BlätterEurozineBlätter2013-11-05 Summary Blätter 11/2013What can we learn from this election?
With contributions from Stefan Grönebaum, Stefan Collignon, Daniel Wesener, Peter Brandt, André Brie, Michael Brie, Frieder Otto Wolf
On September 22nd, the elections to the German Bundestag, the German Social Democrats achieved the second worst result in their history. The historian Stefan Grönebaum opposes the prevalent "Let's have more of the same" and analyses the structural reasons for the election defeats in 2009 and 2013. According to him the loss of trust among members and supporters can only be regained by more democracy and a strengthening of the party's base. There is every indication that we will have another grand coalition. According to Stefan Collignon, professor for economics in Hamburg and Pisa, such a coalition would have devastating consequences -- for the SPD, for Germany and for Europe: namely the permanent destabilization of the German party landscape and an enduring German dominance within the European Union, that would deeply damage the European project.The disappointing result of the Green Party is usually explained with their focus on tax policies that concealed their ecological brand essence. However, the chairman of the Green Party Berlin, Daniel Wesener, insists that the ecological cannot be separated from the social question. Therefore the future of the party lies in the connection of ecology, freedom and social justice, rather than its role of being a single issue functional party.Despite an arithmetical majority of the left-wing parties, a coalition between the three is still a long way away. Therefore Peter Brandt, a historian affiliated with the Social Democrats, the siblings André and Michael Brie, who have strong ties with the Left, and Frieder Otto Wolf, member of the Green Party, are advocating the overcome the still existing barriers between the parties. What we need is a new left-wing project, that builds bridges into civil society thus offering a stable alternative to the prevailing politics.Martin Staiger
Cutback via administrative act. From welfare- to supplicant state
Since the introduction of the Hartz concept in the German welfare system government agencies are treating recipients of social benefits more and more as supplicants, rather than citizens. The theologian and lawyer for social legislation Martin Staiger reveals how legal entitlements are systematically undermined, thus the weakest members of society are exposed to the arbitrariness of the state.Ulrich Brand and Kristina Dietz
Dialectic of exploitation. The new resource-boom in Latin America
With rising prices for raw materials an export-oriented model of development is getting more attractive -- especially in Latin America. Ulrich Brand, professor for International Politics and co-publisher of the "Blätter", and the political scientist Kristina Dietz analyse this new phase of extractivism. While today also the poor often benefit from the resource-boom, the subcontinent is in danger of new dependencies.Luiz Ruffato
Brazil or: Writing in an antagonistic country
In his inaugural address for this year's Frankfurt Book Fair Luiz Ruffato asks, what it means to be a writer in Brazil. In a country that in reality does not meet the colourful clichés, that is fractured by deep trenches, in which people meet each other as aliens, even enemies. Against this society of violence Ruffato draws his utopian vision of a peaceful community.Svetlana Alexievich
Why did I descend to hell?
On October 13th 2013 the Belarusian writer Svetlana Alexievich received the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade. In her acceptance speech the laureate addressed the central theme of her work: the history of the Soviet Union and its successor states narrated through interviews with people affected. Thereby she develops a sobering picture of the still existing homo sovieticus.András Bruck
Bus line "desire": The democratatorship in Hungary
For years Hungary produces headlines for its authoritarian tendencies. The writer András Bruck claims that in contrast to Soviet communist rule under its Hungarian vicegerent János Kádár the system Victor Orbán is stabilised by something else: the total lack of any serious oppositional movement.Friedrich Schorlemmer
"Nothing but maltreat and robbery". On the political actuality of Martin Luther
On 31st October 2017 the reformation's 500th anniversary will be celebrated. However, the political Martin Luther is often overseen in public remembrance. Friedrich Schorlemmer, theologist and co-publisher of the "Blätter", sets the focus on this aspect and unveils Luther's realistic image of humanity and his sensorium for the dialectic of power and its abuse, responsibility and wastefulness.The full table of contents of Blätter 11/2013