On Wednesday, September 10, we will be talking to historian Prof. Dr. Uwe Puschner and legal scholar Prof. Dr. Alexander Thiele about the ideological and legal foundations of nationalist thought at "Let's Talk About Law".
What does it mean if the state should only grant central rights to certain groups - such as those who belong to an ethnically defined "German people"? Such views have long since ceased to be a marginal phenomenon and have become part of public debate. They stand for an ethnocentric way of thinking about the law that calls into question the central principles of the democratic constitutional state. The Stiftung Forum Recht is taking up this topic.
At "Let's Talk About Law" on 10 September 2025, we will be talking to historian Prof. Dr. Uwe Puschner and legal scholar Prof. Dr. Alexander Thiele about the ideological and legal foundations of a way of thinking that not only questions individual rights, but also challenges the legal foundations of our democratic order.
What are the historical and current characteristics of völkisch legal thinking? And how are legal concepts strategically reinterpreted in order to empty or reverse constitutional principles such as equality and human dignity? The focus is particularly on the often overlooked effectiveness of such reinterpretations in ordinary law - for example in labor law or tenancy law - i.e. those areas of law that structure our daily lives together. This is not only about attacks on the relationship between citizens and the state, but also about far-reaching attempts to legitimize social inequality through the law.
At the same time, we shed light on the question of how the law actually works. Why does it offer scope for interpretation? How do they enable individual justice? And how can they be abused?
We cordially invite the audience to participate in the discussion with questions.
