Sawsan Chebli: The city of solidarity

THE CITY OF SOLIDARITY
Cities as hotbeds of cohesion - and as a bulwark against the radical right

Sawsan Chebli, State Secretary for Civic Engagement and International Affairs and Plenipotentiary of the State of Berlin to the Federal Government

Moderator: Robert Misik, author and journalist

Western societies are polarising and right-wing populism is on the rise. Cities play a special role in this political geography. They are centres of conflict, but also of cohesion. They are also centres of solidarity and colourful coexistence, where private threads of togetherness are woven as a matter of course. Seen in this light, cities today are also a bulwark against the radical right. This applies to Poland as well as the USA, Germany as well as Austria, Turkey as well as Spain.
What characterises a city based on solidarity? Everyone should be able to participate and help shape city life. Will democratic recovery come from the cities?

SPD politician Sawasan Chebli, Berlin's State Secretary for Civic Engagement, is committed to the city of solidarity and talks to Robert Misik about how this is being realised in Berlin.