Dear interested parties,

On the occasion of International Women's Day, the Office for Gender Equality and Family at Otto von Guericke University is organizing an online discussion via Zoom on 08.03.2024 between 9:15 am and 10:45 am.

The topic: Just another occasion for giving flowers? How political does Women's Day need to become (again)?

At the beginning of the 20th century, women's longstanding struggle against oppression, political ignorance and for better working conditions, higher wages and political participation led to the creation of International Women's Day as a symbolic day of action to remind people of the demand for equal rights. In Germany, the significance of the day was subject to fluctuations depending on the political systems, lost almost all significance under National Socialism due to the deliberate revaluation of Mother's Day and was perceived very differently in the two German states after 1945. And today? Does it still have any political significance at all? Or has it faded into a mere occasion for the obligatory bouquet of flowers?
The panel will discuss the significance and importance of Women's Day in the past, present and future and ask how it can be used more politically (again).

Impulses for discussion:
- Prof. Jana Günther, Chair of Social Science Foundations of Social Work, Protestant University of Applied Sciences Darmstadt: The history of Women's Day and its significance through the ages
- Dr. Steffi Kaltenborn, Faculty of Human Sciences (FHW), Institute II, Department of History: Women's Day in the GDR
- Heike Ponitka, Equal Opportunities Officer of the state capital Magdeburg: The (political?) significance of Women's Day in the present day

Moderation: Dr. Mareike Fingerhut-Säck, Central Equal Opportunities Officer at Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg

You are cordially invited to join the discussion. Pre-registration is not necessary, the access data are as follows:

Zoom-Link

https://ovgu.zoom.us/j/63316516547

 Meeting-ID: 633 1651 6547

Kenncode: 421881