“How we speak determines who we are – also, and above all, in politics.”
In this book Robert Habeck, the leader of Germany’s Green Party, examines the connection between language and politics. He explores the difference between totalitarian and open language - with intelligence, passion and clarity. In the process, he outlines a poetics of democratic speech that is open and multifaceted enough to bring people together and encourages us to get involved in a discussion about who we could be and to stand up for our democracy.
“Asylum shopping,” “foreign infiltration,” “attitudinal dictatorship,” “hyper-morality,” “betrayal of the people” – in recent months, a lot has been said about the debasement of language in politics. After a long period marked by political silence, a time of political yelling and roasting is now underway. But what exactly is going on? Where is the line between constructive democratic debate and language that destroys discussion, language that marginalizes and dehumanizes? And, is all of this really just a matter of lack of style?
