For some time now, anti-democratic tendencies and forces have been gaining strength in Germany and many other parts of the world. These are intricately intertwined with racism, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, virulent sexism, climate change denial, neoliberal austerity policies and a profound anti-intellectualism and nationalism. Academic freedom is also increasingly under threat from politicians (see, for example, the so-called funding scandal at the Federal Ministry of Education and Research).

Against this backdrop, the lecture series examines the vulnerability of democratic principles from various disciplinary perspectives and aims to strengthen the university as a place of open dialogue in times of such threats. The lecture series is aimed at all members of the University of Bremen as well as interested members of the non-university public and focuses on the vulnerability of democratic forms of society and the types and reasons for their endangerment.

Part II – Winter semester 2025/26
DATES | 6:15–7:45 p.m. | Cartesium U Bremen & online

Wednesday | 5 November 2025 Prof. Dr. Alana Westwood (Halifax) & Prof. Dr. Robert Püstow (Dresden): The Politics of (Climate) Science
Wednesday | 19 November 2025 Dr Max Steinbeis (Berlin): The Justice Project
Wednesday | 17 December 2025 Prof. Dr Heike Radvan (Tübingen): Affected by extreme right-wing dominance in the community – experiences, options for action, counter-strategies
Wednesday | 14 January 2026 Prof. Dr Rahel Jaeggi (Berlin): Regressive Democracy – Regressive Modernity

This lecture is hybrid. For the Zoom link, please contact noellen@uni-bremen.de.