20th Karlsruhe Dialogues - Speakers

Born in 1934, Oskar Negt is one of Germany’s most prominent social scientists. In addition to his scholarly work, Negt has always devoted himself to present-day political issues. Negt studied jurisprudence in Göttingen, but then transferred to Frankfurt am Main, where he studied sociology and philosophy with Max Horkheimer and Theodor W. Adorno. In 1962 he received his PhD under Adorno’s supervision and became a research assistant to Jürgen Habermas in Heidelberg. From 1970 to 2002 he was Professor of Social Sciences at the University of Hannover. Guest professorships took him to Bern in 1973, to Vienna in 1975, and to Milwaukee and Madison in the USA in 1978. Negt was awarded the German Federal Cross of Merit First Class in 2006, and in 2011 he was honoured with the August Bebel Award in recognition of his political commitment.

His publications include: Gesellschaftsentwurf Europa. Plädoyer für ein gerechtes Gemeinwesen (2012); Der politische Mensch. Demokratie als Lebensform (2010); and Arbeit und menschliche Würde (2001).

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