Dear Colleagues:

“The world views Germany as a country of hope and opportunity,” the nation’s Chancellor, Angela Merkel, declared a few days before announcing, on September 5, that Germany would take in refugees who had been detained in Hungary. And the world then saw, in Der Spiegel’s words, “tens of thousands of everyday Germans” volunteering to “cope with the huge influx of needy refugees.” But, the newsweekly asked, “Can it be done?”

Six months later, a right-wing anti-immigrant and anti-Euro party, the AfD, made large gains in three state elections on March 13. Fears of refugees were stoked by a wave of attacks on women in public places on New Year’s Eve in Cologne. Chancellor Merkel said the results were related to the refugee crisis but only illustrated the need for a “European solution.” On March 18, the EU struck a deal with Turkey for that country to take back new migrants who reach Greece. But even if implemented, that will not stem the flow by other routes, or solve the challenge of refugees already in Europe.

Then came the Brussels Bombings, which “Fuel Debate Over Migrants in a Fractured Europe” (New York Times). Now what?

All best regards,
Joe White
Luxenberg Family Professor of Public Policy and Director, Center for Policy Studies 

About Our Guest

Kenneth Ledford is a social historian of modern Germany, from 1789 to the present. His research interests focus primarily upon processes of class formation, particularly the emergence and decline of the profound influence of the educated, liberal middle-class of education, the Bildungsbürgertum. The salient ideology of this social group was classical liberalism, whose vocabulary both shaped and was shaped by the primary social institution of the Bürgertum, law and the legal order. Professor Ledford has written about German lawyers in private practice, and his present work is on a book about the Prussian judiciary between 1848 and 1918; in all of his research, a clearer analysis of the complex interplay among state, civil society, and the ideology of the state ruled by law (Rechtsstaat) remains the goal. Professor Ledford’s teaching interests extend beyond German history since 1789 to include the history of the European middle classes, the history of the professions, European legal history, other processes of class formation including German and European labor history, as well as the history of European international relations and diplomatic history.

Where We Meet

The Friday Public Affairs Lunch convenes each Friday when classes are in session, from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. Our programs are open to all and no registration is required. We usually meet in the Dampeer Room of Kelvin Smith Library. The Dampeer Room is on the second floor of the library. If you get off the elevators, turn right, pass the first bank of tables, and turn right again. Occasionally we need to use a different room; that will always be announced in the weekly e-mails.

Parking Possibilities

The most convenient parking is the lot underneath Severance Hall. We regret that it is not free. From that lot there is an elevator up to street level (labeled as for the Thwing Center); it is less than 50 yards from that exit to the library entrance. You can get from the Severance garage to the library without going outside. Near the entry gates – just to the right if you were driving out – there is a door into a corridor. Walk down the corridor and there will be another door. Beyond that door you’ll find the entrance to an elevator which goes up to an entrance right inside the doors to Kelvin Smith Library.

Schedule of Friday Lunch Upcoming Topics and Speakers:

April 8: Citizenship in a Divided America. With Mary Romero, Professor of Justice Studies and Social Inquiry, Arizona State University. Cosponsored by Academic Careers in Engineering and Science (ACES) program. Room to be determined.

April 15: Money, Happiness, and Redistribution. With David Clingingsmith, Associate Professor of Economics. ***Alternate Location: Baker-Nord Center, Room 206, Clark Hall***

April 22: The Obama Administration and the Future of U.S. Manufacturing. With Susan Helper, Frank Tracy Carlton Professor of Economics and, former Chief Economist, U.S. Department of Commerce.