Thomas Mann House: “The Struggle for Democracy” Conference

On the conference “The Struggle for Democracy”

“Throughout the world it has become precarious to take democracy for granted“, Thomas Mann observed after the rise of National Socialism and the end of the Weimar Republic. Eighty-five years after Mann’s escape, the realization that democracy is vulnerable has become a shared experience on both sides of the Atlantic. The cohesion of democratic polities is endangered both in Europe and the United States. Segregation threatens to supersede exchange; confrontation supplants compromise. It is becoming increasingly clear that the struggle for democracy has once again become one of the most important issues of our time.

Nikolai Blaumer, Program Director Thomas Mann House, said “The inauguration will be an occasion for our opening conference to discuss conditions and visions for this kind of democratic renewal in Germany and the United States.  It will set the stage for all the study and work to come.”  The panels include:

• “Diversity and the Search for Common Ground” — Jutta Allmendinger (TMH Fellow, Director WZB Berlin Social Science Center) and Marcelo Suárez-Orozco (Wasserman Dean of the UCLA Graduate School of Education and Informational Studies

• “Status panic – Fear and the Decline of Democracy” — Heinz Bude (Author) and Claire Jean Kim (Professor, Political Science School of Social Sciences at UC Irvine)

• “Expulsions – Shifting Borders of Democracy” — Ananya Roy (Professor of Urban Planning, Social Welfare and Geography at UCLA), Teddy Cruz (Professor of Public Culture and Urbanization at UCSD) and Fonna Forman (Professor of Political Science at UCSD)

Attendance to the conference is free to the public.  To respond and attend “The Struggle for Democracy” conference, please email [email protected]

The residency program at the Thomas Mann House is funded by the Federal Foreign Office, the Goethe-Institut, the Berthold Leibinger Foundation, the Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach-Foundation and the Robert Bosch Foundation.

For Calendar Section  “The Struggle for Democracy” Conference

When:                    Tuesday, June 19 from 10:00am – 3:00pm

Where:                  Harold M. Williams Auditorium, The Getty Center

1200 Getty Center Dr. Los Angeles, CA 90049

Schedule:

10:00 – 10:05 am: Welcome from Villa Aurora / Thomas Mann House Board Members

10:05 – 10:30am: Opening Speech from President Frank-Walter Steinmeier

10:30 – 11:30am: Jutta Allmendinger (TMH Fellow, Director WZB Berlin Social Science Center) and Marcelo Suárez-Orozco (Wasserman Dean of the UCLA Graduate School of Education and Informational Studies) on “Diversity and the Search for Common Ground.”

12:00 – 1:00pm: Heinz Bude (Professor of Sociology, University of Kassel) and Claire Jean Kim (Professor, Political Science School of Social Sciences at UC Irvine) on “Status panic – Fear and the Decline of Democracy”

2:00 – 3:00pm: Ananya Roy (Professor of Urban Planning, Social Welfare and Geography at UCLA) on “Expulsions – Shifting Borders of Democracy”, Teddy Cruz (Professor of Public Culture and Urbanization at UCSD) and Fonna Forman (Professor of Political Science at UCSD)

Tickets:                 This event is free to the public

To attend please respond to [email protected]