Dear Minister Kerameos,

I am sending this letter on behalf of the executive board of the German Sociological Association, that represents about 3500 academic sociologists in Germany.

Regrettably we were informed that your administration has ordered to end for the Greek high school system the teaching of courses in ›sociology‹, along with two other courses on ›Modern World, Citizenship and Democracy‹ and on ›Basic Principles of Social Sciences‹. These courses have been taught undisputed for several decades in Greek high schools and no reason has been offered by your administration for ending this successful practice.

As sociologists and, moreover, as European citizens we feel obliged to express our deepest concerns with regard to this decision. Sociology provides indispensable competencies for an empirically based rigorous analysis of societal processes and relations, competencies that are sought after in various realms of society.

Moreover, in the light of the series of crisis experiences that our countries had to face in the recent past, there is ample evidence that society is more than mere economy or just a political system. Understanding the impact of crisis on the stability of democratic countries is pivotal for the survival of the parliamentary democracy and this requires exactly the means sociology can provide societies with.

Especially children and young people are currently experiencing confusing life worlds and critical living conditions. They are in urgent need to be equipped with a profound knowledge about how globalization, migration, climate change, a growingly diverse society or the progressive increase of social inequality affects their lives. And they need to be educated in how to take part in overcoming the problems of today for a better tomorrow.

Therefore, the German Sociological Society urges you for the future of your younger generations and for a prosperous future of Greece as democratic European country to reinstate sociological as a subject in high school teaching in Greece.

Yours sincerely,
Prof. Dr. Jörg Strübing