Political Conferences in Berlin – Opportunities for English speakers

Some tips for conference sessions in English in May and June


10/05/2022

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May-June is conference season in Berlin. The weather encourages people to leave the house, and most people haven’t started their summer holidays yet. Most importantly, there are a string of public holidays which enable you to take a long week-end off work. This year is no exception, and I’ve noticed that more conferences than ever before are offering at least some workshops in English.

This article is a summary of some of the conferences coming up soon, with a particular focus on the meetings you can attend if you don’t trust your German.

Contesting Authoritarianism: Perspectives from the South

What it is: Discussing the various manifestations of authoritarian neoliberalism, reactionary populism, and strategies of resistance

Where it is: rosa luxemburg stiftung Berlin, Straße der Pariser Kommune 8a & Franz-Mehring-Platz 1

Meetings in English:

  • The crisis of civilization & the authoritarian turn (with Alex Demirovic, Zeynep Gambetti, Hugo Fanton and Börries Nehe)

  • Roundtable: Beyond Authoritarianism. Counterstrategies, Solidarities, Utopias (with Eva von Redecker, Harsh Mander, Sabrina Fernandes, Damir Arsenijevic and Yunyun Zhou)

  • And more (programme here)

Register here.

19th – 21st May Frequencies – Sharing Feminisms

What it is: Over three days, the festival will open up resonant spaces for feminist debates and movements – multiperspectival, intersectional and diverse

Where it is: Pfefferberg, Schönhauser Allee 176 and Sophiensaale and Sophienstraße 18

Meetings in English:

  • Feminist Resistance through the Arts (with Urvashi Butalia, Aram Han Sifuentes, Sabika Abbas, Farzana Wahid Shayan, Carola Lentz and Nabila Horakhsh)

  • Intersectionality and Its Critics (with Nikita Dhawan, Mario do Mar and Castro Varela)

  • Feminicide and Violence against Women (with Meena Kandasamy, Hannah Beeck, Aleids Lujan Pinelo and Valeria España

  • And more (programme here)

Register here.

22nd May Left journalism Day School

What it is: Your chance to develop practical skills in journalism in a fun and relaxed environment

Where it is: Spreefeld, Wilhelmine-Gemberg-Weg 14

Meetings in English:

  • How to do an interview

  • Storytelling and research tricks

  • Live radio broadcast: Radio Berlin International on reboot.fm 88.4 MHz

  • and more (programme here)

Register here

27th – 29th May Deutsche Wohnen & Co Expropriation Conference

What it is: Conference around the subject of expropriation and the nationalisation of the real estate companies

Where it is: TU Berlin, Straße des 17. Juni 135

Meetings in English:

  • How can non-Germans get involved in the fight against gentrification? Sunday 29th May, 10 am (Organised by the DWE English-language working group Right2The City)

Register here.

3rd – 6th June Marxismuss

What it is: one of the largest left wing conference in Germany

Where it is: Franz-Mehring-Platz 1

Meetings in English:

  • Imperialism Today (with Alex Callinicos)

  • Perspectives from Sudan (with Muzan Alneel, Think Tank for People-Centered Development, Khartoum)

  • Can Israel’s Left be part of the liberation of Palestine? (with Ilan Pappe (historian), Michael Sappir (Jewish Israeli Dissence, Leipzig) and Mays Ashash (Jewish Bund))

  • 10 years Arab revolutions (with Hossam El Hamalawy and Anne Alexander)

  • and more (programme here)

Register here.

10th – 11th June Socialism in Our Time

What it is: Join Jacobin magazine and Transform! Europe in summery Berlin for two days of stimulating debates and conversations

Where it is: oyoun, Lucy-Lameck-Straße 32

Meetings in English:

  • Socialism in Europe and the US in the 21st Century

  • The Shape of Capitalism

  • Class Struggle for the Climate

  • and more (programme not yet online)

Register here.

25th- 26th June Linke Internationals Summer Camp

What it is: A week-end of networking, fun and political discussion on the edge of Berlin

Where it is: Naturfreundehaus Hermsdorf, Seebadstraße 27

Meetings in English:

  • The War in Ukraine: Voices from Eastern Europe (with Sasha, Russian Socialist Movement and Oksana Dutchak (Deputy Director of the Center for Social and Labor Research (Kyiv))

  • Palestine and the German press (with Palestinian journalist sacked by Deutsche Welle)

  • Reading from WTF Berlin? Expatsplaining the German Capital (with Jacinta Nandi)

  • And many workshops (programme here)

Register here