On September 7, 2024, Heinz Bude will speak with Harald Martenstein as part of the event series “Das wird man ja ja wohl noch sagen dürfen - Gespräche über Demokratie und Meinungsfreiheit” at the Ring-Café in Finsterwalde. The discussion will be moderated by Alev Doğan.
In the run-up to the state elections, PEN Berlin is organizing a series of talks in Saxony, Thuringia and Brandenburg under the title “Das wird man ja wohl noch sagen dürfen – Gespräche über Demokratie und Meinungsfreiheit”: 37 events, from Annaberg to Perleberg, from Ilmenau to Zwickau.
Standing up for freedom of expression is at the heart of the international writers' association PEN. Solidarity with writers who are persecuted, threatened and arrested simply because they have exercised their right to freedom of speech and art is also a core theme of PEN Berlin, which was founded in summer 2022.
In Germany, too, many people feel that freedom of expression is not in good shape. On the one hand, the means and opportunities to formulate criticism and make oneself heard have never been as great as they are today. At the same time, the number of people who feel restricted is growing.
While in 1990, 78% of Germans still felt that they could express their views freely in Germany and only 16% felt that caution was appropriate, the two figures have steadily converged since then. In 2023, the Allensbach Institute found that, for the first time, more people agreed that freedom of expression was restricted (44%) than the opposite, that freedom of expression was guaranteed (40%).
If you take a closer look, you will see that some of those who complain today about “narrow corridors of opinion”, “bans on thought and speech” and “cancel culture” will be trying to draw their own boundaries of what is permissible tomorrow - depending on the issue at hand.
Freedom of expression does not mean being exempt from contradiction. But even the feeling of restricted freedom of expression makes social dialog more difficult. Because those who believe they cannot speak freely are also much less willing to listen to their counterparts.
This is where PEN Berlin wants to start with this series of events: “We are convinced that democracy thrives on debate. That's why we are looking to talk to people who fear they will no longer be able to express their opinions freely,” says PEN Berlin spokesperson Eva Menasse. “We don't want to get involved in party politics ahead of the state elections in Saxony, Thuringia and Brandenburg, but want to encourage real, even tough conversations.”
This is why the panel participants and a moderator (renowned journalists from regional and national media, writers, publicists, cabaret artists) want to get into conversation with the local audience.
Further information and dates for the discussion series can be found at Das wird man ja wohl noch sagen dürfen – PEN Berlin.