Return Of The Repressed In Germany
Nathan Gardels is the editor-in-chief of Noema Magazine. He is also the co-founder of and a senior adviser to the Berggruen Institute.
TL;DR
- Neo-Nazi parties are rising in Germany, especially in former East Germany, challenging post-war liberal democracy.
- Experts from three decades ago foresaw these issues, attributing them to suppressed national identity and a "yearning for a lost sense of belonging."
- The influx of immigrants and lenient asylum policies were identified as triggers for these sentiments.
- Filmmaker Hans Jürgen Syberberg argued that repressing "Heimat" (homeland) and unique identity leads to the "ugliest form" of passion surfacing.
- Heiner Müller linked neo-Nazi extremism to a void left by the collapse of socialism and the absence of utopias, filling it with nationalism.
- Daniel Cohn-Bendit highlighted the economic disparities and fear in East Germany after reunification, making immigrants a target.
- The 2015 refugee crisis under Angela Merkel exacerbated these tensions.
- The article proposes lessons: avoid conflating defense of belonging with Nazism, control immigration based on norms and values, redefine asylum, and implement proactive integration policies for aging societies.
- Successful integration requires matching immigrants' skills to labor market needs, as seen in Canada, and utilizing public higher education as a cultural mixer, as in California.
- Open societies require defined borders to sustain a common sense of identity.