Battlefield Europe

Transnational commemoration and European identity

A pan-European memory cannot be reduced to the Holocaust and the Gulag alone, no matter how central these are, and must be able to compare memories without offsetting each against the other. On the "concentric circles" of European memory. [English version added] [more]

Can democracies deal with climate change?

Trust in the ability of political elites to deal with the eco-social consequences of climate change is evaporating. Reaching eco-political targets calls for more participation of citizens as active architects of their society, write Claus Leggewie and Harald Welzer. [more]

Privileged partnership, less democracy?

If the enticement of full EU membership is removed, can the EU achieve its goals for Turkey? This question is made all the more pressing by a renewed perception in Arab countries of "Ottoman" Turkey's belonging in the global Muslim community, writes Claus Leggewie. [more]

Between national church and religious supermarket

Muslim organizations in Germany and the problem of representation

In Germany, "cultural Muslims" have challenged the authority of conservative Muslim organizations to represent "the Muslim community". The problem of representation has to do with the German state's corporatist approach to negotiation, writes Claus Leggewie. [more]

Equally criminal?

Totalitarian experience and European memory

Political differences between European member states can be worked out only if a "European memory" is developed. The difficulty lies in paying due respect to the memory of the crimes both of Nazism and of Soviet totalitarianism while avoiding a hierarchy of competing victim groups. [more]

From neighbourhood to citizenship

EU and Turkey

For those in favour of "deepening" the EU, the presumed otherness of Islam is cause for alarm; for those in favour of "widening", Turkey's economic and geo-strategic potential counts in its favour. [more]

Transnational movements and the question of democracy

Social movements can provide an early warning system to mainstream politics. But once institutionalized, their lack of democratic mandate raises problems of legitimacy. This paradox must be negotiated if democracy is to respond to the global situation. [more]