FES Washington Office - Recent Events
October 26-28, 2011 | Washington, DC
50th Anniversary of Migration from Turkey to Germany - (Re)Considering the Last 50 Years of Migration and Current Immigration Policies in Germany
The conference brought senior and junior scholars and politicians together to articulate the contemporary debates on Migration and immigration policy in Germany in comparison with other European countries and North America from an intersisciplinary and international perspective. The time frame (1961-2011) of and focusing on the 50th Anniversary of the immigration from Turkey to Germany enabled tracing of the dynamics of discourses on issues of immigration, how they shape debates and public discourse attitudes of today which in turn shape migration policies in Germany.
The conference also featured a political panel:
Current Immigration Policies in Germany and the United States
Sebastian Edathy, Social Democratic Party Member of the German Parliament
Susan Martin, Georgetown University
Özcan Mutlu, Green Party Berlin Speaker
Michael Werz, Center for American Progress
The conference and the political panel discussion was organized in cooperation with the Johns Hopkins University, SAIS
October 18, 2011 | Washington, DC
FACE THE WALL | GESICHT ZUR WAND
The Friedrich Ebert Foundation, the German Historical Institute and the Goethe-Institut Washington organized a documentary film screening and panel discussion in rememberance of the building of the Berlin Wall in 1961.
The Berlin Wall was a 96 miles long border that divided a city, a nation, a continent, and the whole world. We will always remember it as the Iron Curtain that separated East and West. To understand the tragedies caused by this wall, one doesn't need to step onto the international stage. Thousands of people were jailed, injured, and hundreds killed right there in Berlin and along the inner German border.
Face the Wall tells the story of five former East German citizens incarcerated for attempting to flee the German Democratic Republic. Their shocking memories represent the fate of a much larger group of about 72000 people. A remarkable cinematic contribution that lets Zeitzeugen talk about the pain, torture, and the loss of human dignity without attempting to judge, provoke, or explain.
The following panel discussion featured the German filmmaker, Stefan Weinert, and Prof. Hope Harrison (Woodrow Wilson Center; currently on leave from George Washington University), who has recently published the book Ulbrichts Mauer (Ulbricht's Wall), describing East Germany's ruling "Socialist Unity Party" and its leader, Walter Ulbricht, as key actors in the decision to build the wall, while the Soviet leadership opposed it for fear of more confrontation with the United States.
Anke Fuchs, Honorary Chairwomen, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung
Stefan Weinert, German Filmmaker
Hope Harrison, Woodrow Wilson Center, on leave from George Washington University
September 22-23, 2011 | Ottawa, Canada
Conference: The European Union, Canada, and the Arctic - Challenges of International Governance
The conference was organized by theCentre for European Studies at Carleton University in cooperation with the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, and was supported by the European Commission as well as the Embassies of the Republic of Poland and the Federal Republic of Germany in Ottawa.
September 15, 2011 | Washington, DC
Corporate Labor Policies and Globalization: The Impact of International Framework Agreements on U.S. Labor Relations
The Friedrich Ebert Foundation and the IFA Research Project at the Free University of Berlin coorganized a presentation and discussion of a U.S. case study that was part of a multinational research project on the implementation of International Framework Agreements (IFAs) in four different countries.
August 18th, 2011 | Washington, DC
"Roots Germania" - A Personal Search for Identity
The Friedrich Ebert Foundation, the German Historical Institute and the Black German Cultural Society, NJ co-organized a documentarty film screening and lecture with Mo Asumang, German TV host and filmmaker.
Describing the very personal search for her identity, Mo Asumang's movie was well received and triggered numerous comments and questions from the audience on Afro-German identity, right wing extremism and Germany as a multicultural country.
July 19th, 2011 | Washington, DC
Collective Memory - German-Jewish Relations Today
On the occasion of the visit of German Member of Parliament, Dietmar Nietan, the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, the American Jewish Committee as well as the Washington DCJCC's Theater J and Department of Dialogues & Public Affairs organized a panel discussion and a staged reading of excerpts from Ari Roth's Born Guilty Cycle.
