Talk
Is Interest Politics Dead?

with Dr. Delia Baldassarri (New York University) and Dr. Jan-Werner Mülller (Princeton University)

Mon, 11/25/2024
6:00 PM ET American Council on Germany New York

Registration information coming soon

Today's societies are characterized by a high degree of diversity and complexity. Cultural, ethnic, religious, and linguistic differences can make social cohesion difficult. Against this backdrop, political and public institutions can foster solidarity across social groups. How do these different interest groups interact with public and political institutions? As polarization and populism reshape the political arena, understanding the role of interest politics is critical. Independent courts, political parties, and a free press can play a critical role in this regard.

Dr. Delia Baldassarri (New York University) and Dr. Jan-Werner Müller (Princeton University) will explore the forces promoting and disrupting social cohesion in today’s complex environment.

Speakers

Delia Baldassari is Julius Silver, Roslyn S. Silver, and Enid Silver Winslow Professor in the Department of Sociology at New York University. Her current research projects include a study of the emergence of cooperation in complex societies, focusing on the empirical case of ethnically heterogeneous communities and a book project, Partisan Misfits, that investigates the demographic and social network bases of partisanship in American public opinion.

Jan-Werner Müller is Roger Williams Straus Professor of Social Sciences and Professor of Politics at Princeton University.  His books include Democracy Rules (2021) and What is Populism? (2016).

Double Exposure

What matters more: community or society?
Individual freedom or solidarity?
What constitutes a society based on solidarity?

These questions are of great urgency in these times. Polarization and division seem currently to be the tried and tested means of political discussion. Global migration is intensifying the discussion about who has what duties towards whom, who should show solidarity towards whom and who can be denied solidarity.

In discussions between German and US philosophers and experts such as Omri Boehm, Susannah Heschel, Jan-Werner Müller and Susan Neiman, the differences and similarities on both sides of the Atlantic will be debated when it comes to what holds a society together. All in-person events will be recorded and published as podcasts. Listen now wherever your get your podcasts!
 
Double Exposure is a project organized by the Goethe-Instituts North America in collaboration with the American Council on Germany and funded by the Executive Board of the Goethe-Institut.