Eberhard Seidel and Klaus Farin interviewed young people in East Germany and in the immigrant neighborhoods of the West during the years of the Wende, bringing right-wing and left-wing youth to the same table. They wanted to know: What are their fears, what are their hopes? Their answers are surprisingly relevant. Anyone wanting to understand the success of right-wing populism among those aged 40 to 55 today must consider the social climate under which this generation experienced their political socialization from 1989 to 1994.
How do young people in East Germany and in Berlin react to the opening of the border, the disappearance of the GDR, and the emergence of the new Germany? How do they respond to the end of solidarity and to legal and social inequality? What does being German mean to them? And are the ethnically homogeneous youth of the East able to cope with the youth of various backgrounds from the West?
To find answers to their questions, the authors traveled through the new Germany. They sought out young people at their meeting places. They spoke with them and listened to what they had to say. The conversations took place at a time when the media and politicians were inciting against refugees, and refugee shelters and houses inhabited by Turkish families were burning across the country.
The Wendejugend still plays a special role in Germany today. From it come the spokespersons of PEGIDA, the members and the environment of the National Socialist Underground (NSU), and the age group of East Germans aged 40 to 55 has voted for the AfD most frequently in the 2017 federal election, the European election, and the state elections in 2019.
The authors:
Klaus Farin, born in 1958 in Gelsenkirchen, has lived in Berlin-Neukölln since 1980 – thanks to punk. After working as a concert promoter and security, bookseller, and journalist, he is now a freelance author and editor and is constantly on lecture tours. He founded the Archive of Youth Cultures, of which he was the director from 1998 to 2011, and is currently the chairman of the Stiftung Respekt!
The volume Krieg in den Städten, co-authored with Eberhard Seidel, has become a "modern classic" (Ralph Giordano) of youth social research.
Eberhard Seidel, born in 1955 in Sommerhausen/Franken, has lived in Berlin since 1977. He has written the standard work on the history of Döner Kebap in Germany and has also been an expert on right-wing extremism, Islamism, and youth subcultures throughout his life. Today, he is the managing director of Schule ohne Rassismus – Schule mit Courage.
"Wendejugend" is the first title of the new Edition Courage.
Book premiere: November 5, taz-Café with Patrice Poutrus, Anja Maier, Elvira Berndt, Sanem Kleff, and the authors: The Wendejugend. Lessons from the Ethnic Revolt.
Klaus Farin and Eberhard Seidel,
WENDEJUGEND
Hardcover
160 pages
18 euros
ISBN:
978-3-947380-35-0 print
978-3-947380-36-7 epub
978-3-947380-37-4 pdf
How do young people in East Germany and in Berlin react to the opening of the border, the disappearance of the GDR, and the emergence of the new Germany? How do they respond to the end of solidarity and to legal and social inequality? What does being German mean to them? And are the ethnically homogeneous youth of the East able to cope with the youth of various backgrounds from the West?
To find answers to their questions, the authors traveled through the new Germany. They sought out young people at their meeting places. They spoke with them and listened to what they had to say. The conversations took place at a time when the media and politicians were inciting against refugees, and refugee shelters and houses inhabited by Turkish families were burning across the country.
The Wendejugend still plays a special role in Germany today. From it come the spokespersons of PEGIDA, the members and the environment of the National Socialist Underground (NSU), and the age group of East Germans aged 40 to 55 has voted for the AfD most frequently in the 2017 federal election, the European election, and the state elections in 2019.
The authors:
Klaus Farin, born in 1958 in Gelsenkirchen, has lived in Berlin-Neukölln since 1980 – thanks to punk. After working as a concert promoter and security, bookseller, and journalist, he is now a freelance author and editor and is constantly on lecture tours. He founded the Archive of Youth Cultures, of which he was the director from 1998 to 2011, and is currently the chairman of the Stiftung Respekt!
The volume Krieg in den Städten, co-authored with Eberhard Seidel, has become a "modern classic" (Ralph Giordano) of youth social research.
Eberhard Seidel, born in 1955 in Sommerhausen/Franken, has lived in Berlin since 1977. He has written the standard work on the history of Döner Kebap in Germany and has also been an expert on right-wing extremism, Islamism, and youth subcultures throughout his life. Today, he is the managing director of Schule ohne Rassismus – Schule mit Courage.
"Wendejugend" is the first title of the new Edition Courage.
Book premiere: November 5, taz-Café with Patrice Poutrus, Anja Maier, Elvira Berndt, Sanem Kleff, and the authors: The Wendejugend. Lessons from the Ethnic Revolt.
Klaus Farin and Eberhard Seidel,
WENDEJUGEND
Hardcover
160 pages
18 euros
ISBN:
978-3-947380-35-0 print
978-3-947380-36-7 epub
978-3-947380-37-4 pdf