More than 60 years after the Holocaust, the Nazi era and its consequences are still present in German politics and culture. However, the relationship between Germans and Jews has undergone significant changes in the past decades. As the generation of the perpetrators, victims and witnesses is passing away, the third German generation since WWII is confronted with the challenge of understanding the past, while trying to deepen German-Jewish relations in the future. At the same time, the German Jewish population is still facing challenges of integration and anti-Semitism.
What impact does the Holocaust have on German-Jewish relations today? How does the third German generation deal with guilt, responsibility, and reconciliation? What does the discourse look like between the second and the third generation? What policies can help in improving integration of the Jewish population and in fighting anti-Semitism?
The panelists addressed these and other questions of contemporary German-Jewish relations.
May 3rd, 2011 | Washington, DC
Structural Reforms and Regional Economic Growth
Meeting with Minister-President Matthias Platzeck
On the occasion of the visit of Minister-President Hon. Matthias Platzeck from Brandenburg, Germany, the Friedrich Ebert Foundation and the Congressional Study Group on Germany hosted a luncheon with Members of the House of Representatives on May 3, 2011, on Capitol Hill. Congressman Rob Bishop welcomed and introduced the Minister-President. In his remarks, Mr. Platzeck highlighted the structural changes made in the past two decades to transform Brandenburg, the state surrounding Berlin, from a post-communist region to a modern and thriving model of Germany’s future-oriented economy. Congressman Russ Carnahan moderated the discussion that followed the speech.
Brandenburg developed from a one-party dictatorship with a centrally-planned economy to a vibrant democracy with a social market economy. After reunification, residents had to learn to live in freedom and democracy and to accept economic competition and far-reaching de-industrialization. Large companies went bankrupt and hundreds of thousands of employees lost their jobs. But with time and smart investment strategies, Brandenburg has tripled its gross domestic product and increased its exports tenfold. The U.S. plays an important economic factor, as it provides the largest amounts of direct investment in Brandenburg; Oracle, Tyco, eBay and others have settled in Brandenburg and created about 10,000 jobs.
The EU Committee of European Regions has awarded the label “European Entrepreneurial Region 2011″ to Brandenburg. Among the German states, Brandenburg currently has the most dynamic economic growth and the unemployment rate has dropped under 10 percent, the lowest in 20 years. During the 1990s, Brandenburg’s priority was to preserve jobs. As a result, investments where spread broadly across the region. Since 2004, the economic development policy has started to focus on the potential of the state. Through this process 15 so-called regional growth centers were identified and promoted. They provide more stable jobs, strengthen the economic growth and are engines of economic development in the respective regions.
Last year, Brandenburg was recognized for the second time as the best state in the sector of renewable energy in Germany. The development of new innovative technologies in the energy sector is a strength of Brandenburg and has the government’s strong support. Whether it is the largest solar park in Europe or the world’s first hybrid power plant, Brandenburg is a recognized hub of promising, innovative technologies for energy production.
April 15th, 2011 | Washington, DC
Exiting from the Crisis: A Model for More Equitable and Sustainable Growth
A presentation and discussion of "Exiting from the Crisis", a volume of essays by global trade union leaders and economists on a more just and sustainable model of global economic growth. The event was organized in cooperation with the AFL-CIO.
In the wake of the global economic crisis, with a record 217 million workers still unemployed worldwide, Exiting from the Crisis represents an emerging consensus among global union economists and leaders on the economic policies needed—at national, regional and global levels—to achieve stronger and more balanced, equitable and sustainable growth for the global economy.
The perspective represented by this volume is the basis both for global union leaders to engage other popular movements and governments but also for global union economists to engage progressive economists worldwide.
