Panel Discussions

“Black faces in white? space” is a documentary by …thabo thindi that explores the complexities of Black people living in Germany. Through personal stories and interviews, it highlights issues of racial exclusion, identity, and resilience. The film questions how Black presence reshapes or is constrained within spaces not designed for them.

The lecture is part of the conference “Das geht zu weit!” organized by the research group Diskursmonitor. Linguistic-communicative strategies of legitimizing and delegitimizing protest in public, media and political discourses will be discussed.

Since the total invasion of Ukraine by the Russian army, the term “Eastern Europe” has been omnipresent – whether in social media posts or feature articles: Everyone is talking about “Eastern Europe”. But what does “Eastern Europe” actually mean? Who belongs to it and who doesn’t? How useful is it to lump Russia, Poland, the Czech Republic and Ukraine into one category? Are there “good” Eastern Europeans who are allowed to be in the EU and NATO, and “bad” ones who (have to) stay out?

We want to discuss these and other questions together with our guests. The focus will be on the contradictions that characterize the concept of “Eastern Europe” – a concept whose meaning is negotiated daily between Western ideas and a multitude of complex identities

Wine has been grown in South Africa since 1658. This viticulture was linked to European colonialism from the very beginning: European sailors drank the wine that enslaved people had to grow on plantations. Colonial continuities of racism, capitalism and patriarchy run through apartheid to the present day and still have an impact on working conditions on the plantations: For workers, this means low wages, poor occupational safety and the violation of basic labor rights. Migrant workers and women are particularly affected. Large German retailers and wine importers benefit from the low prices.
For centuries, workers on the plantations – initially enslaved, now wage laborers – have been fighting for better living and working conditions. In 2020, the South African agricultural workers of the CSAAWU union joined forces with their retail colleagues from the major retailers in Germany and are now fighting together along the global wine supply chain for a better life. This has resulted in a negotiation model that is unique in the world, in which the employees jointly exert pressure on the buyers and suppliers in negotiations with the companies. Two farm workers and a trade unionist from South Africa, as well as a trade unionist and a scientist from Germany will report on this new form of organizing along the supply chain and provide an insight into wine growing in South Africa and the state of labor disputes along supply chains.

The role of orality in philosophy is an old and intriguing topic. Some have claimed that philosophy cannot exist as an oral tradition because sophisticated thought presupposes a written form. Others (including Plato) have claimed that writing destroys memory. Still others have formulated central statements in catchy aphorisms and proverbs that are easy to memorise and immediately invite you to unfold their meaning: „You cannot enter the same river twice.“ Fortunately, however, we can enter into discussion with Souleymane Bachir Diagne, Anke Graneß & Lindokuhle Shabane, to unfold the role of orality in philosophy, especially in an African context where oral traditions have always played a crucial role.

Forced laborers from the occupied territories of what was then Czechoslovakia (“Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia”) are among the most invisible victims of National Socialist crimes in and around Bremen.

It is very difficult to find traces of this group of prisoners, but we still want to bring the Czech forced laborers more into the focus of public perception in Bremen and counteract oblivion. To this end, activists from various institutions and initiatives will come together at a public event for a workshop discussion to discuss the current state of knowledge and to try to find possible approaches to continue working together on this issue.

Following the discussion, we would like to invite you to a concert with the Czech band Monika Načeva and Zdivočelí koně in memory of the Czech and Slovak victims of National Socialist crimes in Bremen and the surrounding area.

The panel discussion will be held in German and English with simultaneous translation.
After the recent elections in Spain, a stalemate emerged in which neither the PP- nor PSOE-led coalition of choice could unite a majority behind them. The Catalan nationalists from the left and right suddenly emerged as the kingmakers in the talks to form a government, ultimately enabling the re-election of Pedro Sánchez as Prime Minister in return for a controversial amnesty for Catalan independence advocates.

Die deutsche Gesellschaft ist stark von Migrationsbewegungen und dadurch von einer Vielstimmigkeit an Vergangenheits- und Erinnerungsnarrativen geprägt und die hier lebenden Menschen stützen ihre Identitäten auf unterschiedliche kulturelle Praktiken des Erinnerns. Das sog. Kollektive Gedächtnis einer ganzen Gesellschaft ist also von jeher ein von Widersprüchen gekennzeichnetes Konstrukt, das zwar den Anschein einer kohärenten Entwicklung, ähnlich einer Biografie, zu erwecken versucht, diesem aber nie wirklich gerecht werden kann. Daher muss, um Widersprüche und die daraus eventuell resultierende Konflikt so gering wie möglich zu halten, der Inhalt eines jeden kollektiven Gedächtnisses gruppiert, sortiert und priorisiert werden.

Eine dieser in Deutschland omnipräsenten Widerspruchskonstellationen ist die Erinnerung an die Shoah, die zwischen ritualisierten „Nie Wieder“ und der Forderung nach einem „Schlussstrich“ und zwischen Aushandlungen von Schuld und Versöhnung zwar immer wieder als Musterbeispiel der Aufarbeitung genannt, aber auch mindestens genauso oft kritisiert wird.

So erklärte der Publizist und Lyriker Max Czollek die deutsche Erinnerungskultur kürzlich zu einem „Versöhnungstheater“, das zwei Rollen vorsieht: Die Täter*innen, denen vergeben wird und die Opfer, die zu vergeben haben. Die Realität der postmigrantischen Gesellschaft bringt dieses einstudierte deutsche Schauspiel jedoch durcheinander, denn längst umfasst die Gesellschaft vielschichtige Perspektiven und Biographien, die sich nicht in dieses dichotome Feld einsortieren lassen. Daher wollen wir bei dieser Veranstaltung darüber sprechen, inwiefern das Versöhnungstheater darauf abzielt, die Widersprüche der postnazisitischen Gesellschaft aufzulösen und gleichzeitig an der Realität der postmigrantischen Gesellschaft scheitert. Was das für die deutsche Erinnerungskultur in der Praxis bedeutet und welche Herausforderungen aber auch Chancen das mit sich bringt, das wollen wir diskutieren.