AGI

Society, Culture & Politics

The AGI Society, Culture & Politics Program focuses on crucial topics within the German-American dialogue, including: demographic change, migration/integration, and aging societies; electoral politics at the national, state, and European levels, and comparative analysis of Germany and the United States; diversity within Germany, Europe, and the United States; the politics of collective memory and identity, Holocaust remembrance and reconciliation, and shifting conceptions of national identity that shape perspectives and policy responses.
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Keeping History Alive: 75 Years after the Liberation of Auschwitz

One of the negative icons of the twentieth century was the Holocaust—the Nazi German persecution and murder of approximately 6 million Jewish people in Europe during World War II from …

Immigration and Questions of Identity in Akron, Ohio

Overview of Issues The United States, built on a history of immigration, is no stranger to questions of integration, identity, and social cohesion. It has long grappled with these questions, …

Will There Be a German Trump?

Germany has been a model country for decades overcoming a dark past. Contemporary Germans have learned the lessons of their history and have resisted the temptations of a resurgent nationalism …

The 100th Anniversary of the Treaty of Versailles

Among the many important dates that we largely overlooked is the 100th anniversary of the Treaty of Versailles, the treaty that ended the state of war between Germany and the …

Dr. Jackson Janes discusses populist nationalism on CGTN’s The Heat

AGI President Emeritus Dr. Jackson Janes appeared on CGTN on December 23, 2019, to discuss the rise of populist nationalism across the globe. Watch the Video

Rise and Shine, Akron! Can Economic Inclusion Help the Rubber Capital Bounce Back?

Akron, Ohio, went from being the “Rubber Capital of the World” to one of the “losers of globalization.” This journey is as paradigmatic of the industrial heartland of the Midwest …

Episode 17: Overcoming Social Divisions

In recent years, the United States and Germany have both experienced growing social divisions, more extreme ideology, and a trend toward existing in our own echo chambers—that is, seeking out …

Dusting Off Local Politics: New Ideas for Political Participation in Rust Belt Cities 

Our world today is increasingly marked by social divisions. The political fault lines can be witnessed between liberals and conservatives, generationally between millennials and boomers, or geographically between urban and rural …

Hidden in Plain Sight: The Life and Message of Raymonde Fiol

A Call from the Past It was a Saturday in 2007. Raymonde Fiol was sitting on a sofa in her home in Las Vegas. The phone rang. She answered. The …

The German SPD and the Curse of Corbynisation

On December 12, Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party slipped to inglorious defeat in what was Britain’s third general election in four years. Labour’s worst result since 1935 leaves the party no …

The Afghanistan War: Collective Memory Formation in the United States and Germany

Introduction More than eighteen years have passed since October 2001, when U.S. forces were deployed to Afghanistan after the Taliban regime refused to extradite Osama bin Laden and shut down …

The Afghanistan War: Collective Memory Formation in the United States and Germany

More than eighteen years have passed since October 2001, when U.S. forces were deployed to Afghanistan after the Taliban regime refused to extradite Osama bin Laden and shut down Al-Qaeda …