Exiting from the Crisis is the product of the Global Unions Taskforce on a New Growth Model, a joint project of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), the Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD (TUAC), the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI) and the Global Union Research Network (GURN). The task force involves more than 30 global trade union economists from a wide array of advanced, emerging and developing countries.
Keynote Speakers
Richard Trumka, AFL-CIO President
Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel Prize-winning Economist, Columbia University
Summary of "Exiting from the Crisis" by Heather Boushey, Center for American Progress
A complete list of speakers can be found in the program.
March 8th, 2011 | Washington, DC
The State of the German Social Democrats after the Hamburg Elections
FES After-hours conversation with
Lars Klingbeil, Member of the German Bundestag
Matthias Miersch, Member of the German Bundestag
February 22nd, 2011 | Washington, DC
A Third Industrial Revolution - What Should the 'Next Economy' Look Like?
Luncheon Discussion
This lunch discussion brought together progressive economists, labor representatives and experts on the green economy for a debate on a new economic model for the 21st century. FES Washington organized this discussion on the occasion of the visit of Matthias Machnig, Minister of Economics, Labor, and Technology in the German Federal State of Thuringia. Mr. Machnig is one of the German Social Democrats' key strategic thinkers on economic policy and a key advisor to SPD Chairman Sigmar Gabriel. He is credited, among others, with having played a pivotal role in the 1998 and 2002 electoral victories of the Social Democrats in Germany.
February 18th - 19th, 2011 | Cambridge, MA
German Conference at Harvard 2011
Conference organized in cooperation with The J. F. Kennedy School of Government
This conference addressed global issues and discussed how to tackle pressing challenges, viewing them through the prism of the German perspective. How should our societies deal with economic problems and uncertainty about the future in a globalized world? Will the economic crisis trigger a “peace dividend,” as Western nations slash their defense budgets? Do we still need the private health sector in Germany? How can we ensure “green growth“ in a world of limited resources? By bringing together politicians, researchers, authors, students, and activists from across the globe, this conference initiated and restarted ongoing discussions of the most salient issues facing Germany and the world. Matthias Machnig, Minister of Economics, Labor, and Technology in the German Federal State of Thuringia gave the Keynote speech on "The Future of the European Left. He also spoke at the panel on "U.S. and German Labor Markets in the Crisis - Challenging the Conventional Wisdom?". Niels Annen, Fellow at the German Marshall Fund and former Member of the German Bundestag spoke at the panel on "Western Security Policy in Times of Deficit and Debt Coherent Strategies in a Changing World or Simply Executing Budget Cuts?". (For more information, please see conference program)
February 8th, 2011 | Washington, DC
Employee Participation and Sustainable Business Management
Workshop at the "Good Jobs - Green Jobs" National Conference, organized in cooperation with The BlueGreen Alliance.
"Sustainablity" plays a key role in debates of a "green economy" and its role in outlining what could be "the next American economy". But sustainablity is not defined exclusively by breakthroughs in environmentally sound and resource-efficient forms of producing goods and services. Just as important are models of sustainable business management, meaning effective co-determination (i.e. employee participation in the management of a company).
In recent years, the goal of increasing shareholder value has dominated business decisions. Forms of co-determination were criticized as a cost factor. As a result managers have underestimated the importance of communication, of balancing different interests within a company and of long term strategies to enhance innovation and productivity. In the information age, however, people's knowledge increasingly determines the success of companies. Chances for participation and a culture of trust play a key role in motivating employees and fostering resource-orientation (defined as the capabiiities of employees and a company's accumulated values and experiences), innovation and thus long-term viability.
This workshop explored how co-determination and transparent corporate governance enhance sustainable business development and it also placed this debate in the wider context of an alternative "social growth model".
PANELISTS:
Nikolaus Simon, Secretary-General, Hans Böckler Foundation
Michael Dauderstädt, Director of the Economic and Social Policy Division, Friedrich Ebert Foundation, Berlin
Link to the panel on the conference website: Sustainable Business Management.