Submissions are now open for the 2026 Berggruen Prize Essay Competition! The Berggruen Institute invites you to participate in this unique opportunity to contribute to a timely, global discourse while competing for a $50,000 USD prize.
This year’s theme, A New Axial Age?, is an invitation to write about any aspect of the unique moment humanity finds itself in today and the future that is emerging.
The Axial Age (c. 800-200 BCE), as philosopher Karl Jaspers referred to it, encompassed a time when the world’s great religions, ethical systems, and philosophical frameworks arose relatively simultaneously, from Buddhism and the Upanishads to Confucius, Socrates, and the Hebrew prophets. Driven by contemporaneous intellectual, technological, and social developments, this era forged civilizational constructs that are with us to this day.
Might civilization yet again be at the ‘hinge of history,’ in which the events that occur in this distinct point in time significantly influence the trajectory of the future? Are we undergoing a pivotal transformation of consciousness as a result of rapid technological development and its myriad social, economic, and political consequences? What conditions may or may not give rise to this possibility? Through what constituencies and by what mechanisms might the transformation take place?
With no shared ideational framework, dwindling trust in institutions, and global shifts in spirituality and bequeathed faiths, humanity is beginning to question its understanding and reconsider its beliefs.
While the ‘Axial Age’ as a concept itself is contested within academia, this competition does not seek essays arguing for or against its validity or veracity. Instead, you are invited to write about any aspect of this point in time you find most compelling.
