Debate
The Big Conversation on Fighting Fascism

Sat, 09.10.2021
5:00 PM Beursschouwburg

Join a wide spectrum of opinion makers, artists, activists and journalists in a discussion about today’s antifascism.

Fascism and Racism are still two destructive forces in society today. Even just the tips of the icebergs remind us of their presence, be it the mass murder on the Norwegian island of Utøya ten years ago, the murders of ten migrants in Germany by the "National Socialist Underground" (NSU) or the recent far-right Belgian soldier who wanted to kill virologists and Muslims. Even beyond these extreme cases, Europe remains characterized by racist and authoritarian tendencies. It is a bitter social reality. 

We are asking 12 opinion makers from all over Europe for a Big Conversation. Together, we want to develop antifascist counter-strategies and reflect on how to fight fascism in the 21st century. 

Activists, artists and journalists will join you, dear members of the public, at various tables dotted around the space. Lights will be suspended over the tables. If a light is on, the opinion-maker at that table is in discussion. When the light goes out, you’re welcome to pull up a chair for a heated or reassuring discussion. 

To make sure everyone gets a chance to have their say, discussion groups are limited to 10 people per table. A big communal table will be kept at the heart of the space to enjoy some food and exchange thoughts with other participants.

 

GET INTO CONVERSATION WITH

- Hind Fraihi (journalist, BE) on right-wing movements in Flanders and Belgium.

- Paola Pisciottano (theater director, BE & IT) on the appeal of fascism to young people and how to counter this.

- Bruxelles Zone Antifa (activist alliance, BE) on antifascist activism in Brussels.

- Veronika Kracher (activist and journalist working for Amadeo-Antonio Stiftung, Berlin) on right-wing online cultures and their association with misogyny.

- Ayse Güleç (activist, curator, Tribunal “Unraveling the NSU Complex”) about anti-racist tribunals and how to give victims a voice.

- Frankfurter Hauptschule (artist collective, DE) on how to subvert right-wing aesthetics

- Kaoutar Harchi (writer, FR) on anti-muslim racism in France.

- Eszter Hajdu (film maker, HU) on the serial Roma killings in Hungary and the trial against the perpetrators.

- Maddalena Gretel Cammelli (anthropologist, IT) on the Italian movement CasaPound, and an anthropology of contemporary fascism (in FR).

- Anne Talsnes (22th of July Center Oslo) on remembrance culture in Norway after the Breivik attacks.

- John Malamatinas (activist, journalist, GR & DE) on Golden Dawn and other right-wing movements in Greece.

- Nick Lowles (activist, journalist, Hope not Hate, UK) on the long story of neonazis terrorism in the UK.

ARTISTIC INTERVENTION

"How to counter the appropriation of action art by groups of the New Right?" Lecture Performance by Frankfurter Hauptschule

LOOPED SCREENING

Judgment in Hungary (Eszter Hajdú, HU, 2013, 104 min)  find about more

HOST

Bouchra Lamsyeh & Isabelle N'diaye


The Big Conversation is a part of Unzivilgesellschaft/Uncivil society. Uncivil Society is a project of the Goethe-Instituts in Brussels, Budapest, Milan and Oslo making use of artistic and discussion formats and working with local partners to address the Europe-wide phenomenon of racist violence and right-wing terror.