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Prof. Dr. Ute Schneider (University of Duisburg-Essen) and Prof. Dr. Ulrich Willems (University of Münster) have contributed to the academic journal Forschung & Lehre. In an article on conflict culture, the two principal investigators of the research project “Cultures of Compromise” examine the role of intransigence and red lines in the search for ways of regulating conflicts.

The historian and the political scientist emphasize the indispensable role of compromises in modern democracies. At the same time, compromises involve concessions and are therefore unpopular among voters who insist on having their interests prevail.

History, too, contains reflections on the relationship between compromise and standing firm by one’s own convictions, for example in the United States: How far can one deviate from one’s moral principles when the opposing side insists on maintaining slavery? And what happens when the consequence is a civil war?

The article in the July issue of the journal of the German Association of University Professors and Lecturers addresses these and other questions. Ultimately, the authors argue that compromise should neither be idealized nor understood as an attack on one’s own moral compass