Lecture series Endangered Democracy at the University of Bremen will start soon!

Lecture series Endangered Democracy at the University of Bremen will start soon!

Enrique-Schmidt-Straße 5, 28359 Bremen, Deutschland - On May 2, 2025, a lecture series entitled "Endangered Democracy" will be held at the University of Bremen. This series is organized by the “Profs against Right” network and the interdisciplinary composite research platform “Worlds of Contradiction”. The lectures take place from 6:15 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the "Blue Rotunde" area of the cartesium and are accessible to university members and the interested public. In addition, the events are also transferred in the video stream.

The first lectures begin on May 7, 2025 with Prof. Dr. Rita Nikolai, who lectures on "AfD's school policy". Further dates include Dr. Susanne Götze with the topic "AfD, Trumplists and neoliberal networks: Rollback in climate protection and comeback of fossil authoritarianism" (June 4, 2025), Prof. Dr. Ralf Michaels, who about "State Raison as a replacement constitution?" will speak (June 18, 2025), and Prof. Dr. Katajun Amirpur and Prof. Dr. Yasemin Karakaşoğlu, who treat the topic of "criticism of racism as a university development task and the examination of anti -Semitism and freedom of science" on July 2, 2025.

challenges of freedom of science

In addition to the lecture series, the debate about freedom of science in Germany becomes increasingly explosive. On February 7, 2025, there were discussions after Alice Weidel, the Chancellor's candidate of the AfD, announced at a party conference to want to close the gender studies. She called for the dismissal of all professors in this discipline. Her statements are classified as unconstitutional and anti -democratic, which focuses on the question of freedom of science as the cornerstone of democracy. According to a report of the knowledge, scientists warn that such attacks on gender studies could serve as a precedent for other disciplines.

A study by the German Center for University and Science Research shows that over 80% of the scientists surveyed assess academic freedom as good to very well. Nevertheless, more than 30% of restrictions report in their freedom of training. In addition, some scientists have dispensed with the publication of their research results for fear of reprisals. This could destabilize trust in scientific knowledge and throws a worrying light on the science location of Germany.

the global perspective

The threat of freedom of science is not just a national, but an international phenomenon. According to a report by the Academy of Political Education, freedom of science is endangered worldwide, especially in authoritarian regimes. There are also growing dangers in Europe, such as cyber attacks at universities and an increasing criticism of elite groups.

KAI Gehring, chairman of the Committee on Education, Research and Technology Estimates, emphasizes that freedom of science depends on the political stability of a country. In democratic systems, freedom of science and research is crucial for innovation and informed decisions. In Germany, the Academic Freedom Index is 0.96, while Hungary only reaches 0.34. This difference illustrates the challenges that the freedom of science faces.

For more information about the lecture series, you can find Prof. Dr. Turn Yasemin Karakaşoğlu at the e-mail address karakasoglu@uni-bremen.de. The details and the program are also available on the website of the University of Bremen at Worlds of Contradiction .