About this magazine

Unsere Zeit is a weird magazine. We’re publishing articles both in German and English, making it hard (though by no means impossible. Don’t give up!) for any readers who don’t speak both languages to follow our writing. We’re writing about a wide range of topics, without any real specializations. Also, most of our readers agree that our articles are horribly long.

However, although it may not always be instantly apparent, Unsere Zeit does have a concept. There are two common denominators of our articles: First, they deal with “unserer Zeit”, our time – the present we live in. Secondly, we write as members of a young generation whose views are generally underrepresented in mainstream media. We believe that this new generation has a lot to say about our world. Not inhibited by a mindset fixed some 20, 30 or maybe 40 years ago, we are able to look at current tendencies without pessimist prejudices. The world has changed rapidly, and for the questions of today answers from yesterday are not sufficient anymore. We want to think forward instead of backward, and that is the standard we want to be measured by.

The idea of this blog is to find some more or less steady ground from which to look upon a globalized world changing faster than ever, becoming ever more complex and, so it seems, ever less comprehensible. With theoretical and analytical equipment from the social sciences and humanities, we want to find vantage points and narratives to comprehend this new world, as well as opinions and political positions to appraise it. Topics include every phenomenon that can offer new perspectives on the present, ranging from migration and nationalism to generational matters and perfume advertisement.

Unsere Zeit is an open network. If you want to contact us, try at mail@unserezeit.eu, via Unsere Zeit on Facebook or at @unsere_zeit on Twitter. At the moment, the network consists of the following authors:

Adrian Barfuss, born in 1990 in Henstedt-Ulzburg. Studied sociology and politial science at the University of Bielefeld and the Université de Rouen (France). Currently studying computer science and looking forward to enrol in a MSc in Data Analysis. Interested in various topics, like globalization, development politics, European politics and computers. adrian@unserezeit.eu | Twitter: @AdrianBarfuss

Erik Brandes, born in Paderborn in 1992. Studied political science and sociology at University of Bielefeld, at Université Libre de Bruxelles and at London School of Economics and Political Science, Msc. in Political Sociology. Currently working for a think tank on foreign politics in Berlin. Interested in a huge range of topics, including globalization, democracy, world perception models, political conflicts, European party politics, right-wing populism and space. erik@unserezeit.eu | Twitter: @erikbrandes

Sören Brandes, born in Paderborn in 1989. Studied history and literature at the Humboldt University Berlin and Lund University, M. A. in Modern European History. At the moment, Sören is a doctoral student at the Graduate School for “Moral Economies of Modern Societies” at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin, working on a dissertation about the media history of neoliberalism. He lives in Berlin-Neukölln. He’s interested in almost everything, especially in globalisation phenomena, the mass media’s influence on how we think and live, and European politics. Sören is a member of the Young European Federalists and of Amnesty International. soeren@unserezeit.eu | Twitter: @Soeren_Brandes | Facebook: Sören Brandes

Marlene Heihsel (née Miersch), born in 1989 in Bad Urach, did her B. A. in history and archeology at the Humboldt University Berlin and her M. A. in Historical Urbanistics at the Technical University Berlin. At the moment, she’s doing her Ph.D. at the Centre for Contemporary History in Potsdam, writing a dissertation about the Liberal-Democratic Party (LDPD) in the GDR. She feels at home in Berlin-Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg, where she’s also active in communal politics. She subscribes to ordoliberal economic policy and a humanistic, open idea of man. marlene@unserezeit.eu

Julian Leitloff is Co-Founder and CEO of influencer commerce platform Stilnest. The Berlin-based startup develops direct-to-consumer brands together with social media influencers. Julian studied economics at Zeppelin Universität with the focus on Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Julian started his career with Deutsche Bank before meeting his cofounders during his graduate studies at Zeppelin University. Julian is one of Forbes ‘30 under 30’ in 2016. julian@unserezeit.eu | Twitter: @JulianLeitloff

Dariya Manova, born 1989 in Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria, studied German Literature and Philosophy at the Humboldt-University in Berlin. Currently she works on her PhD-project about natural resources and their narratives in the press and popular fiction of the German interwar period. Thus, petrol, coal, iron, copper, rubber and cotton are also the preferred protagonists of her spare time readings. Moreover she’s following and discussing passionately the latest American and British TV-Series, younger and older Hollywood productions, Bulgarian contemporary literature and the development of cosmetics advertisement. dariya@unserezeit.eu

Peter Mercer, born in 1987 in Bad Neuenahr, did his B. A. in history and social sciences and is currently studying Modern European History at the Humboldt University Berlin. Peter likes political discussions and unfamiliar perspectives on the world.