Grußwort

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,

Dear guests,

I am delighted to welcome you all to the awarding of the Meyer Struckmann Prize 2020.

Today's online conference is an unusual format for the presentation of a humanities award in unusual times. But at the same time, meeting in a virtual space might not be more appropriate to honor this year's prizewinner, who has rendered outstanding achievements in her research work on Digitalization and Democracy.

Dear, Professor Margetts, on behalf of the Heinrich Heine University I would like to welcome you and congratulate you on receiving this outstanding prize.

Let me briefly introduce you to our guests:

Helen Margetts is Professor of “Society and the Internet” at Oxford University. She is also Program Director for Public Policy at the Alan Turing Institute in London. As a political scientist she investigates the nature and implications of relationships between governments, citizens and related digital technologies. She has written over 150 articles and policy reports and six books on the topic. The latest one “Political Turbulence: How Social Media Shape Collective Action” has received great attention from the international scientific community and beyond. We will certainly hear from you about the insights into the impact of social media on politics and political behavior. But one thing in advance:

What really impressed me is your statement that social media makes it possible to take political action with just a few clicks. We all know it from Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or blogs: Posting comments, sharing articles, leaving likes can become “tiny political acts” - as you named it. People take part in political decision-making who have never been interested in politics before. It is now much easier for them than in the days back where they had to go out and engage in a political campaign. You called it “the democratization of the act of doing politics”. You have, for example, referred once to the role of social media for political revolutions as we saw in the Arabian spring of 2011.

But there is also always a flip side. Think of fake news, shit storms, chat-bots, or the way the still reigning American president communicates... We are in the middle of a technical revolution, which is accompanied by social transformations. We have to take a close look,

understand the political opportunities of the Internet, but also keep an eye on the challenges. This is where the humanities and especially the political scientists come into play.

The humanities and political sciences strive for interdisciplinary and multi-perspective explanations. They attempt to reflect the complexity of our world. In doing so, they can reveal hidden power relations, disruptions and ambivalences. It is these strengths that the international Meyer Struckmann Prize honors now for 15 years. I am very glad about the commitment of the Meyer Struckmann Foundation, that put the relevance of the humanities in the spotlight. The prize honors outstanding personalities who examine social structures, changes and challenges against the background of a critical historical awareness.

Dear Professor Margetts, once again my most sincere congratulations. I wish you all the best for your further research activities. Enjoy your success today!

And I wish you all a great event and later - at the lecture by Helen Margetts - exciting insights into the connection between politics and the internet.