After Theater of Reconciliation, the second edition of the discussion series organized by Max Czollek is dedicated to the issue of Overcoming the Present. The focus lies on events and phenomena of the present and the question of how the past reflects in them. Max Czollek meets people who seek to understand many of the current crises and find answers to them: How to deal with the climate crisis, the expanding wars, the continuity of right-wing politics and violence? How to cope with feelings of grief, despair, and anger? What role does civil society play in dealing with conflicts? And how stressable are alliances for a collaboration in exceptional situations?

Video: Yatri Niehaus/HKW
Simultaneous translation into English: Lilian Astrid Geese, Catherine Johnson

Aladin El-Mafaalani studied economics, political science, education, and ergonomics at the Ruhr University Bochum, where he also earned his PhD in sociology. After his training to teach at vocational schools, he worked at Berufskolleg Ahlen for several years. He was also a lecturer at various universities before he joined TU Dortmund via the FH Münster, the Ministry for Children, Family, Refugees and Integration, and the University of Osnabrück. Published with Kiepenheuer und Witsch, Das Integrationsparadox [The integration paradox, 2018], Mythos Bildung [The myth of education, 2020] und Wozu Rassismus? [Why racism?, 2021] were all best-selling books. Wozu Rassismus? is his tenth book.