value of a dual vision – an alternative to the pervasive dualistic logic – for guiding our choices and our agency: a perspective capable of holding together opposing polarities, such as rationality and empathy, structure and action, the individual and the collective, recognizing them as complementary forces in a dynamic, generative tension. This interpretive paradigm proved particularly fertile in analyzing some of the crucial challenges of our time.

Drawing on the work of scholars such as Anthony Giddens, Charles Duhigg, and Shannon Vallor, the reflection spanned heterogeneous yet interconnected domains: from personal identity to organizational culture, from the relationship between power and empowerment to the crisis of language in an era of its commodification and the growing spread of new algorithmic codes.

With this talk, the researcher contributed to a critical interrogation of the relationship between language, power, and transformation, offering not only a theoretical framework but also concrete cues for rethinking the role of the word in social, institutional, and organizational life. It is a reflection that invites us to inhabit tension – instead of resolving or simplifying it – as a generative practice in human relationships, in organizations, in systems of power, and even in the dialogue between humans and machines.

• Link to @TEDx YouTube Channel

• Link to @CNR-ISMed YouTube Channel

INFO AND CONTACTS
Luisa Errichiello
CNR-ISMed
luisa.errichiello@ismed.cnr.it