Workshop Gamification

Democracies have been described in various ways as "playful" entities: they presuppose rule-abiding behavior, ideally reconcile competition with fairness, they open up degrees of freedom and make unpredictability bearable. Bur our game culture is changing. Are we experiencing a "gamification of democracy," too much unseriousness, too much gambling, too many "first-person shooters"? Or, conversely, are digital games also the best educational aids in political education?

This workshop is part of an interdisciplinary project seminar, organized jointly by the PH Ludwigsburg (Prof. Dr. Florian Weber-Stein) and the University of Stuttgart (PD Dr. Felix Heidenreich). The aim is to explore the transition from analog game to digital game and the meaning of this for democracy. The contemporary phenomenon of gamification will be examined from the perspective of political theory and political education.

Firstly, we cast intellectual history spotlights on the metaphor "game and democracy", focusing on the aspects of strategy, opposition and rules. Furthermore, the workshop also focuses on contemporary tendencies of a "gamification of democracy". And finally, the topic "Games in Political Education" will also be addressed. To this end, guests from various disciplines will be delivering presentations and presenting research findings for discussion. Participants include Dr. Rike Trimcev (University of Greifswald), Prof. Dr. Andreas Vasilache (University of Bielefeld), Prof. Dr. Paula Diehl (University of Kiel), Dr. Alexander Preisinger (University of Vienna), Henrik Domansky (University of Düsseldorf), Tobias Thiel (Ev. Akademie Wittenberg) and Patrick Maisenhölder (PH Ludwigsburg). This event is sponsored by the PSE. 

Send a Mail to Felix Heidenreich for information and registration