Speakers
Tarik Abou-Chadi is Associate Professor of Comparative European Politics at Nuffield College at the University of Oxford. His research investigates the transformation of politics in post-industrial societies and especially focuses on support for the radical right as well as the decline of European social democracy. He is the principal investigator of the SNF research project „Social status and the transformation of electoral behaviour in Western Europe. Based in Oxford/Berlin.
Sheri Berman Sheri Berman is Professor of Political Science at Barnard College, Columbia University. She is the author of numerous books and scholarly articles on European politics and political development, the left, fascism, populism, and the fate of democracy. Her latest book is Democracy and Dictatorship in Europe: From the Ancien Régime to the Present Day (2019). Based in New York
Susi Meret is Associate Professor in Comparative Migration Politics and Ethnic Relations in the Social Sciences, Department of Culture and Global Studies, Aalborg University (AAU), Denmark. Her latest study: “Duties First, Rights Next! Danish Social Democrat’s Right Turn on Migration Politics”, in Social Democracy in the 21 Century. Based in Aalborg.
Judy Dempsey is a non-resident senior fellow at Carnegie Europe and editor in chief of the Strategic Europe blog. She is also the author of the book The Merkel Phenomenon (Das Phänomen Merkel, Körber-Stiftung Edition, 2013). Dempsey was a journalist-correspondent, bureau chief, and columnist- for major international media: International Herald Tribune, Financial Times, the Irish Times, and the Economist. Dempsey is one of the most respected connoisseurs of European affairs and her Strategic Blog Europe is a must read for policy makers, journalists, and academics. Judy Dempsey is Europe’s Futures fellow. She is based in Berlin.
Concept and Moderators
Ivan Vejvoda, Europe’s Futures; Mirjana Tomić, Presseclub Concordia, fjum.
Background
Will German Social Democrats (SPD) have electoral success on 26 September 2021?
Social democratic parties in Western Europe have suffered a steady electoral decline and diminishing political appeal in the past decades. Some have disappeared from the political scene; others participate in ideologically diverse coalition governments and while some have adopted radical political choices, especially in relation to migration.
What is the reason for this decline? Social democratic parties are an intrinsic part of European history, welfare state and welfare policies. Is their decline related to economic crisis and globalization, culture and identity politics, sociological changes, or migration?
Two leading international experts on European social democracy, Tarik Abou-Chadi and Sheri Berman will explore the reasons for this downward trend, while Susi Meret will reflect on Denmark’s Social Democrats, whose migration policies are an envy of many far-right parties and Judy Dempsey (and Tarik Abou-Chadi) will look at German Social Democrats (SPD) and their electoral strategy.
Do Danish political choices – welfare chauvinism and restrictive migration-indicate the future of social democracy or they represent an exception?
Target Groups
Vienna-based journalists, as well as journalists from the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia. International journalists are welcome.
Number of participants: Maximum 70
Format
Brief guided presentations, followed by an interactive live discussion and Q&A
Further Questions
For additional information about the session, contact Mirjana Tomic, seminar manager, mirjana.tomic@fjum-wien.at, or call 0676 365 26 93.
European Contexts
Upon request of Austrian and Central European media representatives to create an informal regional platform/network of journalists, four organisations decided to support this initiative, aimed at strengthening quality journalism and fostering professional networks among media, think tank analysts and academics. The initiative consists of seminars that address themes of common interest and enable participants to meet and discuss.