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.
Reset

The Dehumanization of Immigrants and the Rise of the Extreme Right

The ascendance of the far right has jolted both American and European politics. It has undermined liberal democracy in Hungary and Poland, and threatens it throughout Europe. That ascendance depends …

The Dehumanization of Immigrants and the Rise of the Extreme Right

The ascendance of the far right has jolted both American and European politics. It has undermined liberal democracy in Hungary and Poland, and threatens it throughout Europe. That ascendance depends …

Trinitarian Politics in Germany: Impact of the State Elections in Brandenburg and Saxony 

A lesser-known story in Christian history is how the concept of the Trinity of God—Father, Son, and Holy Ghost—was the subject of massive disagreement in the early years of the …

Episode 13: Elections Reveal New Trends in German Political Scene

Voters in two eastern states went to the polls on September 1, with perhaps surprising results: they kept their long-governing parties in place despite threats from the far right and …

The Mainstream Strikes Back with Victories in Saxony and Brandenburg, but the AfD Is Not Going Away

Voters in Brandenburg and Saxony today rendered judgments that reach well beyond the borders of two states that used to be part of the German Democratic Republic, as my colleague …

The 2019 Regional Elections in the East: Small States, Big Impact

On September 1, the eastern German states of Brandenburg and Saxony will elect new state parliaments (Landtage). Both are relatively small states with 2.5 million and 4 million people respectively …

In Brandenburg, A Last-Ditch Attempt for the SPD to Maintain Its Stronghold as Anti-Establishment Parties Surge

If the European elections were not a wake-up call for the collapsing Social Democratic Party in Germany, the election in the state of Brandenburg on September 1 is likely to …

Electoral Uncertainty in a Changing Saxony

On September 1, voters in the eastern state of Saxony will be headed to the polls to elect a new state government. In making their choice, voters will have to …

Elections in Thuringia: Can Ramelow’s Coalition Hold On?

On October 27, voters in the eastern German state of Thuringia will head to the polls. In Thuringia’s last election, which took place in 2014, a left-wing “red-red-green” coalition was …

Transitional Justice as a Foreign Policy Issue across the Atlantic: Trends and Counter-trends

Transitional justice either describes a socio-political process in transitional societies after conflict or authoritarian rule or a set of measures that should facilitate this process. The process in general and …

Transitional Justice as a Foreign Policy Issue across the Atlantic: Trends and Counter-trends

Transitional justice either describes a socio-political process in transitional societies after conflict or authoritarian rule or a set of measures that should facilitate this process. The process in general and …

The 9 Percent Trap: The German Left’s Identity Crisis

The German Left Party is in the midst of yet another crisis. Party chairperson Katja Kipping has been openly deliberating resignation; the co-founder and influential former Social Democrat Oskar Lafontaine …