Schäuble laments growing social division
President of the Bundestag speaks at the opening of the 52nd German Historians’ Day in Münster on “Divided Societies” – Historian Schlotheuber: theme of the conference has “depressing relevance” – Keynote speeches at the opening of Europe’s largest humanities conference
Press release of the Cluster of Excellence from 25 September 2018
Speaking at the University of Münster on Tuesday evening at the opening of the 52nd German Historians’ Day, which is focusing on the theme “Divided Societies”, Bundestag President Wolfgang Schäuble said that German society is being increasingly divided into “fearful” groups on the one hand, and “self-confident” groups on the other. While the former are “backward-looking” in their approach to the globalized world, the latter are “open to the future”. According to Schäuble, social cohesion is at risk in many places, and it is necessary to “make the inevitable changes bearable for everyone, to take people’s concerns seriously, and to convey confidence in the future”. The fragmentation of the public sphere, including in social media, is a challenge for democracy. For Schäuble, debates are more rigid than before, and the different sides are becoming “increasingly irreconcilable – to the point of violence on the streets. It’s important that we nip things in the bud”.
According to Schäuble, historians have an important role to play here: “In such turbulent times, a look at history can help – not as an act of nostalgia, but as a way to place current developments within larger historical contexts and understand them better”. This can also counteract the tendency to “overdramatize” the situation “unnecessarily”. The study of history itself is confronted by a populism that questions scientific knowledge, which is all the more reason, says Schäuble, for historians to communicate with people outside their own specialist circles in a way that everyone can comprehend. “Self-reflectively, critically and as a barb in comfort zones where we have established ourselves as a society that remembers”.
The opening ceremony was attended by around 800 guests from university, politics and society. Speakers at the conference also included North Rhine-Westphalia Minister-President Armin Laschet, patron of the German Historians’ Day, as well as Schäuble’s Dutch counterpart Khadija Arib, who chairs the Second Chamber of Parliament, and Ulrich Bongertmann, chair of the History Teachers’ Association (VGD). The ceremony was followed by a reception hosted by Armin Laschet in Münster’s schloss (castle). The partner country this year is the Netherlands. The largest humanities conference in Europe saw around 3,500 academics from Germany and abroad discuss research on social divisions in over 90 panels.
“Historical knowledge trains critical thinking, tolerance and a willingness to engage in debate”
Chair of the Association of German Historians (VHD), Prof. Dr. Eva Schlotheuber, highlighted the “depressing relevance” that the theme of the conference, “Divided Societies”, has gained in recent weeks. “Our society today appears to be quite cohesive and capable of consensus when compared, for example, with earlier feudal societies or the Weimar Republic”. But globalization and digitalization have changed things considerably. “The diversity of voices is more audible thanks to social media”. This is often described as fragmentation, but there is more of a “consolidation: we hear and know more about each other, more directly and more quickly”. Given the closer relationships on the internet today, there is a need for new rules of behaviour. “It is not the size or depth of the dissent that matters, but whether it gains people’s attention and how they deal with it ”. Schlotheuber says: “It is important that historians speak out publicly. Historical knowledge trains critical thinking, tolerance and a willingness to engage in debate”.
University of Münster Rector Prof. Dr. Johannes Wessels also pointed to the importance of research in the humanities when it comes to current social challenges: “Research can help us understand pressing problems better and develop solutions”. This is demonstrated by a wide range of interdisciplinary research at the University of Münster – for example, in the Cluster of Excellence “Politics and Religion”, and the Collaborative Research Centre “Cultures of Decision-Making”. Universities are themselves faced with a social divide: between those who place a high value on scientific knowledge, and those who have no trust in science. “As a university, we have to deal with this and offer solutions, since our democratic values depend very much on scientific rigour. Such rigour underpins not opinions or unfounded ideas, but knowledge, which in turn underpins a wide range of decisions, including those of a political nature”.
Schäuble: “We are all equal before the law”
Bundestag President Schäuble said in his speech: “In the modern constitutional state, it is above all the law, to which we collectively submit, that overarches all social divisions. We are all equal before the law”. A democratic constitution presupposes the political unity of the people and in turn contributes to unity: “It has an integrating function, and articulates the underlying consensus in society”. Every generation has to reach a new understanding of “how it can fill the values of the Grundgesetz with life”. It is especially important in “culturally and religiously diverse societies” to discuss values such as tolerance and pluralism anew.
Schäuble also recalled the many divisions in history, “not only political, but also economic, social, ethnic and, of course, confessional – especially here in Münster”, where the Thirty Years’ War was brought to a close in 1648. The Reformation and the experience of war taught Europe “how to deal with religious plurality. But it was a lengthy and bloody process”. The realization has prevailed over the centuries “that politics must live with a plurality of religions or denominations – and neither can nor should try to influence the religious beliefs of its citizens”. Only when differences are accepted can the search for unity begin. “This task is never complete. But we cannot do without it. And especially so in modern societies, which are again increasingly marked by religious plurality”. (vvm/sca)
