Frankfurter Stadtgespräche

The research center regularly invites interesting personalities from science, politics or culture to think about and discuss current social issues in an open discussion in Frankfurt’s city centre. With the “Stadtgespräche”, the research network addresses Frankfurt’s urban society and provides impulses at the interface between theory and practice.

Past events:

The Islamic headscarf between religious freedom, state neutrality and equal rights
Seyran Ateş in conversation with Prof. Dr. Ute Sacksofsky
1. November 2019

The crime of the Holocaust is not time-barred – The tasks of history and justice
PD Dr. Boris Burghardt and Günther Feld in conversation with Prof. Dr. Sybille Steinbacher
25. April 2019

In the name of God? Monotheism and violence
Prof. Dr. Mouhanad Khorchide in conversation with Prof. Dr. Harmut Leppin
19. April 2017

Happiness. Fortuna and Felicitas: ambivalences of the art of living
Stefan Sagmeister in conversation with Prof. Dr. Martin Seel
20. April 2016

Migration with misunderstandings. Germans and their citizenship
Prof. Dr. Rita Süssmuth in conversation with Prof. Dr. Andreas Fahrmeir

February 25, 2016

In the name of the market? TTIP, its arbitration tribunals and the self-restraint of state policy
Prof. Dr. Armin von Bogdandy in conversation with Prof. Dr. R. Alexander Lorz
November 10, 2015

Responsibility, leadership and restraint. Germany’s changing role in foreign policy
Stephan Steinlein in conversation with Prof. Gunther Hellmann
October 16, 2014

The emotional balance of capitalism. Greed for money as a structural principle?
Prof. Ute Frevert in conversation with Prof. Sighard Neckel
September 25, 2014

Who started it all? The sense and nonsense of historical attributions of guilt
Prof. Christopher Clark in conversation with Prof. Christoph Cornelißen

May 26, 2014

Values or economy? Germany’s contribution to international cooperation
Tanja Gönner in conversation with Prof. Rainer Klump
March 19, 2014

Virtuous Orient – sinful Occident? Pornography and sexuality between East and West
Hoda Salah in conversation with Prof. Susanne Schröter
12. December 2013

The end of the internet? On the regulation of the digital society
Markus Beckedahl in conversation with Prof. Alexander Peukert
November 20, 2013

Punishment is a must? What we get from criminal law
Minister of State Jörg-Uwe Hahn in conversation with Prof. Klaus Günther
July 3, 2013

This side of Eden. Religion between pontiff and post-secularism
Prof. Michael Sievernich SJ in conversation with Prof. Thomas M. Schmidt
22. May 2013

What does art do? The arts and the current crises
Prof. Carl Hegemann in conversation with Prof. Christoph Menke
March 8, 2012

Democracy in crisis? What intervention the current upheavals require
Dr. Joachim Gauck in conversation with Prof. Klaus Günther

February 4, 2012

What can film do? Images of time and society in contemporary cinema
Sebastian Schipper in conversation with Prof. Martin Seel
December 8, 2011

Growth without end? On the economics of more
Prof. Hans Christoph Binswanger in conversation with Prof. Bertram Schefold and Dr. Toni Föllmi

June 30, 2011

What to do with the protest? On the future of our democracy
Dr. Erhard Eppler in conversation with Prof. Peter Niesen
5. May 2011

Interference wanted?
Thea Dorn in conversation with Prof. Rainer Forst
24. November 2010

The politics of art in a globalized world
Dr. Juliane Rebentisch in conversation with Dr. Clémentine Deliss
16. September 2010

What does tolerance mean? Dealing with cultural and religious difference
Feridun Zaimoglu in conversation with Prof. Rainer Forst
27. May 2010

After the crisis? Learning from the financial crisis: what was and what is to come
Tom Koenigs in conversation with Prof. Reinhard H. Schmidt

