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Posts Tagged ‘Nineteenth Century’

Symposium on Alternative Imaginaries of Modern Public Spheres

Posted in Conference, tagged , , , , , , , , on November 3, 2025| Leave a Comment »

On 20 to 22 November, the yearly symposium of the Martin-Luther-University’s Research Focus “Enlightenment – Religion – Knowledge” will take place under the title

Jenseits des Gerichtshofs: Alternative Imaginationen moderner Öffentlichkeit

(Beyond the Court: Alternative Imaginations of the Modern Publich Sphere)

The symposium has been organized by my colleague Daniel Weidner and myself and will include contributions by

Lucian Hölscher (Bochum), Nils Kumkar (Bremen), Simone Jung (Lüneburg/Halle), Yvonne Kleinmann (Halle), Robert Fajen (Halle), Patrick Primavesi (Leipzig), Uta Lohmann (Hamburg), Christian Harun Maye (Basel), Elke Dubbels (Bonn), Kirk Wetters (Yale), Rieke Trimçev (Halle), Daniel Fulda (Halle), Silke Fürst (Zürich) and Stephan Pabst (Halle).

For further information on the venues and program, see here.


Abstract

In recent years, there has been renewed talk of a crisis of the public sphere. Filter bubbles and fake news, unrestrained insults and cancel culture are discussed as symptoms of decay, disintegration, or dysfunction of the publis phere – although, of course, these debates themselves take place within the public sphere itself. But what, in fact, is this “public sphere”? How de we imagine it, how do we describe it, and what conclusions do we draw from this?

The current diagnosis of crisis offers an opportunity for a critical genealogy, since the sense of crisis may itself stem, not least, from the fact that certain established imaginations of the public sphere have become fractured and questionable. Such a moment invites renewed reflection on what the public sphere was, is, and could be – and may point to traces laid down since the formative period of modern publics that have as yet not been fully pursued.

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Two Conferences

Posted in Presentation, tagged , , , , , , , on August 30, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Next week, I’ll be speaking at the German History Society’s Annual Conference in Loughborough. I’m part of a panel on “Democracy in German Lands, 1780-1870”, organized by Prof. Mark Philp. My own talk is titled

Prussian Democracy? Territorial Variations in a Complex State (1815-1870)

I will address the variability of the concept of democracy in the Prussian context, focusing on some lesser-known patterns of use, especially the issues of democratic bureaucracy and local democracy.

Shortly after, I’ll attend the 55th German History Society’s biannual conference (Historikertag) in Bonn. In the context of a panel on the meanings of the concept of “dynamics” in historical scholarship (“Die Macht der Dynamik. Theoretische Zugänge zu einem historischen Schlüsselbegriff“), my contribution is titled

Dynamik und Statik (Dynamics and Statics)

In it, I will question the common way in which these concepts are framed in terms of a dichotomy or opposition, instead asking how historical scholarship copes with situations that are dynamic and static at the same time (but in different ways).

Alexander Rothaug - Statik und Dynamik des menschlichen Körpers Pl.01
Alexander Rothaug: Statik und Dynamik des menschlichen Körpers (1933).

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Radio Interview on the Limits of Debate

Posted in Publications, tagged , , , , , , , on August 22, 2025| Leave a Comment »

In a series on the “power of words”, the German radio show Systemfragen on Deutschlandfunk produced an episode on the question why cultivated discussion so often breaks down. In it, I was interviewed on the culture of political conflict during the German Empire (1871-1918) and its implications for debating cultures in the present.

The other guests were Gregor Gysi (Die Linke), the former president of the German Bundestag Norbert Lammert, and the philosopher Anne Reichold.

The episode was broadcast on August 21, 2025. En extended version can be found online here as well as on all podcast platforms.

Many thanks to the Deutschlandfunk team and especially to Luca Rehse-Knauf, who conducted the interview.

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Monograph on the Politics of Silence during the Long 19th Century Published

Posted in Publications, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on July 4, 2025| 1 Comment »

My book on the political role and meanings of silence during the long nineteenth century has now been published by Droste.

