7 p.m. (PT) | Goethe-Institut Los Angeles Project Space

Liberal democracy is built on abstract concepts like freedom, equality, solidarity – and does not deliver. What other words, more concrete and connected to lived experience, could create a different democratic experience? A different democratic system built on ideas like love, friendship, violence, beauty, kindness, anger, and hope? In these times of division: How can we use language for a renewed sense of togetherness? Join Thomas Mann Honorary Fellow Georg Diez and Annett Scheffel for a discussion, part of the Goethe-Institut event series "Double Exposure."

Moderated by Annett Scheffel, this explorative discussion brings together a diverse group of stakeholders who lead transformative processes and bring their own experiences to the table. Together with you, the audience, we intend to explore a new vocabulary for democracy in the 21st century and find common understandings for the basics of our shared existence on planet Earth.

Join us for an open discussion, share your thoughts and let’s see where it takes us!

This event is part of the project Double Exposure, a series of talks and discussions that focuses on the question of what the idea of solidarity means in different contexts. What matters more: Community or society? Individual freedom or solidarity? These questions are of great urgency in our current times. Polarization and division seem to be the tried and tested means of political discussion. Global migration is intensifying the discussion about who has what duties toward whom, who should show solidarity toward whom, and who can be denied solidarity.

Attendance Information

Location:
Goethe-Institut Los Angeles Project Space
1901 W. 7th St. Suite AB Los Angeles, CA 90057 United States

Date & Time:
December 5, 7 p.m. (PT)

RSVP here

Admission is free with RSVP
Light refreshments provided

Speakers

Ashley Blakeney is a Los-Angeles based arts healing facilitator and cultural leader with more than a decade of experience working in arts organizations and education. As the Executive Director at the Crenshaw Dairy Mart since 2021, Blakeney works to help communities of color imagine new systems for a more equitable world. Working at the intersection of abolition and healing, Blakeney’s professional and personal focus centers on cultivating safe spaces for creative expression.

Georg Diez is an author and journalist and currently a fellow at the Max Planck Institute in Göttingen and at ProjectTogether in Berlin, where he researches on democratic innovation. He previously worked as editor-in-chief of The New Institute, as a columnist for Spiegel Online, and for the feature sections of Die Zeit, Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung, and Süddeutsche Zeitung. For 2024, he is preparing an exhibition at Hamburg's Deichtorhallen entitled Survival in the 21st Century. Georg Diez lives in Berlin and Stockholm. Together with Igor Levit, Georg Diez is an Honorary Fellow of the Thomas Mann House.

Pauletta Pierce is the founder of the all WOC bike collective “Date with the Night,” and the creator of “Vibing with Cultural Leafs” - a 10-week curriculum to cultivate critical thinkers within the youth of Los Angeles through educational workshops and the arts. Her current cultural activities also include working as Director of Creative Development with East Wind Foundation, a youth organization in L.A. Chinatown.

Annett Scheffel is a culture writer, editor, speaker, and presenter based in Los Angeles and Berlin. She thinks, writes, and talks about music, film, feminism, and contemporary culture for the Süddeutsche Zeitung, Spiegel Online, Zeit Online, Musikexpress, Dummy Magazin, and Deutschlandfunk — preferably at the intersection between identity, society, and politics.

The talk is hosted by the Goethe-Institut Los Angeles in Collaboration with the American Council on Germany.