Ungleich vereint - taz Talk mit Steffen Mau

In the organizer's words:

The experiences of the GDR and the years of reunification make the East special. A conversation with Steffen Mau about his book "Ungleich vereint - Warum der Osten anders bleibt".

The East scares the West: so much AfD, such low firewalls to minimize their influence. Sociologist Steffen Mau has written a book about the new Federal Republic on the ground of the GDR, which ceased to exist in 1990. In it, he explains why the East remains different, i.e. why hastily knitted democracy learning programs from Berlin are of little use.

November marks the 35th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. The AfD has already emerged as the strongest party in three state elections. The sociologist, who teaches at Berlin's Humboldt University, disagrees with the equalization thesis that East Germany will become like the West over time.

Due to the experiences of the GDR and the years of reunification, the East will remain different - economically, politically, but also in terms of mentality and identity. In view of the weak roots of the parties, he pleads for alternative forms of democracy to be tried out and for people to be more involved, for example through citizens' councils.

Guest in the talk:

🐾 Steffen Mau has been Professor of Macrosociology at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin since 2015. He became known to the wider public in 2019 with the book "Lütten Klein: Leben in der ostdeutschen Transformationsgesellschaft" about growing up in the prefabricated housing district of Rostock before 1989 and as co-author of the bestseller "Triggerpunkte".

In an interview with taz, he talks about his latest book "Ungleich vereint - Warum der Osten anders bleibt", which will be published by Suhrkamp in 2024.

🐾 Jan Feddersen moderates the talk. He is taz editor for special assignments and curator of the taz lab and taz Talks.

A taz Talk in friendly cooperation with Suhrkamp-Verlag.

Questions from the audience are welcome before and during the talk.

Price information:

Free admission, reservation required via the event page