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Equation from left and right: All the same extreme?

2019-10-28T16:52:48.745Z


In the state election in Thuringia have lost "the political center," say politicians. An anthology deals with the equation of left and right behind such statements.



The "political center" has lost, the "margins" have become stronger - so assessed CDU country chief Mike Mohring the election results in Thuringia on Sunday evening in the ARD. But what is that anyway: the middle? It is clear that no one can say exactly where it starts and stops. It is rather the vague idea of ​​a rational majority society to which one counts oneself, and on whose borders the malicious others lurk: Nazis, left-wing radicals, jihadists alike.

What dangers for democracy lie in just this attitude, works now the Frankfurt educational institution Anne Frank in the anthology "Extremely unusable - on equations from left and right" on.

The central problem the publishers see in the theory of extremism, whether it is now presented scientifically or as everyday talk. The term assumes a similarity of right and left, so the analysis of the volume, which is not sustainable from a social science perspective, but still held by about the protection of the Constitution and the Federal Agency for Civic Education.

Extremists are the people here who have something against "values ​​and procedural rules" of democratic states. "There is no legal definition or offense called extremism," says Meron Mendel, director of education and co-editor of the book. And yet the investigative authorities would be on the scene as soon as they see the "liberal democratic order" in danger.

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Extremely useless: about equations from left and right (Edition Bildungsstätte Anne Frank)

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240

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EUR 19,00

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On the left side especially anti-capitalist movements are affected by this pattern of thinking. "Extremely useless" calls the struggles and debates over the expropriation of real estate companies as an example: In view of expressly anti-capitalist protests against speculation with housing, there have been repeated attempts to write the social market economy in the constitution, remind the editors in the introduction. Ultimately, that would mean responding to a supposedly extremist demand by proposing a constitutional amendment. The question of who actually acts here anti-constitutional, was "completely turned on its head."

Blind to the racism of the whole society

The authors, most of whom themselves come from the field of political education, also describe in concrete terms that it is becoming increasingly difficult to raise money for education or counseling for victims of right-wing violence, if one does not do something against the left at the same time.

Simply measuring whether a posture is too extreme or just too good will eventually lead to a total relocation to the question of means, that is to say, how those groups marked as extreme appear: thus even misanthropic positions could be legitimized as long as their distributors abide by the rules of the game. The New Right seeks a Cultural Revolution, writes sociologist and journalist Jonas Fedders. Instead of relying solely on parliamentary majorities, she aims "at the occupation of concepts and discourses as well as at the subtle shifting of norms and values."

Specifically, this means that, for example, right-wing publishers at book fairs attempt to introduce their ideas as free speech into the social discourse - or when in the stadiums of football clubs right-wing groups try to underpin fan culture with identitarian concepts. The allegedly ideology-free center is all the more susceptible to such attempts, the less it questioned content and instead only out-of-place extremists out of the way.

In fact, the public debate about the recent election results shows that there are doubts about the image of the extremes of the margins in many parts of the population. "Extremely unusable" is now beginning to underline these doubts in an argumentative way: The counter model of the editors is as simple as it is demanding in practice: to always think of society as a whole, "that is permeated with inner contradictions".

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This criticism is neither new nor surprising. It is remarkable, however, that they are so thoroughly researched, sorted and free from biting reflexes. "Extremely unusable" has succeeded in textbook style to prepare what is not usually in textbooks. It is worthy of merit, very much indeed - the book will certainly help to advance the debate, which is usually guided by feelings of consternation and consternation.

Source: spiegel

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