International Graduate Workshop 2019
Populism, Prejudice, Post-Truth - Europe's Democratic Values in Crisis?
Our first "International Graduate Workshop" took place from 11th to 13th April in Imshausen. Students from different European countries came together to discuss the growing populism in its different manifestations all over Europe. On the one hand, populism was considered against the background and in relation to the different national histories, on the other hand, commonalities of different populist movements and parties in Europe were explored. The 20 student participants came from the universities of Oxford, Göttingen, Helsinki, Prague, Leiden and the Central European University in Budapest.We are very pleased about the constructive exchange and look forward to our next workshop, which will take place in Oxford in 2020.
Photo Gallery
Graduate Presentations
The students had the opportunity to present their own research on populism and post-truth and discuss it with others. The spectrum of the lectures ranged from the role of the media in the rise of populist parties to the connection between climate change and populism. The individual students contributed their country-specific expertise, which led to a very enriching exchange.
Lectures
On two days of the workshop different lectures took place. Among others, the British-Polish historian Prof. Norman Davies from Oxford University gave a lecture on Illiberal Democracy and Post-Truth Politics. Prof. Martin Conway, Professor of Modern European History at the University of Oxford, Prof. Frank Schorkopf from the Institute of International Law and European Law in Göttingen and PD Dr. Klaus Detterbeck from the Institute of Political Science at the University of Göttingen also participated with lectures that provided impulses for the participants' discussions and group work.
Working Groups
In the small group phases, the participants had the opportunity to deal with different questions they were particularly interested in. For example, one question was if and how post-truth politics are changing Europe and values.
After Dinner Conversation
Representatives from politics and civil society were also invited to the workshop. We were pleased that Pascal Begrich of Miteinander e.V., the network for democracy and cosmopolitanism in Saxony-Anhalt, and Madeleine Henfling, member of the state parliament of Thuringia, shared their experiences and perspectives on the topic of populism with the students from the point of view of an NGO respectively a parliamentarian.