Radikalisiert Euch!

Many actors in civil society and political education tend to adopt the authoritarian and simplistic logic of deradicalisation, which is currently taking over from the legacy of the extremism doctrine. It is a doctrine that regards radicalism as a threat to harmonious coexistence and radicalisation as an almost universal symbol of evil. The supposedly pacifying power of deradicalisation seeks to rein in those who insist on their demand for a wholly different whole. Funding criteria, practical constraints, the need for allies and, not least, repression prevent them from going all out.

Yet radicalism is indispensable for making a good life for all possible in the first place. ‘Radical’ is a critique of existing conditions when it does not merely scratch the surface but seeks out causes – and pursues a practice aimed at eliminating those causes. That is why the editors call out: ‘Radicalise yourselves!’ – in everyday life, in activism, in criticism. Activists, those involved in left-wing projects, critical academics and supporters of various social movements discuss in this anthology how the logic of deradicalisation can be criticised and how emancipatory processes of radicalisation can be set in motion.

With contributions from Felix Klopotek, Lukas Holfeld, Krisis, Katze und Fliege, Michel Raab, Julika Bürgin, Sarah Schulz, Hanna Poddig, Maria Neuhauss, Soli-Asyl Thüringen, Markus Beinhauer and Karl Meyerbeer.