Panel guests at the second Viadrina Debate
Panellists at the second Viadrina Debate
With the Viadrina Debate, the European University Viadrina presents itself as a place of debate on socially relevant future topics - regionally and nationally.
At the Viadrina Debate, Viadrina students, researchers, staff and the general public can meet public intellectuals in person and engage in discussion with them. The following guests will be attending on 15 April 2026:
Prof. Dr Jana Costas
Jana Costas is an economist and holds the Chair of Business Administration, in particular Human Resources, Labour & Management, at the Viadrina. Her research focuses on work, organisation, inequality, personnel and management, often with qualitative and ethnographic approaches. One important research project is her investigation into the working environment of cleaning staff, which is documented in the book "Dramas of Dignity. Cleaners in the Corporate Underworld of Berlin".
She has received several awards for her academic work, including the Kurt Rothschild Prize 2024, the Award for Responsible Research in Management 2024 and the European Group for Organisation Studies Book Award 2023.
Patrick Vonderau
Kevin Kühnert
Kevin Kühnert is head of the Tax, Distribution and Lobbying department at the citizens' movement Finanzwende. Finanzwende fights as a counterweight to the financial lobby for fair, stable and sustainable financial markets.
Before joining Finanzwende, Kühnert was active in the SPD for 20 years, including as Juso Federal Chairman (2017 to 2021), Deputy Party Chairman (2019 to 2021) and General Secretary (2021 to 2024). From 2021 to 2025, he was a directly elected member of the Bundestag for his home district of Tempelhof-Schöneberg in Berlin.
Finanzwende e.V.
Mads Pankow
Mads Pankow is a publicist, host and consultant in the fields of digital change, AI and the modern world of work. He studied media, cultural and organisational studies in Marburg, Malmö and Weimar and is interested in the social impact of new technologies today.
He gives lectures and workshops across Europe on topics such as AI, automation, digital society and the future of work and regularly appears as an expert in the media and podcasts. He also advises public institutions on digital transformation issues and hosts events at the interface of technology, culture and politics.
Steven Haberland