Workshop: Political Cohesion and Societal Division

On the 19th and 24th of November, the GSPC hosted a virtual workshop on Political Cohesion and Societal Division.

Part I of the workshop began with Prof. Dr. Jan-Werner Müller’s keynote on Conflict and Cohesion in Contemporary Democracies. He argued that in democracies, the task is not to avoid conflict altogether, “but to be more alert to a basic distinction between democratic and un-democratic forms of dealing with conflict.”
The second keynote for the day was held by Prof. Dr. Constantin Goschler on Societal Cohesion and Divisions in Germany since its Reunification. He discussed the remaining regional inequalities of East and West Germany in relation to political cohesion.

In part II, several of our PhD candidates had the opportunity to lead an in-depth discussion on a specific topic within their project:

  • Franziska Paulmann, MA: “The Collective Duties Owed to Refugees”
  • Thorben Knobloch, MA: “Does Cohesion Matter Methodologically? Outline of an Argument for Taking a Reconciling Perspective on Global Freedom of Movement”
  • Selen Kazan, LL.M.: “Truth Commissions as a Reconciliation Tool in the 21st Century – Why Truth Commissions Sometimes are the Only Option”
  • Roman Novak, MA: “An Explanation of the Czech, Lithuanian, Polish and Slovak Governmental Preferences’ Variation on Eurozone Accession”
  • Melis Baydag, MSc: “Societal Influences on Development Policy Preferences”

Thank you to our guests as well as to our PhD candidates for your contributions. We are looking forward to the next workshop!

Contact