Zukunft der Demokratie #13

Democracy and Right-Wing Extremism
Lukas Bärfuss in conversation with: Ines Geipel
 

All signs point to the AfD becoming the dominant political force in Saxony-Anhalt following the state election in September. The state chapter is widely regarded as firmly far-right. The firewall? The democratic center? They are crumbling. The writer Ines Geipel, who fled the GDR for the West in 1989, writes against the German silence. At the heart of her work lies an uncomfortable thesis: the entanglement in guilt stemming from the Nazi and Communist dictatorships explains the success of the far right. The repression of these memories continues. The weight of experience from half a century of totalitarianism remains misunderstood.

What does this mean for the future of democracy? What can we do to ensure that people’s faith in the democratic rule of law endures? What do literature, academic research, and personal experience tell us about the political situation in this German autumn? How do we ensure that these experiences are not forgotten and are not repeated?

Moderator: Lukas Bärfuss
Guest: Ines Geipel
Curated by: Lukas Bärfuss and Judith Gerstenberg

More info:The Future of Democracy #13 | Deutsches Schauspielhaus Hamburg