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Mai 2012, 12. Jahrgang, Ausgabe 5 Ausgabe: Nr. 5 » May 4, 2012

Have the Protests Failed?

Von Walter Laqueur, May 4, 2012
Discontent with the existing conditions has become the predominant topic around the world in 2011. Many of these movements have come to an end, at least for the time being. A preliminary assessment.
The news magazine Time always selects the Person of the Year at the end of December. This person’s picture is shown on the magazine's cover and he or she is the topic of the feature article. Time has honored politicians, scientists, and sometimes even artists in the past. At the end of 2011, a... more...

In the Beginning Was the Revolt

Von Yves Kugelmann, May 4, 2012
From the Biblical Mythos and the French Revolution to the Citoyen. Freely adapted from Bob Dylan.
 “There are no kings inside the Gates of Eden” (“Gates of Eden”). The revolt begins in the Garden of Eden. The first human being staged the initial revolt. As if he wanted to say that revolt was created in the likeness. Starting at the deliverance from the Paradise, it... more...

Into the Streets!

Von Regula Heusser-Markun, May 4, 2012
Increasingly more people are expressing their disagreement with the authoritarian Putin regime. Suppressed by the Kremlin, the pluralism of opinion finds its platform on the Internet and in demonstrations. So far the citizens’ movement is primarily staging a virtual rebellion against the real power.
Public space as a location for mass rallies is not new in Russia. It was used for this purpose throughout the decades of the Soviet Union. But those occasions were holidays organized from above with mandatory participation: May 1st, October Revolution Day, Victory Day, Cosmonautics Day, and many... more...

Revolt of the Citizens

May 4, 2012
2011 was the year of the demonstrators. People throughout the world went out in the streets and occupied public places in order to demand a greater voice and more freedom. The American Occupy movement is planning new campaigns and protests against the monarchy are once again on the rise in Bahrain.... more...

The Fight for Justice

Von Gisela Dachs, May 4, 2012
Almost half a million people were on the streets all over Israel on September 3, 2011. Citizens who had long accustomed themselves to the idea of not being able to do anything about their government offices, politics, and bureaucracy set out to win back their power.
This largest protest in the history of the country marked the culmination of a wave of demonstrations that started in July. The initiators were students who had set up tents on the fashionable Rothschild-Boulevard in Tel Aviv because of their anger at the unaffordable rental rates. The Trajtenberg... more...

The Wisdom of Crowds

Von Christian Böhme , May 4, 2012
In Germany, the dust has apparently settled. But looking and listening more closely reveals that much is also happening on a smaller scale because increasingly more German citizens do not feel that the parties represent them.
It is quiet in this country. No more loud protests. No rallies with tens of thousands participating. No exclamations like “We can do everything except be democratic.” No groups of one hundred police officers. No water cannons. No injured people. No “enraged citizens.” And no... more...

Power Plant for the Revolution

Von Michael Greenberg, May 4, 2012
The Occupy activists want to engage in political theatre as opposed to politics. This is an essential significance of Occupy Wall Street for now.

Thanks to Occupy Wall Street (OWS), the verb “occupy” has become a catchword or hash tag on Twitter that stands for a new and unadulterated social movement. The American Dialect Society has selected “occupy” as its “Word of the Year” – just ahead of ... more...

Hunger, Heroism, and Hope in Bahrain

Von Ala'a Shehabi, May 4, 2012
The hunger strike by civil rights activist Abdulhadi al-Khawaja once again draws the world's attention to the situation in Bahrain. Young activists supporting the February 14th Movement demand the end of the monarchy, which is supported by the USA and Saudi Arabia.
As I write this article in London, Abdulhadi al-Khawaja is in a life-threatening situation in Bahrain. The popular civil rights activist was arrested one year ago during the peaceful demonstrations against the monarchy and tortured. He was subsequently sentenced to life in prison by a military... more...

Strategies for David

Von Andreas Mink, May 4, 2012
Marshall Ganz schooled the “grass root organization” which carried Barack Obama into the White House. In a conversation with aufbau, the veteran of the civil rights movement explains the interplay between social movements and politics in the USA.

 Since 2007, the USA has been experiencing an amazing series of social movements with tremendous impact on politics. An enthusiastic as much as disciplined grass root organization initially carried the charismatic outsider Barack Obama into the White House. However, only a few weeks after him... more...

Money, Politics, and Occupy

Von Robert Reich, May 4, 2012
Unequal distribution of income, wealth, and opportunities, as well as the growing power of money in US politics are the root causes of “Occupy Wall Street.” The long tradition of social movements in the USA has always been promoted by moral outrage about serious grievances.
The American Federal Reserve has recently published the figures on the income development of the households in the fourth quarter of 2011. According to its report, US citizens recorded an increase of 0.3 percent for the first time since 2009 – even if this is a small one. Good news? Only at... more...

The Schizophrenia of the Prefix Citizens

Von Robert Menasse, May 4, 2012
It is an unexplained phenomenon that tautology, i.e. a simple semantic duplication, can become a requirement for collective schizophrenia. Such is the case with the “Europe of Citizens” (or “People’s Europe”) as political slogan of a civic Europe.

Since the end of Europe’s division, and especially since the EU expansions in 2004 and 2007 there is not a single European country left that cannot be called civic with respect to its political organization, economic system, and society in the sense of capitalistic business management on the... more...

“We Never Had Money, but We Had Education”

Von Yves Kugelmann, May 4, 2012
Marina Weisband gave the Pirate Party a face after the Berlin election in 2011.
She speaks about the her generation’s understanding of being a citizen and the political program of the Pirates in an interview with aufbau.
AUFBAU: You were born in Kiev and grew up in Germany. Has this biography influenced your self-image as a citizen?MARINA WEISBAND: I did not feel like I belonged and did not get involved in social issues for a long time. This also was not important to me. Just two years, when the Pirate Party... more...

Marina Weisband

May 4, 2012
The German politician Marina Weisband was born in 1987 in Kiev and came to Germany as a quota refugee 15 years ago. She studied psychology after finishing academic high school and worked as a freelance artist. Today the practicing Jew is the political director of the Pirate Party and very committed... more...
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