Resist. Defend. Protect.

Psychosocial work in times of the rise of right wing politics

Symposium | BAfF & medico international

Monday, June 3, 2024 to Wednesday, June 5, 2024
Franz-Mehring-Platz 1, 10243 Berlin

Solidarity-based psychosocial practice in the context of flight and migration faces major challenges: Migrants and refugees are once again being declared a danger in Germany. The human right to asylum is being curtailed in order to remove the breeding ground for supposedly radical right-wing propaganda and violence. In fact, the political and social level is once again negotiating whose lives and whose dignity are worth protecting. And then the several elections are coming up. 

Just before the European elections - and shortly before the state elections in Saxony, Thuringia and Brandenburg - we are inviting you to a psychosocial conference. We need to talk: The shift we are witnessing to the right at a political, discursive and social level means that care structures and rights for refugees are increasingly being curtailed. How can psychosocial work offer resistance in a climate of erosion of protective rights, how can it open up spaces of solidarity and defend humane healthcare?   

In the face of global crises, the collective feeling of helplessness and exhaustion is clearly palpable. At the same time, countless people, many of the for the first time, are marching the streets to take a collective stand against this felt powerlessness. In the midst of social division, the potential for uniting against it is growing.   

In this field of tension, the conference is aimed at people who carry out psychosocial work in both professional and activist contexts. After taking stock of the current challenges, we want to discuss together how we can defend the legal and care rights of refugees and at the same time continue to work and remain capable of acting under increasingly limited legal, social and financial conditions.

Due to limited capacity, please register to attend. For further information and fees please access the following link.

Accreditation for the event has been applied for from the Berlin Chamber of Psychotherapists.

Programme

All events will be simultaneously translated into German and English. If not marked otherwise, this does not apply to the workshops on day 2.  

1. Tag: Resist

Montag, 3. Juni 2024

14:00 Registration
14:30

Keynotes medico international & BAfF

  • Ulrike Schneck | Chair of BAfF
  • Anita Starosta | Head of Public Relations at medico international
  • Lukas Welz | Managing Director of BAfF
15:00

Dialogue
“Authoritarian Attack - Transforming Societies - Transforming Solidarities"

  • Prof. Dr. Ulrike Kluge | Head of the Department of Migration and Health, BIM & Head of the Centre for Intercultural Psychiatry and Psychotherapy (ZIPP) at Charité Berlin
  • Ulli Jentsch | Jounalist and researcher, active in anti-fascist international cooperations
16:00Coffee break
16:30

Keynote & Paneldiscussion
"On the Common European Asylum System (CEAS): 'Greece as a test laboratory'"

  • Keynote Valeria Hänsel | Researcher and expert on displacement and migration in the regions of Eastern Europe, the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East at medico international
  • Paneldiscussion with Lorraine Leete (Legal Center Lesbos | LCL) & Sarah Schneider (Medical Volunteers International | MVI)


moderated by: Alva Träbert | BAfF

18:30Dinner
19:30-22:00

Evening event

"Bad weather, hard times? - Europe before the election"

Does Europe have a choice? In a time where the feeling of insecurity and powerlessness is taking over large parts of the world, the ignorant socio-economic narrative of "business as usual" is causing progressive social devastation. It is a time in which politicians are failing to provide viable answers to existential questions and they cannot be postponed. Instead, resentment-driven so-called ‘alternatives’ are emerging, which are terribly effective in becoming the new narrative of established political parties, implementing it to their programmes in the name of containing radical right-wing sentiment. 

Even without the radical right in power, the attempts to fend off refugees violently at European boarders threaten to destroy the very democratic values and structures they claim to protect.   

All of this is difficult to bear. Nevertheless, things are moving. After a long pause - perhaps even a state of shock - in which, alongside a tireless climate movement, regressive protests from conspiracy milieus dominated the streets, the political mobilisation of hundreds of thousands against the right has succeeded. In what way will this continue? What significance do the current social shifts and upheavals have with the European elections as a potential turning point? How do we relate and deal with political feelings - how can their mobilising power be used in an emancipatory way? 

