Isolation and migration - a contradiction in the immigration society?

Increasingly successful actors from the right-wing populist and far-right spectrum are capitalizing on doomsday scenarios, conspiracy myths and fear-mongering.


Migration researchers, on the other hand, have long criticized a race to outdo the strictest migration policies, in which not only the human right to asylum but also central elements of democratic coexistence and respect for human dignity fall by the wayside.


What is rarely reflected on is how thinking and talking about migration is changing our society as a whole, in addition to migration policy. Ultimately, the question of migration and its regulation is always also a question about the state of our democracy.


The cultural scientist and migration researcher Judith Kohlenberger (Vienna University of Economics and Business) will present her two books published in 2024, "Gegen die neue Härte" and "Grenzen der Gewalt: Wie Außengrenzen ins Innere wirken".
She was awarded the City of Vienna Prize in 2021 and the Anas Schakfeh Prize in 2024 for services to human rights, democracy and the promotion of the rule of law.


The historian Mohammad Sarhangi (Center for Research on Anti-Semitism, TU Berlin) will present his book "Years of Fear, Moments of Hope. Eine Gefühlsgeschichte der Migration" (Years of Fear, Moments of Hope), which landed on numerous non-fiction bestseller lists immediately after publication. The discussion in the new book salon format will be moderated by Frank Wolff.


Admission free. Registration is required for participation.



(IN GERMAN)