‘You have to speak English everywhere now.’ A sentence that became increasingly common in Berlin a decade ago, then disappeared again: today, cosmopolitan Berlin speaks English everywhere as a matter of course. But that doesn't mean there are fewer questions: Why not Arabic? Why not Turkish? And weren't groups that speak languages other than German just stigmatised as parallel societies? And does everyone really speak English?

Sinthujan Varatharajah, political geographer, Moshtari Hilal, artist, and Duygu Ağal, author, explore these questions. They uncover double standards in German mainstream society, draw connections to gentrification and asylum policy, and search for forms of equitable cultural work. They discuss these issues in German and English, with Stefano-Maria Evangelista and Gesa Stedman from the Centre for British Studies.

This event is sponsored by the Literaturhaus Berlin and Einstein Stiftung Berlin. Last minute changes will be published on the website www.gbz.hu-berlin.de.