World famous for his work Resonance. A sociology of the relationship to the world (La Découverte, 2018), the German Hartmut Rosa is one of the most influential contemporary thinkers, committed to making more optimistic the legacy of “critical theory”, a current of German thought of the 20th century.e century represented by Theodor W. Adorno (1903-1969) and Max Horkheimer (1895-1973). Appreciated in his country for his critical analyses of society, he has taught sociology at the Friedrich-Schiller University in Jena, Thuringia, since 2005.
What do you think of the results of the regional elections in Thuringia?
It has been predictable for some time. In Thuringia, where I live and work, the election victory of Alternative für Deutschland [AfD] is a real disaster. Here, the branch AfD regional is classified as far-right and “put under surveillance” by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution. With Björn Höcke, the party leader in Thuringia, we have pretty much the worst. The AfD won more than a third of the seats in the state parliament. It now has a blocking minority that allows it to prevent constitutional amendments or the appointment of judges.
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According to the polling institute Infratest Dimap, around half of AfD voters have “a right-wing or even extreme right-wing worldview”. How do you explain that the other half, who do not identify as right-wing, have no problem voting for Björn Höcke?
If we take this survey seriously, we find ethnonationalist and far-right thinking among one sixth of the electorate, or half the AfD’s score in Thuringia. Unfortunately, this is now the case throughout Europe, perhaps even worldwide. What matters now is not to lose the other half of AfD voters forever. And to succeed, the style of political discourse of the established parties and the mainstream media must change. Starting with the persistent reflex of calling Nazis anyone who does not situate themselves in the political spectrum from Die Linke [gauche] to the CDU [droite conservatrice].
The general perception in Thuringia is that if you don’t agree with the government’s opinion, you are immediately labelled a Nazi. If, during the Covid-19 pandemic, someone didn’t want to get vaccinated, they were a Nazi. Don’t you think Vladimir Putin is the devil incarnate? You are a Nazi. And many people tell me that this stamp « nazi » ennobles them. For them, it means: “I am someone who thinks for himself and resists.”
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