Society

Niklas has just finished his training to become a dance teacher. In this instalment of our Survival Kit series, he tells us how he lost his passion for dancing at the start of his training and eventually won an appreciation for the human side of his job.

The image of the moody teenager who is thinks politics is just boring blah, blah is outdated. The Fridays for the Future movement has shown how enthusiastic young people can be about democratic processes and political issues. It would seem then, that an overhaul of the voting laws is long overdue. 

(03 December 2020)0
Today, the tenth issue of “das goethe” has been released as a supplement to the Germany-wide subscribers’ edition of the weekly DIE ZEIT. Its focus is on climate change and its effects on the people of the Arctic.

Thousand have taken to the streets in Germany to protest the government’s corona virus policies. Driven by very different motivations, the protests have created an intersection of new agers, conspiracy theorists and far-right radicals. What has brought the protesters together? 

As part of the Goethe-Institut’s international post-colonialism project "Everything Passes Except the Past", a virtual debate festival will take place on 17 October. The art historian Bénédicte Savoy will open it with a key-note lecture. 

On the occasion of the official handover, The Latest at Goethe spoke with the outgoing president of the Goethe-Institut Klaus-Dieter Lehmann and his successor Carola Lentz.

Thirty years after German reunification, are there still differences between East and West? In an interview, former GDR civil-rights activist Freya Klier talks about the time just after the Berlin Wall fell, the new freedoms it brought and about whether Germans are now “one people”. 

You read and hear in the media at regular intervals that people are either moving to the country or moving away from it. What is really going on? Is it an urban or a rural exodus? Where are Germans going?

While the leaves on the right and left of the Berlin Wall are turning autumnal, the Peaceful Revolution is beginning in the GDR. One year later, Germany is again one country.
The facts are familiar - but how did autumn 1989 really feel? On Monday demonstrations and the sale of chunks of the Wall to tourists.

People are more vulnerable to conspiracy ideologies when they fear a loss of control, making the corona pandemic the perfect storm. In an interview, political scientist and net activist Katharina Nocun explains how we should react when encountering people who subscribe to conspiracy theories.

We analyse the students' funniest, most unusual and best-known protest posters.
 

Languages, and therefore language learning, are closely linked to identity. Even in language classes for beginners, pupils talk about themselves, their experiences and their relationships. How can you help your students express non-binary gender identities?

The ongoing debate on whether the restrictions were justified during the coronavirus crisis emphasises the weaknesses in the biopolitical decisions federal and state governments make. Historians Hedwig Richter and René Schlott argue about the consequences for democratic societies.

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has held the world in thrall since spring 2020. Drastic changes to our everyday lives are supposed to slow its spread, and the coronavirus could have a lasting impact on some areas of our society. We look at developments so far.

Cities are growing around the world, and the need for more drinking water is growing right along with them. Here are a few ideas for making water management more sustainable. 

How can colonialism be explained to young people today? Guillaume Le Quintrec is the managing editor of binational history textbooks for high schools in France and Germany, which strive to present every point of view.

Iltisstrasse, Berlin-Dahlem: In German, the word “Iltis” means “polecat”, evoking that little native carnivore from the marten family after which the road must surely have been named. But actually it wasn’t at all – to this day the street name commemorates a chapter in the history of German colonialism.

What should we do with colonial monuments and traces in the public space? Ever since the murder of George Floyd and the subsequent worldwide demonstrations in the context of the Black Lives Matter movement, the discussion about historic monuments has been rekindled. 

Would it not be great if we could study how to make the world a better place? Sadly, it is not quite as easy as that. But there are now a number of study programmes in Germany covering sustainability subjects that come fairly close. Here is a selection.
 

Where do they belong? Ownership claims to cultural assets from the colonial period are often controversial and negotiating possible restitution is frequently a fraught and drawn-out process. Germany is taking some initial steps towards a resolution.

Almost 13 million tons of food goes to waste in Germany every year. The Ministry of Food and Agriculture has ambitious plans to halve domestic food waste by 2030, a problem private initiatives have already begun addressing. 

It is almost impossible to find an affordable flat in many parts of Germany’s capital today. This may soon change though, now that the rent cap law went into force in Berlin in March 2020. It freezes existing rents for a period of five years. But it is not the only means of protecting Berlin’s tenants.

Berlin has already witnessed the end of the world many times. Today, Gerasimus tells us about how during the crisis he makes his way around the supermarket like Pacman and ends the day with a brief brush with the law while lying on a bag of shopping.

What’s the best way to include all gender identities when writing in German? This question has caused quite a stir in the German-speaking world.

Domestic violence is still a huge taboo in Germany – despite alarming statistics. What do women need to know about this subject? What can they do? Nine questions and answers.

Promoting alternative facts and conspiracy theories: a look into the world of climate change deniers.

Anyone in search of a deep, refreshing lungful of fresh air should probably head to the mountains or the seaside. A big city is unlikely to offer prime quality air. More and more German cities are taking measures to clean up the air.

Working towards sustainable energy for the future: Germany wants to completely abandon coal mining by 2038, an ambitious goal with quite a few obstacles still blocking the way.

Wasteful use of the earth’s resources is a leading cause of environmental disasters, and the wealthy industrialized countries are benefiting from the exploitation of developing countries.

A very small number of people question whether each individual online search query or the sending of every photo on the Internet is really necessary – this, too, can actually be environmentally harmful.

In all German cities, it takes money to live anywhere close to downtown, quite a lot of money in fact. Those who cannot afford the rising rents in cities are pushed out to the periphery. We asked an expert how urban planning could address this widening gap between rich and poor.

For a long time, encouraging toddlers’ emotional and intellectual development through play was considered unnecessary, a bit mad, and even a threat to the state. In the 19th century, the son of a priest from Thuringia challenged these convictions. His ideas are still influential today, as are his children’s songs.

At the end of the Year of Germany in the USA, the Goethe-Instituts in the United States have strengthened their network with three completely updated institutes in Boston, Washington and Los Angeles. This is a signal of how important it is to continue the cultural and civil society dialogue between North America and Germany.

The border that once divided the two Germanys - the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic – has been transformed into the German Green Belt. The biotope provides a new home for flora and fauna while testifying to its conflict-laden history.

Every year thousands of people drown in a bid to find the freedom they hope for in Europe. Time and again, those who argue in favour of recusing those in distress at sea are criticised.  From a legal standpoint though, what are our responsibilities towards those in trouble at sea? 

The crypto currency Bitcoin turned many into millionaires overnight and was on the tip of everyone’s tongue, especially once it reached an all-time high in 2017.  Public interest in Bitcoin and the technology behind it, the blockchain, dropped in keeping with currency’s abrupt fall. So what is going on with the technology today?

Plastic bans, disposable dinnerware made of bioplastics, and streets made of plastic waste: countries, companies and private citizens are all pursuing initiatives that show what the world would be like without plastic.

University teaching has become increasingly specialised over the centuries. But the topics addressed in research today increasingly require an interdisciplinary approach.  Leibniz Association president Matthias Kleiner sees a renaissance of universal research. 

We explain the most important terms used in the creative industry, including defining a start-up, what innovation means, and how an incubator differs from an accelerator. 

In September 2019, the German research vessel Polarstern will depart for the Arctic to drift with the sea ice for a year. 600 scientists from 17 nations on board will study the dwindling, not-so-permanent ice pack.

Carbon offset schemes promise to compensate for the emissions caused by private individuals – as air travellers, for instance – with donations to climate projects. But are they not just a way of salving guilty consciences?