Sie gehören zu den Herausgeber*innes kürzich im Verlag „Die Buchmacherei“ erschienen Sammelband „Klassenlos Sozialer Widerstnd von Hartz IV bis zu dne Teuerungsprotesten“.
Some authors of the book gave short inputs, including Markus Staiger, who was interviewed in the book for the alliance „Heating, Bread, and Peace,“ as well as activists from the Open Assembly „The Price is Hot“ and the neighborhood group in the community center Lunte. The discussion revolved around the question of why the hot autumn against inflation largely did not occur last year.
It became clear that both „The Price is Right“ and „Heating, Bread, and Peace“ had a commonality despite their political differences. Both groups made sure to schedule their protest actions last autumn in a way that they would be present before the right-wing on the streets. However, the protests were not focused on whether those affected by inflation, the poor people, had any interest in taking to the streets for that reason. Many have already developed individual survival strategies to cope with their everyday lives and do not have time for street protests. This criticism is further elaborated in the book by long-time unemployed activists Harald Rein and Hinrich Garms. Excerpts from Rein’s text were brought into the discussion by Anne Seeck. Despite the lack of mass protests, the comrades of „The Price is Right“ did not consider their work a failure. Berlin remains one of the few social-revolutionary meeting points against inflation in Germany. They also organized a social-revolutionary bloc at the Revolutionary May 1st demonstration in 2023. The initiative continues its work, regularly organizing open meetings, and mobilizing with flyers, posters, and stickers for an anarchist/social-revolutionary solution to inflation and the capitalist crisis. „The Price is Right“ rejects cooperation with political parties based on their anti-state principles.
Heizung, Brot und Frieden
The alliance „Heating, Bread and Peace“ has a different approach. Representatives of political parties, including the LEFT, the DKP, and other left-wing parties, have also been involved. However, Markus Staiger clarified at the beginning of his input that he did not come up with the headline above the interview, „With Heating, Bread, Peace, and Sahra against inflation?“ Staiger does not see the socially conservative Sahra Wagenknecht as a mobilization factor. However, he also emphasized that the conflicts and discussions within and around the Left Party also shaped the alliance „Heating, War, and Peace.“ After a highly anticipated and controversial opening event in early September 2022 in front of the Green Party headquarters in Berlin, the mobilization quickly declined. A rally in Lichtenberg, a district that is not considered a stronghold of the woke left criticized by Wagenknecht and others, turned out to be a flop because hardly anyone besides the organizers participated. The alliance has shrunk in recent months. Staiger himself now has a greater distance from Heating, Bread, and Peace than during the interview.
Mit Plakaten und Wandzeitungen mobilisieren
Gerdi from the neighborhood group in Lunte criticized the left-wing mobilization efforts against inflation. He criticized the heavily academically influenced left scene, which has little contact with poor people. The neighborhood center Lunte has been a meeting point for active unemployed people for years, where they also organized a breakfast for the unemployed and where those affected can also receive support for their appointments at the job center. However, according to Verdi, the unemployed group in Lunte has recently reached the level of a self-help group. Some activists from the neighborhood group have made a new move. Gerdi expressed skepticism about constantly new poorly attended demonstrations that hardly anyone notices. He suggested being present in the neighborhood with posters and wall newspapers and also informing about counseling centers there. In recent months, the neighborhood group has organized people who struggle with bureaucratic problems when using the social ticket for public transportation. These problems result in many people with little money having to pay a 60 euro surcharge. There are long queues at the payment points. But hardly anyone is willing to participate in protests against the bureaucratic harassment surrounding the ticket instead of paying. On the other hand, several affected individuals responded when the neighborhood group asked in social networks who also has to pay 60 euros because of these problems with the social ticket. There were joint visits to the payment point of BVG. The conclusion of the reports from the open assembly: there are still protests by people who resist their disenfranchisement, but the major resistance is lacking.
