Merkur
2012-07-02
Summary Merkur 7/2012
In the July issue's opening article, Thomas E. Schmidt sketches the physiognomy of present-day German politics based on its formative figure: the "physicist" Angela Merkel. It has been and continues to be defined by a very specific -- and specifically conservative -- boredom in which all influential actors strive to maintain the consensus between the economy and politics that has always defined the Federal Republic.
Ethnologist Karl-Heinz Kohl can see why indigenous peoples claim to have a special spiritual relationship to the land on which they live -- but believes the United Nation's declaration to that effect is more than questionable. Karl Heinz Götze explains how he became involved with Jesus and Tübingen's Nazi past, while Marc Schweska deals with all kinds of "grey" from all imaginable corners of the world and learnedness.
In his first politics column, Philip Manow tackles the question of what role election campaigns play in the democratic process. Jürgen Osterhammel advocates for an expansion of time horizons in historiography. Jörn Etzold presents a new book on the Situationists and provides a portrait of its author McKenzie Wark. Alan Jacobs follows the British writer Iain Sinclair on his rambles through London. Guy Sorman examines the social-network-based rebellions. And finally, Hansjörg Küster, Wolfram Nitsch, and Rasmus Althaus all lend different perspectives on the city and the countryside.
Thomas E. Schmidt
The Physicist
On boredom in German politics
Thomas E. Schmidt sketches the physiognomy of present-day German politics based on its formative figure: the "physicist" Angela Merkel. It has been and continues to be defined by a very specific -- and specifically conservative -- boredom in which all influential actors strive to maintain the consensus between the economy and politics that has always defined the Federal Republic. In return, true arguments of conviction and position are lacking; differences are played down rather than emphasized. Schmidt himself is divided: in his opinion this boredom implies levelheadedness, and the renouncement of ideology is rather welcome. But every time Angela Merkel moderates conflict away, she also sedates public discourse.