A preview of its contents my be found here.

And more information on the website of the KGParl here.

I’m very grateful to the Kommission für Geschichte des Parlamentarismus und der politischen Parteien and the editors of the Beiträge zur Geschichte des Parlamentarismus und der politischen Parteien for including my work in this prestigious series, as well as to Verena Mink for coordinating the publishing process.

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1-Year Post-Doc Fellowship Offered in Halle

Posted in Jobs, tagged , , , , , , , on June 2, 2025| Leave a Comment »

The Research Focus Group ‘Enlightenment – Religion – Knowledge‘ based at the Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg is offering a 1-year postdoctoral fellowship under the title “Kritik im Widerstreit” (criticism in contest), beginning on October 1, 2025.

The research focus group is dedicated to the historical Enlightenment and its continued legacy up to the present. This includes, not least, the concept of “criticism,” which was first emphatically formulated during the Enlightenment and is currently again the subject of intense debate—particularly with regard to its political implications.

Where does criticism stand today, what is it still capable of, and how must we rethink it? What forms of practice are associated with it, what does it mean in different fields—politics, art, the public sphere—how is it shifting under new media conditions, and what political significance does it have in each case?

Today, criticism itself is under criticism: it is said to be elitist, exhausted, and outdated, to defend particular interests, and to serve self-promotion more than its apparent cause. Particularly disturbing is the fact that critical arguments seem to be easily appropriated by their opponents: Today, prohibitions on thinking are proclaimed in the name of “freedom”; exclusions in the name of “equality”; and questionable dogmas in the name of “criticism”. What remains of criticism if one does not want to abandon it entirely but has given up belief in a “critique of critical criticism” (Marx)?

The scholarship is intended to serve as a means of investigating and discussing political figurations of criticism between appropriation and dismissal together with other scholars involved in research focus group. Applicants should propose an academic project (aimed at publishing an academic article) and, within this framework, organize and host an academic event; accompanying formats such as readings, panel discussions, exhibitions, guided tours, etc. are also conceivable and can be financed with ARW funds.

Deadline for applications is 27 June, 2025.

More information on the fellowship and application procedure can be found here.

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Panel Discussion on the Role of Parliaments

Posted in Conference, Presentation, tagged , , , , , on May 23, 2025| Leave a Comment »

In the context of a two-day workshop organized by my colleague Paulina Gulińska-Jurgiel and myself about methodological developments in the historical scholarship on parliaments, we present a public panel discussion (in German) titled

The Endangered Legislative? Historical and Contemporary Challenges in Dialogue

With our guests

Dr. Claudia Gatzka (Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg)

Prof. Dr. Thomas Lindenberger (Hannah-Arendt-Institut für Totalitarismusforschung / TU Dresden)

Dr. Danny Schindler (Institut für Parlamentarismusforschung)

we discuss the current state of parliamentary politics against the background of historical crises and developments.

Abstract

With every state and federal election, debates about the state of democracy are reignited. Ardent debates circle around justified fears of far-right parties entering parliaments and the associated risk of the institution being undermined or disempowered. While the legislature is often seen as the last fortress of democratic rule, it also increasingly appears as a fragile construct. But what is its real status today? What can parliaments and the people involved in them actually do against the onslaught of opposing forces? What instruments do they have at their disposal to protect themselves and democracy? Or should we look for alternative formats and ways of democratic representation that go beyond the concept of a legislative as the only legitimate representation of the people, enabling a different kind of social participation without falling into the trap of populism?

The discussion, which is open to all interested (free of charge), takes place in the university’s Aula (Löwengebäude), on June 25, 6 – 8 pm.

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Official Inauguration of Research Training Group Politics of Enlightenment

Posted in Presentation, tagged , , , , on May 6, 2025| Leave a Comment »

The new DFG Research Training Group “Politics of the Enlightenment”, which has started its work at the University of Halle-Wittenberg with eight doctoral and one post-doctoral researchers this month, will be officially inaugurated on May 22.

