Keynote speech from Gesine Schwan

Gesine Schwan, political scientist and former candidate for the post of Federal President, wants to argue more. But not in a personal destructive way; rather for the common cause. Debate is useful if it aims for settlement. But this kind of atmosphere of the constructive debate is a thing of the past: public discourse today is taking a turn for the worse. Talk shows tailored to provocation have long replaced the parliament as the central arena of politics. Very rarely a real conversation, let alone a consensus that is valuable for the future, forms there.

Curiously, cinema rarely addresses the political. Indeed, social conflicts are seldom depicted in German film, and private conflicts are always framed within a bourgeois aesthetic.

Wed, april 29th
4:30 - 5:00 pm
Massif E / Saal Europa

Right after:

The Art of the Dialogue

A conversation with Gesine Schwan 

The condition of public debate has fundamentally changed. Whereas public debate used to take place mainly in the parliament, in newspapers or at public events, a large part of societal discourse has now shifted to social media, online forums and comment sections. These new spaces for communication can broaden the scope of democratic debate, but they also give rise to new risks.

It is not real arguments that count in the digital arena, but solely emotions and aggravation. Or is our longing for reasonable dialogue possibly just exaggerated? Perhaps grown-up citizens do not need rules of conduct or societal nannies to regulate and moderate their debates. Maybe it is exactly that, what consitutes the much-vaunted ‘culture of debate’; the very ability to tolerate dissent and even destructive impositions.

What could such an art of dialogue look like?

Building on Gesine Schwan’s keynote speech, the politician, the director RP Kahl, the activist Carla Reemtsma and the sociologist Harald Welzer discuss the atmosphere of debate in the digital age.

Wed, april 29th
5:00 - 6:30 pm
Massif E / Saal Europa

For the conversation and the keynote speech we offer a combo ticket.

For the congress we offer day tickets as well as the congress pass for all four days.