Why are more and more Europeans supporting populists? The significant gains made by these parties in Germany, Italy and Sweden underline the urgency of understanding the causes and appeal of populism. To uncover those, the study “Return to the politically abandoned: Conversations in right-wing populist strongholds in Germany and France” has applied a groundbreaking approach.

The study’s design and results have led to an overwhelmingly positive reception in Germany and created great interest in other countries. To take the debate to the European level, the study has now been translated into English and French

Four policy briefs, several workshops and two high-profile speeches conclude the more than two-years transnational dialogue process at eye level with young, promising thinkers from Greece, Portugal, Italy, France, Spain and Germany.

Over the course of the last two years, civil society experts and practitioners from across Europe gathered in four DIALOGUE ON EUROPE Thinking Labs to deliver fresh ideas and to independently elaborate concrete policy recommendations on four European key areas: Migration & Integration, Populism, Social Cohesion, and Sustainable Growth. Discover the summary of their proposals and the full-length policy briefs below.

One year after the first #EuropeanTownHall Meeting in Warsaw, the second bilateral Polish-German exchange was launched on 12 February 2018. Representatives of academia, civil society, and culture from Germany and Poland met to discuss the rise of populism in Europe as well as possible democratic innovations to address this phenomenon. An open debate with Manuel Sarrazin was concluded with an input by Paul Mason, offering a broader, global perspective.

On 12 February 2018, Das Progressive Zentrum together with the Ferdinand Lassalle Centre for Social Thought will host the second #EuropeanTownHall Meeting in Warsaw.

Populism is everywhere these days. Not only as a phenomenon but also as a topic in political discourse. Yet, the closer you look at it, the more you will realize that populism is quite a messy term. It signifies everything from an unease towards dissent, to the fear of a weakened democracy. More importantly, once you get a grip on how you define the term you will realize that populism may be destructive and inflammatory but is not the real problem. It is mostly a symptom for fundamental conflicts in society.

Following up on the first European Thinking Lab Summit, which took place in Lisbon in November of last year, and only one month after the last #EuropeanTownHall meeting in London, the DIALOGUE ON EUROPE Contributors gathered again on 24-26 March in Paris for the Second Thinking Lab Summit, hosted by Das Progressive Zentrum in cooperation with our French partner EuropaNova.

During the second Thinking Lab Summit in Paris, Orange Magazine spoke with Elena García Mañes and Filipe Santos Henrique. They talked about their stances on Populism in Europe.

Currently, the future of the European Union is at stake due to many disintegrative developments: the Brexit-referendum, migration challenges, rising right-wing populism or the persisting economic crisis. The outcome of the Brexit-Referendum and the low turnout in their own age-group came as a wake-up call to many young Brits

Exactly one year after launching DIALOGUE ON EUROPE, a further bilateral half-day #TownHallMeeting was organized – this time in Warsaw. On December 7 th , representatives of academia, civil society and culture from Germany and Poland followed our invitation to discuss possible future scenarios for Europe. Open discussions fed directly into a live conversation about the challenges of European integration and Polish-German relations with Michael Roth, German Minister of State for Europe.

Currently, the future of the European Union is at stake due to many disintegrative developments: the Brexit-referendum, migration challenge, rising right-wing populism or the persisting economic crisis. Challenges ahead of us are too profound and seminal to be addressed by high-ranking politicians attending closed-door summits only. Sustainable solutions can best be achieved with the support of a strong and well-connected European civil society.

Recent change of government in Poland mobilised many people, the spectrum of civil engagement is however polarised: from defenders of liberal values and adherents of conservative agenda to followers of nationalist resentments.

Representatives of civil society and academics from Poland, Germany and other European countries joined a Polish-German seminar in Wroclaw on 20-21 October in search for answers to the question of what role civil society plays at the political scene in Europe today. It seems that nowadays the notion of Europe has been undermined by an economic crisis, followed by a humanitarian one, resulting from inability to handle of the influx of refugees in Europe. Fundamental European values are questioned. European political culture is currently in need of a new approach and civil engagement. It seems, however, that the notion of “civil society” needs redefinition per se to support European democracies. Radical and populist movements win popularity in many European countries, posing a threat to democratic order. Is the democratic order in danger? Is the pluralist political culture of Europe sustainable?

On 28 June 2016 German Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, together with the German Federal Minister of State for Europe, Michael Roth, officially launched the DIALOGUE ON EUROPE-project at the Europasaal of the German Federal Foreign Office in Berlin.