March 11, 2010

News from the research center

Event
15.10.2025 | Frankfurt am Main

Aufrecht. Überleben im Zeitalter der Extreme

Book Presentation

In ihrem jüngsten Werk begibt sich Lea Ypi auf eine Reise in die Vergangenheit ihrer Familie und verknüpft persönliche Erinnerungen mit den großen politischen und gesellschaftlichen Umbrüchen des 20. Jahrhunderts. Das Forschungszentrum Normative Ordnungen lädt gemeinsam mit dem Netzwerk FrauenmitFormat, dem Honorarkonsulat der Republik Albanien in Frankfurt am Main und dem Suhrkamp Verlag herzlich zur Vorstellung des neuen Buches von Prof. Dr. Lea Ypi mit anschließender Diskussionsrunde mit Prof. Dr. Lea Ypi, Honorarkonsulin Dr. Jonela Hoxhaj und Prof. Dr. Rainer Forst unter der Moderation von Rebecca C. Schmidt ein.

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Publication
02.09.2025 | Journal article

Beyond Myth Busting: How Engagement with Ethical Dilemmas Can Improve Debates and Policymaking on Migration

Schmid, Lukas; Ruhs, Martin; Bauböck, Rainer; Mourão Permoser, Julia (2025): "Beyond Myth Busting: How Engagement with Ethical Dilemmas Can Improve Debates and Policymaking on Migration". In: Ethics & International Affairs, 39 (1), S. 26-36.

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Publication
01.09.2025 | Journal article

Roundtable: Ethical Dilemmas and Migration Policymaking

Schmid, Lukas; Ruhs, Martin; Bauböck Rainer, Mourão Permoser, Julia (Hrsg.) (2025): "Roundtable: Ethical Dilemmas and Migration Policymaking". In: Ethics & International Affairs, 39 (1)

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Event
17.09.2025 | Frankfurt am Main

Frieden retten! Friedensgutachten 2025

Book Presentation

Der Frieden ist auf dem Rückzug: Russlands Krieg in der Ukraine destabilisiert Europa, der Krieg in Gaza stürzt den Nahen Osten in Leid und Gewalt, und im Sudan hat der Konflikt die größte humanitäre Katastrophe der Welt ausgelöst. Zugleich fällt der globale Stabilitätsanker USA aus. Das Friedensgutachten 2025 zeigt, warum Europa selbst für seine Sicherheit und Verteidigung sorgen und zugleich am Ziel des Friedens festhalten muss.

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News
31.07.2025

Shaping the future - a review

As part of the exhibition "Fixing Futures. Planetary futures between speculation and control", our four-part lecture series "Shaping the future - between climate change, technology and social responsibility" took place.

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News
30.07.2025

What remains of "1968" - event review

What can we learn from the 1968 movement for our own time and where do we perhaps need new ideas and utopias? The event "Utopia and awakening of the 1968ers - What remains of political rebellion and individual self-liberation" on July 14, 2025 at the Historisches Museum was dedicated to these questions

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News
10.07.2025

Impressions from the Crisis Talk "Europe in a multipolar world"

The Crisis Talk "Europe in a multipolar world - How can the EU meet the challenges of major powers?" held on July 1, 2025 at the Representation of the State of Hesse to the European Union was dedicated to the question of how the EU should shape its influence and assume its responsibilities in this international environment.

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News
08.07.2025

Reflections on the defense of democracy - Two crises of democracy

The challenges are global, but we still act nationally. In addition, we lack the terms to orient ourselves politically and normatively. An article by Rainer Forst in the FR about the two crises of democracy.

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News
01.07.2025

How the erosion of modern governments threatens our future - Impressions from Jeffrey Kopstein's lecture

On June 16, Jeffrey Kopstein, Professor of Political Science at the University of California, Irvine, gave a public lecture entitled "Trump and the Assault on the State" at the Research Centre Normative Orders. The starting point of his presentation was the observation that attacks on modern statehood are increasing in many countries: Politicians are coming to power who deliberately want to weaken or even destroy central institutions.

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