Is the United States under President Trump experiencing a "normal" crisis of democracy, or is a new regime taking shape? Fascism expert Sven Reichardt, a professor of contemporary history at the University of Konstanz, compares current developments with past events in the article "Can we call it fascism?"

What terms apply to current political movements in the United States? Does "fascism" fit, or are words like populistic, autocratic or far-right more suitable? This is the focus of the conference taking place on 26 and 27 March 2026 in the Bischofsvilla in Konstanz (Otto-Adam-Str. 5 in Konstanz, Germany) that is hosted by the universities of Konstanz and Münster. About twenty participants from the humanities and social sciences will come together at Lake Constance – from historians to sociologists and literature scholars. The conference will be broadcast to the public via live stream (in German).

The discussion centres around four main research areas. First of all, the researchers will draw historical comparisons between different political constellations. Secondly, they will analyze the racist and anti-feminist imagery employed in fascism – in both the past and present. Conference participants will also examine media usage in fascism as well as its political impact with discussions on the past and future of fascism.

"It is time for researchers to engage in the media and political discussion on these topics", says Sven Reichardt, a professor of contemporary history at the University of Konstanz, who is organizing the conference with Levent Tezcan and Özkan Ezli from the University of Münster.

The opening event is Jan Philipp Reemtsma's public lecture on the question "Is it fascism?" and what this question is aimed at finding out. The event will take place at 19:30 on 26 March 2026 in the "Astoria Saal" of VHS Konstanz (entrance located at Katzgasse 7) in Konstanz (Germany). Jan Philipp Reemtsma is a literature scholar and social scientist as well as the founder of the Hamburg Institute for Social Research (HIS). He also holds an honorary doctorate from the University of Konstanz. The lecture is open to the public and offered free of charge with no registration necessary.

Take a closer look at what fascism means – together with historian and fascism expert Sven Reichardt in the article "Can we call it fascism?" in the University of Konstanz's online magazine.

Media representatives who would like to attend the conference are kindly asked to register ahead of time (by emailing barbara.muellner@uni-konstanz.de) since the Bischofsvilla venue only has very limited space. The public can watch the conference via live stream (registration and login information via barbara.muellner@uni-konstanz.de).

More information and the conference programme are available on the University of Konstanz website: https://www.geschichte.uni-konstanz.de/en/research/reichardt/news/lectures-and-workshops/

Key facts:

• The conference "Das Gespenst des Faschismus" taking place on 26 and 27 March 2026 is a collaboration between the universities in Konstanz and Münster, the Centre for Cultural Inquiry (ZKF) in Konstanz and the VHS Landkreis Konstanz.
• The organizers are Sven Reichardt, a professor of contemporary history at the University of Konstanz, Levent Tezcan, a professor of social science research on Islam in Europe in the 20th and 21st centuries (University of Münster), and Özkan Ezli, a Privatdozent (lecturer) and academic staff member at the University of Münster's Institute of Sociology.
• The conference will be held in the University of Konstanz’s Centre for Cultural Inquiry (ZKF) (Bischofsvilla, Otto-Adam-Str. 5, in Konstanz, Germany).