Imagining Democracy in German Culture Today
April 9-11, 2026
“Kultur ist ein Lebenselixier für unsere Demokratie.” ‒ Claudia Roth
When in 2022 Claudia Roth, the German Minister of State for Culture, insisted that a thriving, independent and diverse cultural landscape is not only an indication of, but also a precondition for a functioning democracy, she acknowledged the fundamental role that art and culture play in the promotion of democratic discourse.
For this seminar, we propose investigating how contemporary German culture reflects and responds to current discourses on democracy at a time when democratic systems across the globe are under pressure, debate is increasingly polarized and the necessary exchange between civil society and the political system is deteriorating. How does German-language culture represent and comment on the state of democracy when populist parties and anti-democratic movements across Europe and around the world gain traction, when accepted forms of democratic political organization, engagement and participation are questioned, re-examined or undermined by the transformation of economic, legal and cultural spheres? How do cultural artefacts broadly conceived – literary or cinematic texts, theatre productions, visual media, exhibitions, museums and other forms of cultural expression – narrate and analyze concepts of citizenship, the democratic subject, individual and collective agency? How do these texts’ conceptualization of democratic practice intersect with other discourses, e.g. on gender, memory, generation, neoliberalism, post-Wende identities, utopian and dystopian thinking, climate action, economic disruption, the European project, public censorship, cancel-culture, and wars in Europe and the Middle East? Furthermore, how do cultural artefacts intervene and become active participants themselves in the discourses on democracy, e.g., by catalyzing or discouraging political debate and action, by using and creating public spaces necessary for democratic and critical exchange, and by facilitating or impeding the dissemination of knowledge about social and political realities?
Scholars at any stage in their academic careers are invited to present on examples of contemporary German-language culture that
- narrate, represent, comment on or critically analyze democratic processes in the German-speaking world
- question, model or articulate forms of democratic participation and engagement
- reflect on their own text’s/medium’s contribution to and participation in democratic processes
- draw on ideas, texts or analogies from German (cultural) history to redirect or reinvigorate the debate on democracy
- employ strategies specifically aimed at mobilizing their audiences’ imagination, the promotion of civic engagement and the encouragement of active participation in constructive discourse
- reflect on the relationship between cultural production and public space for democratic engagement
- investigate the transnational reach of democratic processes and critiques
- shed light on the relationships between the culture industry and political participation
Format:
The main goal for this in-person seminar is to provide a forum for a detailed examination and thorough discussion of texts that engage with questions of democracy. Therefore,
- extended timeslots (30-40 minutes for presentations, 20 minutes for discussion) will allow speakers to introduce, discuss and share their material or case studies in detail, to incorporate examples, and to receive feedback and explore overarching questions that connect individual presentations.
- Participants will be invited to
- pre-circulate a short position paper and discussion points to allow participants to prepare for vigorous exchange
- serve as discussants for other participants’ contributions
Abstracts (max. 500 words) and inquiries can be sent to the organizers Gabriele Mueller (gmueller@yorku.ca) and James Skidmore (skidmore@uwaterloo.ca) by September 30, 2025. Notifications of acceptance will be sent out at the end of November 2025.
The seminar will be hosted by the Waterloo Centre for German Studies and take place at the University of Waterloo in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. Participants’ travel and accommodation will be financially supported.