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Above all doubt: this is how the supporters of “lateral thinking” in Baden-Württemberg feel, as a new study shows
Photo: Karsten Schmalz / IMAGO
In Baden-Württemberg, what is probably the most famous protest against the Corona measures to this day began: »lateral thinking«.
The movement was founded in Stuttgart in 2020, and from there spread nationwide.
A study is now for the first time giving an insight into the protest scene in the state.
It does not allow a conclusive judgment about the movement, but it shows accordingly: The relatives seem to come primarily from the anthroposophical and alternative milieu, they feel above all criticism, they put the individual above everything - and they used to vote green.
Criticism for Criticism's Sake
The sociologist Nadine Frei and her colleague Oliver Nachtwey investigated on behalf of the green Heinrich Böll Foundation what characterizes the "lateral thinking" movement in Baden-Württemberg and why it is so deeply rooted there.
Your findings:
The "lateral thinking" followers stage themselves as initiated, "almost as chosen", who hold on to their supposed expertise, even when they encounter resistance and stigmatization.
They believe that they have a "greater knowledge, about the truth of the real motives" of the corona measures.
The participants have a libertarian understanding of freedom in which individuality is paramount.
Personal responsibility and self-determination are "set almost absolutely".
They resist any restriction of their individual freedom; they only regard rules that they set for themselves as legitimate.
In the world of "lateral thinkers", the criticism of the Corona measures serves no purpose, it is an end in itself.
The criticism does not refer to individual pandemic measures, but is sufficient in itself.
The movement in Baden-Württemberg is mainly drawn from two milieus: the alternative milieu and the anthroposophical.
In both milieus, holism, individuality, self-determination and closeness to nature are strong points of reference.
Of values such as solidarity and equality, which play a role above all in the left-wing alternative milieu, there is "nothing left" among the lateral thinkers.
Significantly fewer supporters, on the other hand, come from the bourgeois or Christian-evangelical milieu, which is also strongly anchored in Baden-Württemberg.
According to the author, the movement in Baden-Württemberg tends to come from the left, but it is moving to the right.
Many of the respondents said they voted for the Greens in the 2017 federal election.
In 2021, however, many did not vote at all, switched to the AfD or voted for small parties, such as the »dieBasis« party, which also emerged from the »lateral thinking« milieu.
"The Left" is not eligible for these people because - like the Greens - it belongs to the "Establishment".
According to the study, the supporters differ from the protest movement in eastern Germany, especially in Saxony.
This is supported more by the extreme right and has far fewer anthroposophical and esoteric features.
Not a particularly large database
The study results are not representative.
And according to the author, they are not conclusive either.
Theses have been developed that require further research.
Because the data basis is not particularly large: Frei and Nachtwey conducted interviews with eight supporters of the movement in Baden-Württemberg.
In addition, they had already conducted 20 interviews with supporters of the movement for a preliminary investigation.
And they attended three "thinking outside the box" demos.
In addition, they spoke to 17 "field experts", such as supporters of the S21 alliance, who protested against the expansion of the Stuttgart train station.
Managers of a Waldorf school and an anthroposophical clinic were also part of these "field experts".
The study author Nachtwey had already started to sociologically investigate the corona protests in 2020: He launched a survey in Telegram groups in which 1,152 people took part.
Similar findings were already emerging at that time.
The lateral thinking movement is now being observed by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution.
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