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donate Summary Blätter 3/2010
Jean Ziegler
Haiti and the hatred of the West
The earthquake in Haiti was due to a natural catastrophe, the systematic underdevelopment of the country, however, is not. Taking the example of Haiti, the long-term UN Special Correspondent on food and nutrition Jean Ziegler demonstrates how the West historically implemented a system of colonialism and slavery that continues to have a deep impact on the so-called Third World. His thesis: the West's persisting economic atrocities and broken promises generate a growing hatred.
Raul Zelik
Geopolitics with drugs. Cocaine and heroin as new power resources
The "War against drugs" conducted by the United States in Latin America and other places allegedly serves the fight drugs. The writer and political scientist Raul Zelik asks for the true reasons behind the U.S. deployment. He shows that the drug economy today constitutes a geopolitical power resource, which Washington has repeatedly mobilized for its own interests, from Columbia to Indochina to Afghanistan.
Michael Schneider
The end of a myth? Heretical thoughts about the past and future of socialism
Twenty years ago, the peoples of Eastern Europe overturned "really existing socialism". Writer Michael Schneider analyses its "half-Asian mode of production" (Rudi Dutschke) and the mystification of state socialism, which many leftists confused with its reality. Vis-à-vis the currently blantant failure of neoliberalism, Schneider argues for a liberation of socialism from its Stalinist corset and its reanimation as democratic project.
Josef Isensee
Integration as a concept: the limits of tolerance
Triggered by the Swiss decision on minarets, the German debate on integration has also grown more acute. Some observers consider Islam to be resistant to integration per se, among them the renowned conservative expert in constitutional law Josef Isensee. The western judicial culture is shaking in its boots; instead it would be – according to Isensee – imperative to defend the country's cultural identity.
Christine Wicht
More security at any cost. The European Union's "Stockholm Programme"
Widely unnoticed by the public, the European Union passed its "Stockholm Programme" in December 2009. Journalist Christine Wicht examines how Europe is arming itself on its way to becoming a High-tech fortress – and which consequences the "logic of prevention" bears regarding refugee policy, data protection and crime abatement.
Annegret Falter
In the quagmire of tax evasion
In 2006, the Hessian ministry of finance campaigned against four in-house tax investigators and retired them. Cui bono: Who is benefiting from this political thriller taking place in Frankfurt on the Main? Political scientist Annegret Falter, from the "Vereinigung deutscher Wissenschaftler" (Association of German Scientists, VDW) and specialist on whistle blowing, analyzes the events in detail.
Andrej Holm and Armin Kuhn
Squatter fights and urban redevelopment
Internationally as well as nationally, social movements increasingly mobilize against city restructuring and for the preservation of affordable living space and leftist "free space". Using the example of Berlin, urban scientist Andrej Holm and political scientist Armin Kuhn analyze the influence, which the squatter movements of the 80's and 90's had on the prevalent strategies for urban redevelopment.
Published 2010-03-11
Original in German
Contributed by Blätter
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