Far-right populism in Europe focus of SMU Tower Center talk

DALLAS (SMU) – Dissatisfied with the European Union and an ongoing migrant crisis, a growing number of European countries are swinging to the political right – in some cases the extreme right. 

Sergey Lagodinsky

Ramifications of that trend will be the focus of the “Populism in Europe and Germany” discussion hosted by SMU’s John G. Tower Center for Political Studies from noon to 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 14, in SMU's Elizabeth Perkins Prothro Great Hall. The event is free and open to the with advance registration at http://populismineurope.app.rsvpify.com.

“Reactive populism is on the rise in Europe and the U.S.,” says Tower Center Director James Hollifield. “Until recently Germany has escaped this trend. The bitter experience of Nazism seems to have inoculated Germany from radical right politics. But will Germany continue to buck the trend?” 

For insight, Sergey Lagodinsky of Germany’s Heinrich Böll Foundation will join the discussion to analyze recent developments in German and European politics.

While heading the Böll Foundation’s EU/North America Department, the attorney and author also works as a strategy and leadership consultant based in Berlin. Lagodinsky’s areas of expertise include transatlantic relations, international and constitutional law, as well as the law and politics of diversity and integration. He is a member of the Assembly of Representatives of the Jewish Community of Berlin and was a founding chairman of the Jewish Working Group in the Social Democratic Party in Germany (SPD). He ran for the German Bundestag for the German Green Party in 2013.

Regularly featured in major German and international media outlets, Lagodinksy’s commentaries have been featured in Süddeutsche Zeitung, ZEIT, Handelsblatt, taz and Tagesspiegel, among others. His recent book Contexts of Antisemitism (Metropol Publishing, 2014) explores the relationship between freedom of speech and protection against anti-Semitism in German and international law.

Lagodinsky holds a Ph.D. in law from Berlin’s Humboldt University, a law degree from the University of Göttingen and a master’s degree in public administration from Harvard University. From 2008-2009 he was a fellow with the non-profit think-tank stiftung neue verantwortung in Berlin and was a Yale World Fellow in residence at Yale University in New Haven in 2010.

For more details about the John G. Tower Center for Political Studies in SMU’s Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, visit www.smu.edu/TowerCenter or call 214-768-3954.

Southern Methodist University is a nationally ranked private university in Dallas founded 100 years ago. Today, SMU enrolls approximately 11,000 students who benefit from the academic opportunities and international reach of seven degree-granting schools.

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