Aleida Assmann | Gemeinsinn Geist Heidelberg

In the organizer's words:

"A resilient democracy does not need an enemy image, but a strong sense of what connects and binds people together."

Public spirit is a sixth, social sense that builds on the fact that people are connected to other people in a compassionate, solidary, respectful, brotherly and sisterly way. However, the current debates are characterized by stark alternatives: Do we need universal values, or must the idiosyncrasies of different nations and cultures be recognized? Is the alleviation of hardship a matter of civil society involvement or does it reinforce unjust structures that only the state can change?

Aleida Assmann shows that these questions are wrong. Because we need both: universal values and respect for collective identities. And civil society engagement is very much capable of changing structures. Using key concepts such as solidarity, fraternity, humanity, charity, empathy and respect, and by examining different images of humanity and relationship structures within and outside Europe, Aleida Assmann redefines what a sense of community can be. She explores the foundations of a democratic political culture and demonstrates the power of public spirit in concrete terms using encouraging examples ranging from swimming pools and stumbling blocks to clean-up campaigns and food banks.

Aleida Assmann is Professor Emeritus of English and General Literary Studies at the University of Konstanz. She has received numerous awards, including the A. H. Heineken Prize for History (2014) and, together with her husband Jan Assmann, the Balzan Prize (2017) and the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade (2018).

This content has been machine translated.

Price information:

Normal € 15.90 Reduced € 12.90 Members € 9.90 Surcharge at the Box Office