The Middle East as a utopia? Zionism, socialism, pan-Arabism, Islamic Republic: The Middle East and its history in the course of the twentieth century has been shaped by utopian ideologies and ideas. However, today this global region is often perceived only as a space of chaos: violence, seemingly intractable conflicts and corruption. Do literary and artistic utopias of the Middle East still have something to say? Where could concrete starting points for new utopias in the region lie, beyond the realm of day-to-day politics?

This is what Simon Wolfgang Fuchs (Goethe University Frankfurt) and Caspar Battegay (University of Basel) discuss with their guests, author and historian Dana von Suffrin, organization researcher Ayad Al-Ani, Islamic Studies scholar Gudrun Krämer, and journalist Dunja Ramadan at the Theater Neumarkt in Zurich.

On occasion of their 20th anniversary, members of Die Junge Akademie invite the public to take part in various events in diverse spaces within the event series diejungeakademie@ and foster dialogue with the audience on scientific topics. This event is held in cooperation with the Theater Neumarkt Zurich.

Admission is free of charge. For further information and to register, please visit the Theater Neumarkt website.

The event will take place as a hybrid event in compliance with the hygiene rules of the protection concept in the Theater Neumarkt Zurich. Discussions will take place in German and will be recorded.

Due to the risk situation caused by the coronavirus, the event at Theater Neumarkt with Simon W. Fuchs and Caspar Battegay on "The Middle East as a utopia?" was cancelled in October 2020.

Die Junge Akademie celebrated its 20th birthday in 2020. In the event series diejungeakademie@, the members of Die Junge Akademie invited the public to take part in dialogue on scientific topics at locations outside of the usual scientific environment.