History

December 4, 2016 0

Why Feminism and Hijab Go Together

As Muslim refugees who choose to wear hijab become a lasting part of the societies of those European states that have taken them in, their right to be different must be defended. Most importantly, we must defend the right of women to choose. It is this choice that makes women free. This is why feminism and hijab go together. [Read More!]

September 28, 2015 1

Moralpolitik and the Ressentiments of Change

According to headlines, the German government has pledged haven – albeit temporary in many cases – to up to 800,000 refugees or migrants applying for asylum in the country. The U.S., despite initial wavering, has signaled that it will work to raise its refugee quota yearly, with the goal of a 100,000 cap by 2017. Yet within and around this historical moment of humanitarian crisis and measured political response are the inflammatory words of Donald Trump. He recently roared to a crowd in Iowa that, if elected, he “will deport all of the 11 million illegal migrants in this country.” [Read More!]

December 5, 2014 0

Review: Circumcision at the Jewish Museum Berlin

Circumcision has a history of being used to make distinctions between 'us' and 'them', particularly in Germany. In the United States the debate on foreskin or no-foreskin looks much different, citing hygiene rather than religious freedom. This begs the question if arguments against a religious practice, such as the one raised in the German context, can ever be purely about legal arguments - for the rights of children, as German courts have decreed - when strong divisions between those of Christian heritage and those of Muslim and/or Jewish heritage remain. This question was the inspiration for the newest exhibition at the Jewish Museum Berlin, a timely one, at that... [Read More!]

July 28, 2014 0

World Cup Fever: How malleable is German identity?

Germany's World Cup victory has unleashed a new wave of patriotism, as well as a new identity crisis. This patriotism might only be as good as the boundaries it is ready and able to redefine. An act of flowing colors and neighbor-to-neighbor high-fives may have started a new understanding of who is allowed into the club, but policies and institutions need to take it one step further. Otherwise, patriotism is just as good as nationalism, which rules by way of exceptionalism. In the type of inclusive global society many of us would love to build, there is no room for exceptionalism... [Read More!]

July 4, 2014 1

Review: Berlin needs you (but why?)

Why is immigration important? The debate takes many angles. There's the demographic argument, that developed countries with low birth rates and aging populations need bodies to maintain the replacement rate. There's the globalization take, that the movement of people in all forms is increasingly inevitable and contributes to global competitiveness and 21st century skills. The moral or even religious spin, emphasizing human dignity, charity, an obligation for prosperous nations to help those more needy. But few arguments are as pervasive as the economic one... [Read More!]

May 30, 2014 1

Interview: the Klezmer Gentiles

International artists in Berlin occupy a semi-privileged position, able to ask critical questions of society without being publicly rebuked. An example of such an artist is Soliman Lawrence. Soli has been photographing the memorialization of Jewish culture in Poland for years, following the tracks of a new form of engagement with the past, as enacted by a more recent generation of Poles. In contrast to Poland, Germany now has its fair share of Jews. What might this mean for memory and its rituals?... [Read More!]

May 10, 2014 1

Review: Seeing Berlin Through The Homeless

They wait for the subway doors to close before they address the car with a rehearsed speech. "Excuse the interruption, I am one of Berlin's annoying homeless people"... it usually begins, as they peddle newspapers and scan the crowd for an outstretched hand holding change or food. The majority of us keep our hands tucked away or firmly gripping our phones. Some of us fall into convenient bouts of exhaustion, promptly leaning back and closing our eyes. In this moment, we are restricted to a shared space... [Read More!]

Orhan and Sophia pre 2014 Berlin half marathon

March 30, 2014 1

Interview: The Taxi Driver

Orhan was 5 when his father moved to Berlin in 1972. It was only one year before West Germany would halt guest worker recruitment from non-European countries to fill labor shortages after World War II. His mother followed 7 years later with his youngest sister and they lived in Rudow in southeastern Neukölln - where they still live over 30 years later. "They got jobs as cleaners in an office," Orhan recounts, "but they were fired!" he adds, snorting in laughter. I look up from my notepad, surprised... [Read More!]

March 19, 2014 1

Review: “Schwarz gemacht” and the White Audience

One attends a play about an Afro-German living in the years of Nazism and Jim Crow not because of the dramaturgy. One buys the ticket because of the topic's near absence in the German discourse. This is not a review of the play, but rather a continuation of the discussion with the cast that followed. As one of the cast-members remarked, it all comes down to audience: "Black folks probably wouldn't go to the theater to see this play in the U.S., let alone have enough money for the ticket. And here, we have a white audience. So, who are we really talking to here? Who is seeing this play?"... [Read More!]

February 20, 2014 2

Lens: An Ode to the Maybachufer

From Berlin's "problem district" to more expensive than spießig Charlottenburg: Kreuzberg's made quite the transformation over the decades, but migration continues to shape its identity and reputation as a district. The bulk of Kreuzberg's diversity stems from the '50s and '60s, when guest workers were recruited by West Germany to fill labor shortages after World War II*. Kreuzberg's dilapidated housing became home to guest workers, primarily from Turkey... [Read More!]

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