Where are the trigger points of contemporary society? What conflicts arise from social polarization? These questions are the focus of the one-day conference "Haltung zeigen! Diversity Discourses and Conflict Management", which will take place on Friday, March 28, from 10:00 to 18:00 at the European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder). The Master's degree programme in Mediation and Conflict Management invites professional conflict workers from all contexts to discuss how to deal constructively with the reality of social diversity.
Discourses on diversity in organizations, political processes and society as a whole are controversial and sometimes cause polarization. The conference focuses on conflicts that are triggered or exacerbated by very different political and ideological starting positions. It will also critically reflect on the values-based attitudes and social positioning of those involved in conflicts.
In the morning, distinguished speakers will introduce various aspects of this controversial topic with keynote speeches. Speakers include:
- Kübra Gümüşay: "Power, conflicts and the future"
- Dr. Max Czollek: "Is the Basic Law woke?! Fantasies of homogeneity and the realities of plural democracy"
- Dr. Thomas Lux: "Trigger points: Consensus and conflict in contemporary society"
In the afternoon, participants can explore various substantive aspects of diversity and value-based positioning in conflict resolution in parallel workshops. The workshops will deal with the topics of gender, cultural and religious differences, diversity management in large companies, chronic illness, climate protection and climate activism, positioned mediation and right-wing extremism.
On the evening before the conference (Thursday, 27 March, 7.00 p.m.), the participants will be able to attend a reading on the topic of diversity. March, 7 p.m.), the author and journalist Daniel Schulz will read from his book "We were like brothers" in the Viadrina's Logensaal.
The reading is free of charge and open to all interested parties.
Registration for the conference is still possible until mid-March.
Further information on the program and the registration form can be found here.
About the people
Kübra Gümüşay is the author of the bestseller "Language & Being" and the initiator of numerous award-winning campaigns and associations. She is a fellow at the New Institute in Hamburg and moderator of the "Utopia Talks" series at the Thalia Theater. She is currently researching alternative futures, real utopias and the politics of imagination.
Dr. Max Czollek is author and co-editor of the magazine Jalta - Positionen zur jüdischen Gegenwart and since 2021 curator of the Coalition for a Pluralistic Public Discourse (CPPD) for a pluralistic culture of remembrance. He is currently a guest curator at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt Berlin, where he has been leading a series of talks since 2023.
Dr. Thomas Lux teaches and researches at the Institute for Social Sciences at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. His research achievements in the field of political sociology of inequality have been recognized with the Fritz Thyssen Foundation Prize, among others. For the book "Trigger Points: Konsens und Konflikt in der Gegenwartsgesellschaft" (with Steffen Mau and Linus Westheuser), he received the "Das Politische Buch 2023" prize from the Friedrich Ebert Foundation.