"Can the AfD still be stopped?" is the title of a series of events that
Teilhabe e.V. organized together with the AK History of Social Movements
East-West last weekend in Berlin's Mehringhof. ---- Business & Society
By: Peter Nowak - June 14, 2024 ---- The discussion rounds, which take
place at irregular intervals, are based on the salon conversations of
the bourgeoisie in past centuries. Only in Mehringhof it is not wealthy
city dwellers but unemployed activists like Anne Seeck who invite rent
rebels, activist scientists and cheeky unemployed people to discussion
rounds.
Last Friday evening, the left-wing GDR oppositionists Renate Hürtgen,
Bernd Gehrke and the left-wing urban sociologist Andrej Holm addressed
the question of why the AfD has the status of a popular party in some
regions in East Germany. A finding that was confirmed again after the
local elections and the elections to the European Parliament at the weekend.
During the discussion it became clear that there is no monocausal
explanation. The authoritarian state socialism of the GDR was mentioned,
as were the experiences of powerlessness that many residents of East
Germany had to endure in the years of reunification. Holm, Gehrke and
Hürtgen represent the left-wing GDR opposition, which after the fall of
the SED sought anti-authoritarian socialism and not a restoration of
capitalism. These attempts were already overwhelmed in the autumn of
1989 by a nationalist wave with black, red and gold flags, which
culminated in the election victory of the Alliance for Germany in March
1990, whose rhetoric the AfD can easily build on today.
ANTI-FASCISM AND CLASS STRUGGLE
On Saturday, the seminar under the motto "Anti-fascism and class
struggle" was devoted to the question of what resistance to the AfD in
the workplace could look like. There, Olaf Klenke, secretary of the
Food, Beverages and Catering Union (NGG), reported on how the increase
in right-wing ideas is also affecting the everyday life of the companies
he looks after.
It makes a difference whether he is talking to employees in the hotel
industry in Leipzig or to colleagues in small towns in Saxony-Anhalt. In
the provinces, unlike in the metropolis, terms such as diversity and
open society do not play a role, says Klenke. On the contrary, a union
that uses such terms too often runs the risk of sounding rhetorically
like the management of the companies. Because at least larger
capitalists have long since learned to use as many of the left-liberal
filler words such as diversity and variety as possible and to put up
corresponding banners. But when it comes to the qualification of migrant
workers, the much-vaunted diversity on the part of capital is usually
quickly over.
CAPITALIST OR PROLETARIAN INTERNATIONALISM?
The internationalism of capital usually consists of being able to
exploit people from all over the world as cheaply as possible. The trade
unionists agreed that criticism of this must not be met with exclusion.
What is needed is a proletarian cosmopolitanism that advocates that
people, regardless of origin and gender, stand up together for their
interests as workers. A difficult undertaking in everyday business life.
Because the defense against migration is also a major issue among
workers. Klenke emphasized that he had the impression that the aversion
was not only directed at migrants but generally against people who
supposedly or actually live on transfer payments. That is why the
agitation against citizens' allowance recipients who supposedly "live on
our tax money" would also catch on in the world of work. This also
ignores the fact that many of those receiving citizens' allowances can
no longer live from their wage labor.
RIGHT-WING PEOPLE CAN STRIKE TOO
Klenke emphasized that colleagues who campaign for improvements in
working conditions can also be right-wing. "They are organizing the
uprising against management in the company and the uprising against
politics in society, also with the support of the AfD," Klenke summed up
this mixed situation.
Jena-based Verdi secretary Teresa Gärtner, who is also responsible for
employees in the clinics, also reported similar experiences. There are
many employees there who say "I've had enough," but that does not mean
that they are immune to right-wing ideas. "Especially during the Corona
period, we lost many colleagues to the AfD," Gärtner observed.
Magdeburg FAU colleague Lutz Neuber reported on his experiences at the
demonstrations against Hartz IV 20 years ago. "At the first
demonstration, we from the FAU stood at the front with a banner with a
slogan against the state, capital and Nazis and were cheered by many
demonstrators. At the next demonstration, neo-Nazis stood at the front
with their banners and were applauded just as much," Neuber described
the contradictory experiences. In the book Classless - social resistance
from Hartz IV to the inflation protests, Neuber goes into more detail
about the Hartz IV protests in Magdeburg and the FAU's intervention.
THE LEFT MUST RE-ESTABLISH TRUST
Neuber, Gärtner and Klenke, however, still see hope for the Left in the
world of work. "But then we have to regain credibility and trust among
our colleagues." The event makes it clear that it is not enough to take
part in events against the right in the big cities. Many people in the
companies don't even notice them.
