On June 26, 2024, Kwame Anthony Appiah, Professor of Philosophy and Law at New York University, gave a lecture on “Political Identity” followed by a discussion with the audience moderated by Luvena Kopp from the Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies. Around 130 guests accepted the invitation of AmerikaHaus NRW and its partners and gathered in the auditorium of the University of Cologne to learn from the renowned philosopher and ethicist.

Professor Appiah began by presenting his understanding of identity. Identity, he explained, came with attributions and shaped the thoughts and behavior of other people towards oneself. Even if attributions could quickly lead to judgments, they also ensured solidarity from the ranks of those who identify similarly. He posited that it would sometimes be more helpful to speak of individuality rather than identity, because even if many people shared aspects of their identities, not everyone had the same understanding of their identity and its meaning in their life. After this conceptual introduction, Professor Appiah tied his argument to current political developments in the United States. He illustrated that Americans were more divided by party affiliation than other identity factors and expressed concern that an unwillingness to work with people holding different political opinions could put the democratic process at risk. As a remedy, he proposed, in line with Gordon Allport's contact hypothesis, that spaces should be created where individuals of different groups could pursue a shared goal, thereby reducing prejudice and hostility while slowly building trust.

In conversation with the moderator and participants, Professor Appiah made a strong case for reaching across identities and working with people who identify differently. “We don’t need to agree on everything, but we need to be together” was his appeal to the highly engaged audience in Cologne. In a polarized climate, this event demonstrated to participants both the mechanisms which divide people and the need to actively bridge differences in order to enable peaceful cohabitation within and among democratic societies.

The AmerikaHaus NRW cooperated with a group of other organizations, among them the Global South Studies Center, the University of Cologne’s English Seminar I, and stimmen afrikas, to realize this program and ensure broad reach involving several different communities.