Demokratie und Affekt - Zur Geschichte des politischen Gesprächs

Politics is either exciting or outrageous. Both are better than indifference. Liberal democracy is in crisis, and at the same time we are experiencing an emotionalization of politics. But what is the connection? And how have democracy and affect been linked historically?

In Democracy and Affect. On the History of Political Conversation , PD Dr. Nina Verheyen analyzes our present against the history of the 20th century: How did democracies of the 20th century regulate emotions without becoming undemocratic - or did they become so?

As an example, we look at the decades after the Second World War in France and the old Federal Republic of Germany. It's about the pathos of Charles de Gaulle, the ostentatious level-headedness of Konrad Adenauer and the humor of journalist Werner Höfer, who hosted the most popular political discussion show in Germany for WDR for many decades - with lots of alcohol, tobacco and male-bonding humor.

Speaker:

PD.in Dr. Nina Verheyen, Modern and Contemporary History, Department of History, University of Cologne