Suchergebnisse

A critique of the xenophobic violence of Aug 1992 at Rostock-Lichtenhagen, Federal Republic of Germany, where right-wing radicals attacked a shelter for political refugees. Until late 1992, no changes in governmental immigration/asylum policies had occurred, despite massive protests of the incident. It is argued that politicians (eg, Volker Ruhe), more than the neo-Nazis, are responsible for inflaming the immigration issue. Rightist government policy renewing the call for unity without unification only exacerbates the continued burden of East Germany's post-1989 disenfranchisement. Personal losses are also detailed, including loss of homeland, loss of political culture exemplified by Willy Brandt's administration, & loss of the diversity of public opinion. German exclusionary policies aimed at migrant gypsies perpetuate their status as the quintessential victims. J. Sadler

What follows is the text of a speech read on 14 February 1992 at Stationers Hall, London, on the third anniversary of the fatwa against Salman Rushdie.

A Franco-German exchange between novelist & sociologist on the success of neoliberalism in transforming political regression into the standard of social progress; & the fate of the Enlightenment in the two leading cultures of the European Union. Adapted from the source document.