“What you want: How protest really works” is the name of the new book by Friedemann Karig. In the star he talks about the public perception of the current protests and his disappointment with the political reactions.
Angry farmers roll through the city centers with their tractors. Green party events are blown up. Millions are taking to the streets against the right. Times are turbulent, and it seems that author and podcaster Friedemann Karig has written just the right book for it. “Whatever you want. How protest really works,” it says, and Karig deals with civil disobedience, non-violent protest and the major progressive movements of the 20th and 21st centuries.
For weeks, several hundred thousand people have been on the streets to protest against the right. Why are these protests still so popular?
Because it’s about the whole thing. The protest on the streets against the AfD and right-wing extremism was long overdue. In recent years there have been repeated anti-fascist counter-demonstrations, but no national and long-term protest movement. However, many people in this country are rightly very concerned about where the AfD stands in the polls, about its plans and its radicalization in recent years. Sometimes a spark is enough, like the “Correctiv” research. The fact that it was needed is a good example of the immense but untapped potential for protest that we are not using.
Surprisingly, there are currently no clearly defined requirements. It’s against the right, perhaps even against the AfD. But there is no consensus among participants about a ban on the AfD, and even the word “right-wing” is the subject of public debate. So does the current protest thrive on its vagueness?
Yes, the protest is vague in its demands, but that is also legitimate in this specific case because so much has been missed politically that you are almost starting from scratch. It is also not the job of a protest to tell politicians what needs to be done in detail.
Protest can have very specific demands – think, for example, of the last generation, which wants to block individual laws. But protest can also be more vague, as is the case with Fridays for Future, who say that the 1.5 degree target should be met. How exactly the government achieves this is of secondary importance to them. In this case, the protest is actually directed against an entire ideology. For a government that wants to take active action against right-wing extremism, there are still obvious calls for action. One obligation would be to massively increase funding for de-radicalization programs and to take action against neo-Nazis as employees of the AfD.
How effective can such a protest actually be?
As far as I know, politicians have hardly responded to the protests with any concrete steps. This is an incredible oversight and really doesn’t say anything good about our government’s ability to act. Protest can ruthlessly reveal who is actually on which side. This government is largely staying out of it right now and this situation must end.
Friedemann Karig: We made the rules and have to change them
With the SPD and the Greens, there are two parties in the government coalition that would probably classify themselves as left of center. Why do they have so much trouble reacting?
I don’t understand that at all. The AfD will destroy democracy if it can – that must be completely clear to all of us. The issue is so important that no democratic government can afford not to take action and respond to the protest. It would have been very easy to at least react more strongly with money and rhetoric. And in the medium term, you can also find new ways of doing things legislatively, if you really want to. The attitude is still too often: “We didn’t make the rules.” That’s not true: We made the rules, and if right-wing extremists benefit from them, we have to change them immediately. Otherwise it’s too late.
To be honest, I’m curious to see whether this sitting out, which Olaf Scholz inherited from Angela Merkel, can be ended through further protests. To do this, however, the demands would actually have to be more specific.