“Since We are Germans, We Demand Equality”: Black Germans’ Quest(s) for Full Citizenship (1884 – 1921) Published: 7 March 2024 In this analytical piece, Jessica Varela dives into the history of black Germany in their quest for full citizenship from the late nineteenth century until 1921. By Jessica Nogueira Varela
"Heimat" as an exclusionary concept of right-wing parties in Germany Published: 20 February 2024 The concept of Heimat, which is rooted in German-speaking countries, raises questions of belonging and is often misused on the right-wing political spectrum. The AfD, a German populist party on the right, even uses food in its exclusionary othering strategy against migration By Mario Futh
Glorious past and identity – the driving forces behind the populist resurrection? Published: 15 March 2017 Based on Adam Balcer’s new study “Beneath the surface of illiberalism: The recurring temptation of ‘national democracy’ in Poland and Hungary – with lessons for Europe”,WiseEuropa and Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung, in cooperation with Political Capital, organise a round table to discuss populist and illiberal tendencies in the CEE region with a special focus on politics of identity and memory, and significance of these developments for the political situation in particular countries and their impact on the future of the EU.
Bridging the Gap to the European Identity Published: 24 March 2014 Robert Schuman has argued that a „true community requires at least some specific affinities. Countries do not combine when they do not feel among themselves something common.“ Using Schuman´s terminology, we may ask if the EU has at least ´some specific affinities´, if the citizens of the states in Europe believe that they have all something in common. In a speech to the European Parliament in 1999, the President of the European Commission Romano Prodi insisted that the further development of the EU institutions must „gradually build up a shared feeling of belonging to Europe.“ Indeed, it seems that a stronger sense of the European identity is needed in order to advance the process of the European integration.
Five years of an enlarged EU: Where is Eastern Europe? Published: 24 March 2014 Five years after the enlargement of the EU in 2004 and 20 years after the political revolutions in Central and Eastern Europe, we should have plenty of reasons to celebrate. Instead, the threat of a new division of Europe is now being discussed. When, after the extraordinary EU summit at the start of March, headlines ran such as “Rejection of solidarity assistance for Eastern Europe”, many Czechs were outraged. After all, the Czech Republic is not part of Eastern Europe.
