Image: Meinungsfreiheit.de
By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson
‘Argue? Absolutely!’
With the fearless regard that Germany’s now-annual Freedom of Expression week has played out, the 2025 edition of the program (first seen in 2021) has been announced with a reminder that genuine democratic exchange is about disagreement and respectful debate, not about trying not to rock the boat.
Argue? Absolutely! is the week’s title this year, as publishers, bookstores, libraries, companies, organizations and private individuals come together to participate again.
In kicking off the pre-event elements, the call is going out for kick-off campaigns in bookstores; “lighthouse events” in Munich, Hamburg, Frankfurt, Berlin, and Koln as well as other venues; and an essay competition is to get underway as part of a new-this-year writing workshop for children.
Remarkably the programming and message engagement of Freedom of Expression Week has reached more than 500 million people in its roughly four years, a velocity and intensity of impact that earned the effort the International German PR Award in 2022.
Meinungsfreiheit, the site for the new edition of this impactful week of events is up and running, enticing those who visit on line to Mach mit!, join in.
And this, as Publishing Perspectives readers will recall, is a program initiated by Germany’s publishers. The Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels, Germany’s publishers and booksellers association, created the event in order to engage the population in an examination of freedom of expression from various perspectives and to better define what it takes to maintain and protect freedom’s values.
In its fifth year, the program will work to step around the reticence seen in so many cultures today to deal with disagreement, and the crippling divisions that open up when citizens don’t speak earnestly and respectfully with each other. In its opening media messages to the world press today (February 5), Freedom of Expression Week asks:
- “How can we start talking to each other again despite having different opinions?
- “What influence do social media, algorithms, and AI have on our willingness to engage with other points of view at all, especially among the younger generation?
- “How does gender-specific discourse influence the culture of debate, and what does freedom of expression mean in times of war and displacement?
“In view of the current political and social developments, many pressing questions are on the agenda of this year’s Freedom of Expression Week.”
Peter Kaus vom Cleff
Peter Kraus vom Cleff, the Börsenverein’s CEO, says today, “In these times of political and social challenges, it is the duty of all of us to stand up for the values of a free, democratic society.
“What this requires is the willingness to engage in respectful discourse and to listen to one another.
“For the fifth time, a broad alliance is coming together for Freedom of Expression Week on the initiative of the book industry to highlight the importance of dialogue, debate and diversity of opinion and to put it into practice with a comprehensive and diverse program.”
The 2025 Freedom of Expression Week will be formally opened on May 3 with an event in Frankfurt’s Paulskirche on the topic of “culture of debate” with Michel Friedman and Alena Buyx, among others.
More flagship events will take place in Munich, Frankfurt, Berlin, Hamburg and Koln, among others.
New this year are an essay competition and writing workshops with schoolchildren. Partners this year include: Polytechnische Gesellschaft Foundation, German National Library, NS Documentation Center, Verbrannte Orte eV, City of Frankfurt, World Design Capital, Fantastische Teens, the publishing group Penguin Random House, Kiepenheuer & Witsch Verlag, and the German Library Association.
Now, publishers, bookstores, libraries, and other companies as well as organizations, institutions, and private citizens are invited to stand up for freedom of expression with their own events, campaigns, and projects. Starting today, anyone interested can enter his or her contributions in the event calendar for Freedom of Expression Week here.
Book Banning Is an Early Topic of the Week
Related article: ‘US Publishers Sue State of Idaho, Alleging Book Banning.’ Image – Getty: Jason Finn
And in a timely if coincidental parallel to the launch on Tuesday (February 4) of a new lawsuit let by publishers and authors against an alleged book-banning law the US state of Idaho, a kickoff campaign is being mounted in bookstores in Germany called Give the Banned Book a Voice. About that particular campaign, organizers write:
“The banning of books is a major intervention in the understanding of democracy in a society that is characterized by diversity and openness.
“Works by Vladimir Nabokov, Salman Rushdie, Toni Morrison, Berthold Brecht, and Rosa Luxemburg are just a few examples.
“Therefore, the book trade, as one of the most important meeting places for a free and pluralistic exchange, is warmly called upon to give the banned book a voice. The action will take place on Saturday, May 3, as the start of Freedom of Expression Week.”
The Independent Book Trade Week as well as LG Buch, Nordbuch, and Buchwert are sponsors and amplifiers of the campaign’s impact.
“In cooperation with the Frankfurt Agency Alliance,” organizers write, “the Börsenverein launched Freedom of Expression Week in 2021 to promote the importance of diversity of opinion. Since 2024, the Freedom of Expression Foundation, founded by the Börsenverein, has been organizing the action week with the support of its cooperation partners and sponsors.”
We’ll have more coverage of Freedom of Expression Week in Germany as its plans and events progress this year.
More from Publishing Perspectives on issues of the freedom to publish and freedom of expression is here, more on the Prix Voltaire is here, and on the International Publishers Association is here. More on the World Expression Forum, WEXFO, is here.
Publishing Perspectives is the world media partner of the International Publishers Association.
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