Besides various presentations by the Training Group’s members, the university’s rector, Prof. Dr. Claudia Becker, will give an official address. The ceremony is concluded with a key note speech by Prof. Dr. Liliane Weisberg, the Training Group’s first fellow and a distinguished expert in the field of Enlightenment studies.

The ceremony will be held at the library of the Interdisciplinary Centre for European Enlightenment Studies. All are welcome to join us for this festive occasion.

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New Article on Secret Societies

Posted in Publications, tagged , , , , on May 2, 2025| Leave a Comment »

For the upcoming issue on silence to be published on May 15 by the Zeitschrift für Ideengeschichte, I’ve written a short article on the complex tensions between publicity and secrecy in the European secret societies of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.

Arkanum a. D. Geheimgesellschaften und Öffentlichkeit, in: Zeitschrift für Ideengeschichte 19, Nr. 2 (2025), 50–58. DOI: 10.17104/1863-8937-2025-2-50.

I’m looking forward to reading the other contributions and thank the editors for their thorough assistance with the writing and publication process.

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1st International Egodocumental Network Conference

Posted in Conference, Presentation, tagged , , , , , on April 15, 2025| Leave a Comment »

I’m pleased to announce that together with my colleague Pia Schmüser, I’ll be presenting at the upcoming international conference “Egodocuments from Medieval Codex to Modern Media: Narratives, Presentations, Identities“, which takes place in Vilnius from May 15–17, 2025.

Our presentation is titled:
“Diaries as Alter-Ego-Documents: Constructions of Diaries as a Personified Dialogical ‘Other’ in Late 19th and 20th Century Germany.”

Our talk is part of our broader collaborative work within the research project “Between Voice and Silence: Communicative Norms in Diaries, 1840-1990”, funded by The Leverhulme Trust as a collaboration between the University of Reading, UK, and the University of Halle Wittenberg, Germany, with support from The Great Diary Project in London and the German Diary Archive (Deutsches Tagebucharchiv) in Emmendingen.

The conference, organized by Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, Vilnius University and the University of Lodz within the context of the International Egodocumental Research Group, brings together scholars from across Europe to explore the interpretive potential of ego-documents—letters, diaries, autobiographies, and more—as vital sources for understanding historical subjectivities and experiences. We’re very much looking forward to the exchange of ideas and the opportunity to connect with fellow researchers working on the many voices—spoken and unspoken—of the past.

More about the conference can be found here and here.

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Interdisciplinary Conference on Silence in Western Modernity

Posted in Conference, tagged , , , , , on November 27, 2024| Leave a Comment »

As announced earlier this year, from 12 to 14 December the University of Halle-Wittenberg will host the interdisciplinary conference Silence in Analogue and Digital Communication in Western Modernity. Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Its Variety and Change.

This event is organized by the Arbeitskreis Sprache, Geschichte, Politik und Kommunikation in cooperation with Martin-Luther-University’s Chair of Modern and Contemporary History.

The conference begins with a panel discussion (in German) involving experts from journalism and various academic disciplines, who will tackle the many tensions between speech and silence apparent in current democratic regimes. This event is open to the public and entry is free. It takes place in the university’s main building (Löwengebäude, Universitätsplatz 11).

Many thanks in advance to Karoline Preisler, Melani Schröter, Annamária Fábián, and Till Kössler for their willingness to join in this discussion.

On Friday and Saturday, we continue with a dense program of presentations from the fields of history, literature, media studies, linguistics, memory studies and philosophy. Again, anyone is very welcome to attend one or more of the panels. Please note the different venue for Friday and Saturday: the Interdisciplinary Centre for European Enlightenment Studies, Franckeplatz 1 – Haus 54.

The organizing committee includes: Torsten Leuschner (Ghent), Judith Visser (Bochum), Annamária Fábián (Bayreuth), Armin Owzar (Paris), Melani Schroeter (Reading), Igor Trost (Passau), and myself.

Many thanks in advance to all those participating in the conference, to my co-organizers, as well as to my colleagues at the Chair of Modern History, who have made this possible.

To dowload the program, click here.

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