Intellectuals’ understanding of and role in the culture wars in Germany

In grasping current political developments in various European countries such as polarization, them vs us logics, morally dichotomic definition of stakes – that can be epitomized with the label culture wars – are often understood in social sciences as something the right-wing is pursuing. I understand it rather as a form (Slačálek 2022, Kováts 2023) and something that the culturally progressive side may also apply to influence the public discourse and policies in the desired direction. The paper will present some of the theoretical results of my MSCA-funded empirical research on the debates about academic freedom and gender fair language in Germany. The research focused on the understanding of publicly engaged scholars about the dynamics of the current controversial debates (such as migration/race, gender, Gaza, climate change, language politics), their rationale for their own role in it, incl. on the boundaries of science/politics, science/society, science/social change.