Deutsche Wohnen enteignen – oder wie sich Hoffnung in Enttäuschung verwandelt
Sehr anschaulich berichtete ein junger Mann auf der offenen Versammlung über sein Engagement bei der Initiative „Deutsche Wohnen und Co. enteignen“ (DW Enteignen), die Hoffnungen der ersten Wochen als die Initiative im Coronajahr 2021 ab Ende Februar die Straßen Berlins prägte. Ihre bunten Fahnen und ihre Plakate waren bald auch in den Berliner Stadtteilen nicht zu übersehen, die nicht als links galten. Es gab in dieser Zeit immer wieder Konzerte, Kundgebungen, Demonstrationen und dann als Höhepunkt den großen Erfolg – am 26. September 2021 stimmten 59,1 % der Abstimmungsberechtigen für die Ziele von DW-Enteignen. Doch zwei Jahre später ist keine einzige DW-Wohnung wieder in kommunales Eigentum überführt worden. Den Staatsapparaten gelang es mit Hinhaltetricks, mit Taktieren etc. die Initiative ins Leere laufen zu lassen. Der junge Mann spricht von einer großen Enttäuschung, nach der Hoffnung gemeinsam und mit großer Mehrheit eine emanzipatorische Forderung im Interesse der Mehrheit der Bevölkerung durchgesetzt zu haben. Und die größte Enttäuschung ist für ihn, dass es keinerlei Großdemonstrationen gab, auf denen die Menschen, die für das Volksbegehren gestimmt haben die Umsetzung einfordertn. Und noch eine weitere ernüchternde Feststellung machte der DW-Aktivist. Er habe in der Mobilisierungsphase, als es galt, von Haustür zu Haustür die Ziele des Volksbegehrens in Wohnvierteln bekannt zu machen, wo sonst nie linke Aktivist*innen auftauchen, mit mindestens 100 Menschen Gespräche geführt über die die Wohnungspolitik und über ihre Vorstellungen, was sich da in ihren Interesse ändern sollte. Er habe nur ganz selten den Eindruck gehabt, dass die Menschen sich überhaupt mit diesen Fragen auseinandersetzen. Dieser ernüchternde Bericht hat mich beim Offenen Treffen am Stärksten beeindruckt, weil er die Schwierigkeiten deutlich macht, mit denen heute und auch in Zukunft linke Aktivist*inenn konfrontiert sind. Da ist ein Teil der Bevölkerung, der sich völlig aus der gesellschaftlichen Diskussion ausklinkt, die auch dann nicht mehr protestiert, wenn es direkt um die eigenen Interessen geht. Der Teil dieser Menschen wird zunehmen, wenn die kapitalistischen Staatsapparate weiterhin ohne auf Widerstand zu stoßen, selbst ein Volksbegehren mit fast 60 Prozent ignorieren können, weil davon wenn auch nur geringfügig die Verwertungsbedingungen des Immobilienkapitals angegriffen werden.
Linke Niederlagen – rechte Erfolge?
Die ernüchternden Erfahrungen des DW-Enteignen-Aktivisten korrespondieren mit ähnlichen Erfahrungen, die in den Jahren 2011 – 2015 Hunderttausende Menschen in den Ländern Südeuropas vor allem in Spanien, Italien und Griechenland machen mussten. In dem dazu gehörigen Kapitel im Buch heißt es:
„I cannot reword“
The peak and swift defeat of these social protests across Europe occurred in the summer of 2015, when the newly elected left-social democratic Syriza government, with strong support from the population, resisted the austerity policies of the EU Troika led by Germany and eventually surrendered. After that, the rise of the right-wing began all over Europe. The movement „DW Enteignen“ was a movement that gave hope to many people in Berlin, as it was adapted to the situation in the city. Could the disappointment over the non-implementation also further accelerate the rise of the right-wing?
Ein Buch als kollektiver Organisator von Diskussionen
But could the development not also take a different course if the societal left ensures it? This raises some questions for DW Enteignen. Was it suggested too hastily that reforms in favor of the majority of the population can be achieved through a popular referendum in capitalism? Was the power of capital and its state apparatus underestimated? Isn’t the real success of DW Enteignen in having put the concept of socializing housing corporations in Berlin back on the agenda and made it majority-supported? Isn’t the task of a societal left, not just DW Enteignen, to think about organizing that also takes on the task of enforcing majority-supported left-wing demands, so that we do not repeatedly find ourselves discouraged at the gates of state apparatuses like the labor court in the case of the Mall of Berlin labor dispute or the various commissions of the Berlin Senate in the implementation of the DW Enteignen popular referendum? Wouldn’t an analysis of these defeats be the first step in preparing for new struggles that build on the experiences of DW Enteignen, both positive and negative? Wouldn’t such open assemblies and discussions like the one on October 16th at Lunte be an important part of this? That’s why the anthology „Classless Social Resistance from Hartz IV to the Cost-of-Living Protests“ is not a historical book where one can read about the struggles poor people have fought, sometimes won, and often lost. No, „Classless Social Resistance…“ is a very current book. It is a collective work by people who want to stimulate discussions and prepare for future struggles. Further discussions about and with the book are planned. On November 1, 2023, the editors invite you to another discussion event at the counseling center of the Berlin Tenants‘ Community in Sonnenallee 101 (Berlin Neukölln).
Im Einladungstext heißt es:
„Vor 20 Jahren am 1.11.2003 fand die Großdemonstration gegen Sozialkahlschlag mit mehr als 100 000 Teilnehmer*innen in Berlin statt. Diese Demo war in eine Vielzahl von Aktivitäten gegen Sozialabbau eingebettet, deren Höhepunkt sie war. Wir wollen an dieses Ereignis erinnernd und zurückblickend den Zustand der gegenwärtigen Linken und ihr Verhältnis zum sozialen Protest analysieren.“
Peter Nowak