„ … und nun zur Zeitenwende. Der langgezogene europäische Backlash, gesellschaftliche Einwilligung und Widerstand“

In the organizer's words:

An event as part of the European Congress 2025 of the CPPD

In 2022, the then German Chancellor Olaf Scholz proclaimed a "turning point" after the start of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine. He meant one thing above all: the establishment of a 100 billion euro special fund for the Bundeswehr and its incorporation into the Basic Law. But what has taken place in Germany and Europe since then is not just a new militarization of politics and discourse - most recently further fuelled by the US President's call for an increase in NATO defence spending by all member states to 5% of the national budget - it is a turning point of a completely different kind.

The turning point is the consent of an exhausted European society to a rapid backlash. For a long time, we used terms such as normalization to talk ourselves into a harmlessness that we did not want to see coming: Anti-Semitism, racism, misogyny and queerophobia, a sense of authority and contempt for democracy have not only been normalized, they are now an expression of the will of the people.

The AfD in Germany, the Rassemblement National in France, the Fratelli d'ItaliainItaly, the Partij voor de Vrijheid in the Netherlands, Prawo i Sprawiedliwość in Poland, Chega! in Portugal, Vox in Spain, Fidesz in Hungary - they all represent a turning point in the European party systems that has long since occurred. In their respective countries and in the European Parliament, they are living out their fantasies of homogeneity and have long since become a democratic reflection of the vision of a new anti-European Europe. They are all part of a backlash, a rapid social development that is destroying hard-won social progress. Just a few years ago, large parts of European civil society agreed that the future of our European society must be characterized by plurality, diversity, inclusivity, participation and liberalism, but this vision has fallen victim to the current turnaround. The resulting social polarization is not so much a battle between left and right, but rather a small-scale disintegration of the most diverse social actors.

The culture of remembrance and the politics of remembrance are inextricably linked to this turning point in social backlash. By remembering historical failures of humanity, destruction, crime, war and suffering, social learning should be made possible. Always with the aim of setting up the present in such a way that the past does not repeat itself. Remembering should therefore be a method of practicing humanity, justice and solidarity. This is the social function of remembrance, at least if one understands the repeatedly invoked slogan "Never again" literally. The fact that reality is increasingly moving closer to "never again" raises the question of what is actually left of this promise of recent years. A question that is also a question of survival for discriminated groups in society.

This crisis of confidence in the culture of remembrance, which is also a crisis of the ability of the culture of remembrance itself to prevent the repetition of violent history, means that the turning point of the social backlash must be followed by a new culture of remembrance of a resisting civil society. A culture of remembrance that becomes an expression of a will to shape, if necessary against increasingly authoritarian politics. Humanity, justice, solidarity: these are not goals of social consensus; they are the cornerstones of a new resistance. We are also organizing this resistance of plural democracy with the means of the culture of remembrance.

On March 14, 2025, the Coalition for Pluralistic Public Discourse in Studio Я will focus on the European turning point of the backlash and discuss ways to create a culture of remembrance of resistance.

A cooperation between the Coalition for Pluralistic Public Discourse (CPPD) and the Maxim Gorki Theater.

Participants: Max Czollek, Cátia Severino, Noa K. Ha, Gilda Sahebi, Jo Frank, Johanna Korneli and others

The event will be held in English.