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donate Summary for Blätter 6/2008
Norman Birnbaum
Barack Obama vs. John McCain: The United States before the presidential election
Barack Obama is about to be proclaimed presidential candidate of the Democratic Party. Norman Birnbaum, Professor em. at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., and co-editor of Blätter, analyzes the biographical backgrounds and political programmes of Obama and Republican candidate John McCain. Will the new President continue the course of George W. Bush, or will there be fundamental change?
Harald Schumann and Christiane Grefe
World war or world society?
Globalization has brought peoples and nations closer to one another than ever before in history. But at the same time, war, growing inequalities, and global apartheid threaten the evolution of a world society. Big hitter Harald Schumann (The Global Trap) and Christiane Grefe from the weekly Zeit examine this dialectic of globalization. One thing, however, seems to be certain: We are facing a global countdown so now is the time for political action.
Tilman Santarius
The misery of the WTO: Re-inventing world trade
The multilateral trade system faces its most profound crises since World War II: not only the future of the current Doha negotiations, but also that of the WTO itself is at stake. Tilman Santarius, project manager at the Wuppertal Institute of Climate, Environment, and Energy, discusses the current – and controversial – trade issues and develops a scenario for a new, and fair world trade that provides poor countries with chances for development.
Clemens Knobloch
The rhetoric of the preventative state
"Prevention" and "precaution" have become the new leitmotif of the modern sanctioning state that has given up redistributive policies. Clemens Knobloch, Professor of linguistics und communication at the University of Siegen, demonstrates that most measures are not backed up by law – from so-called "caring exclusion" to "illegal combatants".
Felix Stumpf and Markus Büchting
Attack on workers' rights: How the European Court of Justice limits labour unions' power
In a recent decision, the European Court of Justice fundamentally re-interprets European social policy, declaring a state law in Lower Saxony to be contrary to European law. This means that EU member states are obliged to open their biddings to all companies, provided that these companies comply with only the most basic laws (such as minimum wage). Lawyer Felix Stumpf and labour secretary Markus Büchting criticize this decision as an attack against organized labor's bargaining power.
Karin Priester
To the right of Berlusconi: Italy's fascists, hooligans, and radical Catholics
On 14 April 2008, Italy got a new rightwing government: Silvio Berlusconi is once again the Italian Prime Minister. With the new government, the importance of the radical, anti-parliamentary Right grows too. Karin Priester, professor of sociology at the University of Münster, examines the political currents within Italian far-Right – from fascists and hooligans to radical Catholics.
Regine Igel
The new lust for the masses
Whether the European Football Championship or the Olympics, there is one thing you can rely upon – lust for the masses. With public viewing areas and fan miles, there will be hundreds of thousands out on the streets, waving flags, dancing, shouting, and singing. Journalist Regine Igel analyses "the mass" with Marx, Nietzsche, and Freud – from the modern "event crowd" to the ever-growing star and leader cult.
Also:
Albrecht von Lucke, "Green and bourgeois"
Tim Engartner, "German Railways: Selling-off in installments"
Detlef Grumbach, "Big Brother-discounters"
Korbinian Frenzel, "How the lobbies rule Europe"
Janna Schönfeld, "Where fishers become migrants"
Matthias Eickhoff, "Hungarian caprices"
Siegfried Knittel, "South Korea, Taiwan and China: In search of harmony"
Peter Bender, "The truth about the NATO mission in Afghanistan
Daniel Leisegang, "Heroes of the football pitch"
Ulrich Dolata, "Music via download"
Documents
The fight for parliamentary rights
"The parliamentary participation law has to be adjusted"
A security strategy for Germany. Decision by the Bundestag fraction of CDU/CSU, 6 May 2008
"Military deployment of troops without parliamentary approval is generally not admissible".
Decision by the Federal Constitutional Court, 7 May 2008
Published 2008-05-30
Original in German
Contributed by Blätter
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