“I don’t think fear is the right word. I am afraid of the future,” Tim Wechselmann-Cassim of Letzte Generation told us about what he feels when drivers try to run their cars into activists during a street-takeover action. “The worst thing that can happen is that they are going to run me over [...] I wouldn’t be there if I wasn’t already committed to that.”
Who defines what “radical” is? Who gets labeled “radical” and what implications does this have? In this episode of Sticking Point, Anne-Marie and Izzy dive into this question and share some of their personal viewpoints on the kinds of direct actions taken by Letzte Generation and why they think the media making comparisons to terrorist groups is pretty freakin dangerous.
Journalist Paul Hockenos picks up with what happened in the climate movement after FFF and XR stopped attracting the numbers onto the streets that they had in 2018 and 2019. Wechselmann-Cassim takes us further into the motivations of Letzte Generation activists and Tadzio Müller of Ende Gelände argues that there are also specific reasons why the climate movement has not turned violent. Jérémie Gagné from the More in Common thinktank and Regine Richter of Urgewald join us again to help contextualize the impact of these activist groups on German society.
About Sticking Point:
Izzy Choksey and Anne-Marie Harrison take a journey through Germany’s climate movement in this Radio Spaetkauf series. Sticking Point meets the people inside Germany’s climate movement: from the tactics of the anti-nuclear campaigns, to activists clambering onto coal excavators, striking students and people gluing their hands to roads. We find out what motivates activists and why they are willing to use increasingly radical means to force change.
Credits:
Producing: Izzy Choksey and Anne-Marie Harrison
Script: Izzy Choksey and Anne-Marie Harrison
Editing: Sebastian Filip
Technical Support: Daniel Stern
Art Work: Daniel Stern
Additional Support: Joel Dullroy
Music: Tom Evans
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Shownotes:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/dec/29/could-covid-lockdown-have-helped-save-the-planet
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/apr/21/climate-diplomacy-is-hopeless-says-author-of-how-to-blow-up-a-pipeline-andreas-malm?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/apr/27/german-police-call-for-tougher-response-to-growing-climate-protests-letzte-generation
https://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/258757/umfrage/umfrage-zum-tempolimit-auf-autobahnen/
https://www.zdf.de/nachrichten/politik/dobrindt-klima-raf-100.html
https://www.ndr.de/nachrichten/niedersachsen/Verfassungsschutz-haelt-Bezeichnung-Klima-RAF-fuer-falsch,pejril102.html
https://www.zeit.de/gesellschaft/zeitgeschehen/2023-04/amtsgericht-berlin-tiergarten-haftstrafe-klimaaktivistin-letzte-generation
https://www.zeit.de/gesellschaft/zeitgeschehen/2023-04/amtsgericht-berlin-tiergarten-haftstrafe-klimaaktivistin-letzte-generation
https://www.merkur.de/deutschland/haft-monatelang-rekordstrafe-klima-kleber-aktivisten-letzte-generation-gefaengnis-strafe-92217695.htmlv
https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/regional/berlin/rbb-demonstranten-blockieren-an-27-stellen-im-berliner-stadtgebiet-strassen-102.html
https://www.mdr.de/brisant/radfahrerin-berlin-tot-102.html
https://www.hdg.de/lemo/kapitel/geteiltes-deutschland-krisenmanagement/linksterrorismus-rote-armee-fraktion.html
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/may/24/german-police-stage-nationwide-raids-against-climate-activists
https://www.tagesspiegel.de/berlin/weil-scholz-sie-vollig-bekloppt-nannte-letzte-generation-beschmiert-spd-parteizentrale-in-berlin-9865331.html
https://www.zdf.de/nachrichten/politik/letzte-generation-umfrage-kriminelle-vereinigung-100.html
https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/klimaprotest-letztegeneration-straftaten-100.html
RS#Update 2014: Opposing the TV and Radio fee
RS#02 2014: The Tempelhofer Feld referendum
RS#01 2014: Who throws a shoe? €30 fine for sneakering in Berlin
RS#24 2013: Watch out for bad glühwein
RS#23 2013: Rent controls and a minimum wage
RS#22 2013: Re-Thinking the City
RS#21 2013: Energetic Discussion
RS#20 2013: Truth in a booth
RS#19 2013: Where to live in Berlin? Bruno Taut's Horseshoe Estate or Merkel's old apartment?
RS#18 2013: What is Electoral Rebellion?
RS#17 2013: Meet the creative ad-buster. Vermibus
RS#16 2013: Weed cafe in Görlitzer Park?
RS #15 2013: Election posters and the Pirate Party
RS #14 2013: We're not here for the fun of it
RS #13 2013: Imagine an advertisement-free Berlin?
RS #12 2013: Midsummer in Brandenburg
RS #11 2013: Lake time in Berlin
RS#10 2013: How to get a rent reduction in Berlin
RS #09 2013: Recreating the U8 font
RS #08 2013: Jeans Team talk about their love affair with Wedding
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