Unfortunately, there was little time at the proletarian salon to point
out concrete examples where such cooperation between anti-fascism and
class struggle works. At least there were reminders of movements such as
"We drive together", in which climate activists cooperate with employees
from the automobile industry and public transport.
https://direkteaktion.org/wie-kann-die-afd-in-der-arbeitswelt-gestoppt-werden/
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
Teilhabe e.V. organized together with the AK History of Social Movements
East-West last weekend in Berlin's Mehringhof. ---- Business & Society
By: Peter Nowak - June 14, 2024 ---- The discussion rounds, which take
place at irregular intervals, are based on the salon conversations of
the bourgeoisie in past centuries. Only in Mehringhof it is not wealthy
city dwellers but unemployed activists like Anne Seeck who invite rent
rebels, activist scientists and cheeky unemployed people to discussion
rounds.
Last Friday evening, the left-wing GDR oppositionists Renate Hürtgen,
Bernd Gehrke and the left-wing urban sociologist Andrej Holm addressed
the question of why the AfD has the status of a popular party in some
regions in East Germany. A finding that was confirmed again after the
local elections and the elections to the European Parliament at the weekend.
During the discussion it became clear that there is no monocausal
explanation. The authoritarian state socialism of the GDR was mentioned,
as were the experiences of powerlessness that many residents of East
Germany had to endure in the years of reunification. Holm, Gehrke and
Hürtgen represent the left-wing GDR opposition, which after the fall of
the SED sought anti-authoritarian socialism and not a restoration of
capitalism. These attempts were already overwhelmed in the autumn of
1989 by a nationalist wave with black, red and gold flags, which
culminated in the election victory of the Alliance for Germany in March
1990, whose rhetoric the AfD can easily build on today.
ANTI-FASCISM AND CLASS STRUGGLE
On Saturday, the seminar under the motto "Anti-fascism and class
struggle" was devoted to the question of what resistance to the AfD in
the workplace could look like. There, Olaf Klenke, secretary of the
Food, Beverages and Catering Union (NGG), reported on how the increase
in right-wing ideas is also affecting the everyday life of the companies
he looks after.
It makes a difference whether he is talking to employees in the hotel
industry in Leipzig or to colleagues in small towns in Saxony-Anhalt. In
the provinces, unlike in the metropolis, terms such as diversity and
open society do not play a role, says Klenke. On the contrary, a union
that uses such terms too often runs the risk of sounding rhetorically
like the management of the companies. Because at least larger
capitalists have long since learned to use as many of the left-liberal
filler words such as diversity and variety as possible and to put up
corresponding banners. But when it comes to the qualification of migrant
workers, the much-vaunted diversity on the part of capital is usually
quickly over.
CAPITALIST OR PROLETARIAN INTERNATIONALISM?
The internationalism of capital usually consists of being able to
exploit people from all over the world as cheaply as possible. The trade
unionists agreed that criticism of this must not be met with exclusion.
What is needed is a proletarian cosmopolitanism that advocates that
people, regardless of origin and gender, stand up together for their
interests as workers. A difficult undertaking in everyday business life.
Because the defense against migration is also a major issue among
workers. Klenke emphasized that he had the impression that the aversion
was not only directed at migrants but generally against people who
supposedly or actually live on transfer payments. That is why the
agitation against citizens' allowance recipients who supposedly "live on
our tax money" would also catch on in the world of work. This also
ignores the fact that many of those receiving citizens' allowances can
no longer live from their wage labor.
RIGHT-WING PEOPLE CAN STRIKE TOO
Klenke emphasized that colleagues who campaign for improvements in
working conditions can also be right-wing. "They are organizing the
uprising against management in the company and the uprising against
politics in society, also with the support of the AfD," Klenke summed up
this mixed situation.
Jena-based Verdi secretary Teresa Gärtner, who is also responsible for
employees in the clinics, also reported similar experiences. There are
many employees there who say "I've had enough," but that does not mean
that they are immune to right-wing ideas. "Especially during the Corona
period, we lost many colleagues to the AfD," Gärtner observed.
Magdeburg FAU colleague Lutz Neuber reported on his experiences at the
demonstrations against Hartz IV 20 years ago. "At the first
demonstration, we from the FAU stood at the front with a banner with a
slogan against the state, capital and Nazis and were cheered by many
demonstrators. At the next demonstration, neo-Nazis stood at the front
with their banners and were applauded just as much," Neuber described
the contradictory experiences. In the book Classless - social resistance
from Hartz IV to the inflation protests, Neuber goes into more detail
about the Hartz IV protests in Magdeburg and the FAU's intervention.
THE LEFT MUST RE-ESTABLISH TRUST
Neuber, Gärtner and Klenke, however, still see hope for the Left in the
world of work. "But then we have to regain credibility and trust among
our colleagues." The event makes it clear that it is not enough to take
part in events against the right in the big cities. Many people in the
companies don't even notice them.
Unfortunately, there was little time at the proletarian salon to point
out concrete examples where such cooperation between anti-fascism and
class struggle works. At least there were reminders of movements such as
"We drive together", in which climate activists cooperate with employees
from the automobile industry and public transport.
https://direkteaktion.org/wie-kann-die-afd-in-der-arbeitswelt-gestoppt-werden/
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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