Press invitation: panel discussion on the political situation in the USA
To mark the 250th anniversary of American independence, international researchers will discuss the country’s political future at the University of Cologne on 13 July
250 years of Independence Day: Once a trailblazer for modern human rights, the legacy of the Declaration of Independence now comes at a time of major political upheaval that is shaking American democracy to its core. To mark this occasion, the Erich Auerbach Institute for Advanced Studies at the University of Cologne is organizing the panel discussion “Quo vadis USA? Democracy and Authoritarianism”. The Institute will host the highly acclaimed political scientists Steven Levitsky (Harvard) and Lucan Ahmad Way (Toronto) as Distinguished Fellows. Together with social philosopher Rahel Jaeggi (HU Berlin) and fascism researcher Sven Reichardt (University of Konstanz), they will analyse the MAGA movement, Trumpism, and the crisis of democracy.
When:
Monday, 13 July 2026, 6:00 p.m., admission from 5:45 p.m.
Panel discussion “Quo vadis USA? Democracy and Authoritarianism”
Where: Lecture hall 1, WiSo Building, Universitätsstrasse 24, 50931 Cologne,
and via livestream on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/live/cfMWylGC1ME
The event will be held in English and is organized in cooperation with AmerikaHaus NRW e.V.
Members of the press are cordially invited. Kindly register your attendance by emailing Anja Lemke (anja.lemke@uni-koeln.de).
With opening remarks by Susanne Zank (Vice-Rector of the University of Cologne) and Anja Lemke (Director of the Auerbach Institute), the discussion will be moderated by Stephanie Rohde (Deutschlandfunk, NanoTalk, lit.Cologne) and will examine the current developments surrounding Independence Day on 4 July. The aim of the event is to explore, through a transatlantic dialogue, the challenges facing political and academic culture in the United States and Europe in light of the rise of right-wing movements and the erosion of the rule of law.
As early as 2018, Harvard professors Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt described the dangers facing democracies and what can be done to prevent their demise in their bestseller “How Democracies Die”. Under the term “competitive authoritarianism”, Steven Levitsky and his Canadian colleague Lucan Ahmad Way examine this question in relation to authoritarian regimes worldwide. Having previously focused on countries in Latin America, Africa, Asia, and Eastern Europe, they are now turning their attention to the U.S. “Is America on the Path to Authoritarianism?” they ask, or more precisely: how far down this path has the country already gone, is it reversible, and if so, how?
The answers vary depending on one’s perspective and discipline: From the standpoint of contemporary history, the fascism scholar Sven Reichardt has coined the much-discussed term “post-fascism” to describe this trajectory. The concept is intended to make it easier to describe contemporary social, institutional, and, not least, economic conditions by examining the similarities and differences with mid-20th-century European fascism. Renowned philosopher Rahel Jaeggi places this development within the broader context of a general crisis of liberalism and its conceptual limits, viewed through the theoretical lens of Critical Theory.
The Erich Auerbach Institute for Advanced Studies is an interdisciplinary research centre that brings together members of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities at the University of Cologne and international fellows to pursue collaborative research projects exploring the intersections of social realities, the humanities, and cultural studies.
Wissenschaftlicher Ansprechpartner:
Professor Dr Anja Lemke
Director of the Erich Auerbach Institute for Advanced Studies
+49 221 470 2102
anja.lemke@uni-koeln.de
Weitere Informationen:
https://www.eai.uni-koeln.de
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