Gerda Henkel Foundation: Democracy

Lost Cities. Perception of and living with abandoned cities in the cultures of the world

The aim of the programme is to describe the tangible cultures of interpretation, knowledge and perception within these different contexts. Lost Cities are part of a distinct culture of memory, for example, which serves for the negotiation of identities, the preservation of knowledge cultures, the formulation of criticism of progress, or the construction of mythical or sacral topographies as part of a veritable “ruin cult”. On this basis, the focus here should not be on the question of which factors led to the city’s abandonment. Rather, it is the abandoned cities themselves that are of particular interest, as well as the different forms of their interpretation, instrumentalization and coding in various cultures and time frames.

https://www.gerda-henkel-stiftung.de/en/lost_cities

Democracy

Initiative for democracy, which is divided into two subsections with different perspectives:

* Historically oriented subsection on the topic of Democracy as a Utopia, Experience and Threats aims at placing the problematic issues in the broader historical context and considering the history of conflicts over the foundation of the social order.

* Oriented towards analysis of the present situation and predictions for the future, focuses on Transformations of Democracy? Or: The Contours of Future Democratic Society.

https://www.gerda-henkel-stiftung.de/en/democracy