Speakers: Anne Aradi (International Women* Space/Break Isolation Group), Radwa Khaled-Ibrahim (medico international)
Moderated by: Julia Manek (medico international)

 

2. Tag: Defend

Dienstag, 4. Juni 2024

09:00

Keynote
"Between powerlessness and anger - finding a stance for psychosocial work"

  • Usche Merk | Responsible for Psychosocial Work and Transnational Cooperation at medico international
10:00Coffee Break
10:30

Panel
„Against powerlessness: Resist. Defend. Protect.“

  • Peter Steudtner | Freelance trainer on holistic security, non-violent conflict transformation, documentary photographer/filmmaker
  • Newroz Duman | Activist, trauma educator, active in We'll Come United and the February 19 Initiative in Hanau
  • Shadi Amin | LGBTI activist and coordinator of the Iranian Lesbian and Transgender Network 6Rang

moderated by: Leonie Teigler | BAfF

12:00Lunch break
13:3010 parallel workshops
(Phase 1)
15:00Coffee break / networking
16:0010 parallel  workshops
(Phase 2)
17:30Reception
18:30Dinner
19:30Evening event with music

 

Workshops – 13:30-17:30

Workshop 1

Zwischen Solidarität und Selbstfürsorge
Handlungsfähig bleiben im Angesicht von gesellschaftlichen (Dauer-)Krisen, Ohnmachtsgefühlen und eigenen Vulnerabilitäten

  • Barbara Esser, Kolja Koch | Employees of the PSZ Düsseldorf
Workshop 2

From self-care to community care. Dealing with constant crisis (EN)

  • Peter Steudtner | Freelance trainer on holistic security, non-violent conflict transformation, documentary photographer and filmmaker
Workshop 3

Empowerment gegen Rechts
Wie stärken wir uns als Teams für die offene Gesellschaft?

  • Jana Elsner | Employee of the Amadeu Antonio Foundation
  • Richard Siegert | Sociologist and freelance trainer
Workshop 4

Welche Auswirkungen wird die GEAS-Reform auf die Versorgungsstrukturen in Deutschland haben?
Was bedeutet das für die Arbeit in den PSZ?
Wie können wir den Herausforderungen begegnen?  ( DE-ENG)

  • Alva Träbert | BAfF
Workshop 5

Rassismussensible Psychotherapie

  • Lucía Muriel | Psychotherapist, educational work on social and psychological consequences of experienced racism and exclusion, flight and migration,  founded several migrant and feminist organizations and associations as an activist
Workshop 6

Reflections from Ukraine Navigating Powerlessness in the Midst of War and Crisis (UKR-EN)

  • Natalia Gourjii | ROKADA Charitable Foundation, Ukraine)
  • Dina Gud |  Danish Refugee Council, Ukraine
Workshop 7

Suchtgefährdung bei geflüchteten Menschen.
Handlungskompetenz für Mitarbeitende stärken.

  • Marc Pestotnik | Perspektive 3D, Consultant at the Berlin Center for Addiction Prevention
Workshop 8

Juristische Kämpfe als Hilfsmittel der sozialen Arbeit in den PSZ
Strategien, Tools und Kapazitätsfragen (Workshop für Mitarbeitende der PSZ)

  • Marie Melior | Consultant for social law at BAfF
  • Claudia Theilig | Consultant for legal policy at BAfF
Workshop 9

Unter Bedingungen der Abschottung
Multiprofessionelle Unterstützungsmodelle für den ländlichen Raum

  • Hannah Franke |  Social worker, is doing her doctorate with a scholarship from the Hans Böckler Foundation on multi-professional support structures in the legal struggles of young refugees and is a volunteer on the board of the Saxon Refugee Council
Workshop 10

"Wo werde ich eigentlich nicht diskriminiert?"
Entwicklung von Safer Spaces in psychologischer Beratung und Psychotherapie

  • Falk Wachsmann | Psychotherapist for the specialist office for LGBTI*-refugees at the Schwulenberatung Berlin
  • Maggie Friedl | Psychotherapist for the specialist office for LGBTI*-refugees at the Schwulenberatung Berlin

 

3. Tag: Protect

Mittwoch, 5. Juni 2024

09:30

Keynote
"On the relationship between silence and 'protection'"

  • Lucía Muriel | Psychotherapist, educational work on social and psychological consequences of experienced racism and exclusion, flight and migration,  founded several migrant and feminist organizations and associations as an activist
10:00Coffee break
10:30

Panel 
"Reflections on Survivor Engagement: Connecting Artistic, Community-driven, and Human Rights Perspectives"

  • Maria Książak | Psychologist, member of Xenion - Psychosocial Support for Politically Persecuted People, Berlin & International Humanitarian Initiative Foundation (IHIF), Warsaw
12:00Lunch break
13:00

Panel
"What does solidarity mean in an unequal healthcare system?" 

  • Tanja Gangarova | National Discrimination and Racism Monitor (NaDiRa) at the German Centre for Integration and Migration Research (DeZIM)
  • Prof Dr Yudit Namer | University of Twente
  • Dr Claudia Hövener | Robert Koch Institute (RKI)

Moderation: Dr Julia Zielke | Einstein Center Population Diversity (ECPD) / Charité Berlin and Research Centre for Social Cohesion (FGZ)

14:30End

 

Anmeldung

Participation fees: € 195 including meals for 3 days

 

 

Co-financing

This project is partially co-funded by the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund.