Against the extreme right, for plural democracy

In July 2023, the Senate of the University of Potsdam established the working group against right-wing extremism, which is made up of members from all faculties and status groups. The aim of the working group is to proactively contribute to creating a framework for study, research, teaching and university life at the University of Potsdam that ensures equal, liberal, pluralistic and solidary coexistence, and to defend this coexistence against anti-democratic and anti-scientific attacks. This is done in accordance with the university's anti-discrimination guidelines for creating an appreciative and non-violent working and study environment in which the rights, freedoms and dignity of fellow human beings are respected.

Accordingly, the working group positions itself against extreme right-wing, anti-democratic, anti-pluralist, historically revisionist, anti-scientific, populist and authoritarian attitudes and actions that imply or proclaim inequality between people and support, establish or reinforce corresponding power relations. Examples of this include racism, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, anti-feminism, hetero- and (cis-)sexism, ableism and classism. The working group pays particular attention to the rejection of ideologies and practices that legitimise violence and deny marginalised groups and individuals their human dignity and equal belonging to this society. We assume that violence begins in language and discourse, including hate speech, strategies of discursive normalisation of right-wing populist terms (e.g. "return centre"), or those of inversion into the opposite (e.g. reversal of perpetrator and victim positions). The working group's agenda includes the documentation of non-verbal forms of expression (symbols, visual codes, etc.) and attacks that have contributed to the presence of right-wing extremist and anti-democratic positions at the University of Potsdam.

In the subgroups, the working group is guided by the ideal of a mediated culture of discussion and "the ability to critically analyse" as formulated by the President of the University of Potsdam. Democratic and pluralistic principles should apply in particular to academic practice, as the constructive handling of complexity and contradiction is a fundamental component of academic knowledge production. The diversity of evidence-based academic perspectives is fundamental to this and is cited by the German Research Foundation (DFG), among others, as a way of increasing scientific excellence. In order to make this possible, the recognition and differentiation of right-wing and populist forms of knowledge production (e.g. selective or lack of attention to scientific evidence) and authoritarian knowledge systems and the resulting discourse systems (e.g. the ban on gender studies as recently seen in Hungary) must be fundamental to academic practice at the University of Potsdam. At the University of Potsdam, debates in research and teaching, but also in everyday university life, should be conducted in a respectful, scientifically sound and evidence-based manner.

Overall, it is of fundamental importance that the principles and practices of freedom, equality, plurality and solidarity are communicated in research, teaching and social culture at the University of Potsdam and resolutely defended against anti-democratic and anti-pluralist ideologies, practices and attitudes. This includes an awareness of the value of a respectful culture of debate and solution-orientated conflict management with democratic actors, as well as an attitude that enables the participation and involvement of all social groups in these processes. Plural democracy enables equality, freedom and autonomous opinion-forming. Democracy must be shaped and requires commitment - including that of the University of Potsdam, its staff and students.