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It all started with the devastating defeat of the Social
Democrats in
North Rhine-Westphalia; after 39 years in power, they lost the state
elections on May 22 to the CDU. With 37.1 percent of the vote (5.7
percent less than in 2000), the SPD had its worst election results in
the state in 50 years. At the same time the defeat marked the end of
the
last state government coalition of the SDP and the Green Party.
Two things followed: Chancellor Gerhard Schröder immediately declared that he wanted to schedule new elections
in
the autumn of this year. Following a self-initiated parliamentary vote of
non-confidence in his leadership, Schröder now awaits German President
Köhler's decision on whether elections can be held this fall. And in their
anticipation, a new leftist alliance has been founded, the
Linkspartei, bringing together the PDS (successor party to the East
German communist party) and the WASG (the West German Electoral Alternative
for Labour and Social Justice). Polls show the new alliance could win ten
percent of the vote.
The probable fall election has stirred up German politics in a major way: What will become of the labour-oriented SPD? Will the
Linkspartei replace the Greens as Germany's third strongest party? And
above all: What do the conservatives want? We have put together a
collection of articles.
The last rock 'n' roller of German politics
Joschka Fischer, Germany's Foreign Minister and figurehead of the Green Party,
has announced that he will be stepping back from the political front
line with the end of the red-green government. In an interview with the
taz, Fischer reflects on what this means for his party, his country and himself.
read more
What was Schröder on?
There
was something surreal about Gerhard Schröder's appearence on national
television last night. Although his party was second in the polls,
Schröder saw the victory quite clearly as his own. And anyone who saw
matters differently, an idiot. Arno Widmann asks the question that is on the minds of many Germans today: what was Schröder on?
read more
Indulging a penchant for paradox
What
do you get when you cross Left and Right? Gerhard Schröder the double
paradox: a chancellor who backs social protest against his own
policies, and a ruler who deprives himself of power in a bid to reclaim
it. By Hans Ulrich Gumbrecht
read more
Standing in file
Tanja Dückers
writes a huffy retort to Eva Menasse's recent claim that German
writers' refusal to take a public stance in the federal election
campaign reflects opportunism.
read more
Writers! Break free of your routine!
Why I'm getting involved in the current federal election campaign. By Eva Menasse
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Sighing, sweating, screeching
The run-up to the German federal elections is awash with blood, sweat and tears as Schröder, Merkel and Co. give their all. But the voters aren't having any of it. By Jörg Lau
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Merkel's a total cutie!
Christoph Schlingensief's
controversial "Parsifal" is showing at the Wagner Festival for the
second year running. He talks to Tina Hildebrandt and Stephan Lebert
about hero impersonators in politics, zombies in Bayreuth and
pre-election Germany.
read more
The big lie
Sociologist Ulrich Beck
explains why German politicians' idea of full employment is an illusion
and why Kafka's works belong to the classics of sociology.
read more
What do the conservatives want?
If Germany's conservatives win the coming elections in September
they'll be more powerful than ever before. But what do they actually
want? By Gustav Seibt
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Who are Germany's new young conservatives?
Now that Gerhard Schröder has admitted failure to himself and the rest
of the world, German conservatives are being summoned back from
political Siberia and pushed into the spotlight. But are they even
still alive? By Mariam Lau
read more
Writers warn about Linkspartei
A group of German writers have signed a public condemnation against what it sees as dangerously populist sentiments behind the new 'Linkspartei'.
read more
Merkel's new middle
The Germany that makes the headlines is one of hedge-fund 'locusts' and
burgeoning numbers of unemployed. Don't believe the hype: the upcoming
German federal elections will be fought out in the middle. But unless
the Germans stop expecting to be spoon fed by the state, and get
proactive, little will be gained by a change of government. By Paul Nolte
read more
The Berlin Republic
So cunning is history: The cornerstones of the Berlin Republic – the
departure from the social market economy, the rediscovery of war, the
mistrust of the state for its citizens, the historicisation of the
Holocaust – were laid by the West German 68ers. An attempt by a member
of the old German Federal Republic to come to terms with the country he
lives in. By Arno Widmann
read more
Loveable losers in the Ruhrpott
The surprising defeat of the SPD in the state elections in North-Rhine
Westphalia has set a process in motion that will probably result in new
federal leadership in Germany. Writer and comedian Frank Goosen describes in an interview what his fellow Ruhrpotters think about this, if anything at all.
read more
RSS
The dead body of Russian artist Anna Alchuk was pulled out of the river Spree in April this year. She and her husband, philosopher Michail Ryklin, had moved to Berlin in November 2007 after life in Russia became intolerable as a direct consequence of Alchuk's participation in the exhibition "Caution: Religion!". Michail Ryklin looks to his wife's tormented diary entries to help him approximate the causes of her death.
Last year secularists and multiculturalists converged at signandsight.com to debate Islam in Europe. Both parties want a liberal society where autonomous citizens live peacefully side by side, but the slightest political provocation is enough to unleash an intellectual Kulturkampf. Jürgen Habermas considers both positions and points beyond them to a post-secular society, where religious and secular mentalities are open to a complementary learning process. (Photo: Wolfram Huke)
At the Durban Conference against Racism in 2001, anti-colonialism bared its anti-Semitic face. The UN is planning a follow-up conference next year in Geneva. Pascal Bruckner tells democracies to keep their distance.
Advocates of Ukrainian democracy are motivated by old desires for independence from Moscow and, now that political autonomy has been achieved, by the need to get under the protective umbrella of Nato and the EU. From an objective point view, though, there are plenty of arguments against Ukraine turning its back on Russia. By Richard Wagner (Photo: Lothar Deus)
On the 60th anniversary of the state of Israel, exiled Iraqi writer, Najem Wali, decided to go and survey the "enemy" territory with his own eyes. What he found was an explanation for the reluctance of Arab leaders to let their people make the same journey: the stagnation of Arab societies and economies cannot be blamed on Israel.
Dragan Klaic arrived in Skopje on the day that Greece vetoed Macedonia's bid to join NATO at the summit in Bucharest. He found a nation reeling from this unexpected slap in the face.
No-one knows what the anti-Koran film 'Fitna' by the Dutch right-wing politician Geert Wilders contains exactly. But fearing Muslim anger many are ready to make concessions regarding the fundamental freedom of expression. Gelijn Molier looks to nineteenth century philosopher John Stuart Mill for advice.
The deportation of Romanians from Italy in the wake of a murder committed by an ethnic Roma has caused a stir in Romania. Yet whereas Romanians object to this discrimination abroad, they fail to see that at home the Roma are treated with nothing but hatred and disdain, and neither the Church nor the state is doing anything about it. By Mircea Cartarescu
Since the 19th century Ukrainians have been dreaming of a return to the paradise lost of Europe. But Ukraine's rich and painful history remains a blank spot in the European collective consciousness, or a mighty underground river flowing out of Europe's cellar, littered with corpses. By Oksana Zabuzhko