Nora Bossong on Germany's new generation of politicians

A longtime advocate for democracy, peace and human rights, author Nora Bossong was also a member of the presidium of the German PEN Center for two years. 

Most recently, she published a non-fiction book about her generation, "Die Geschmeidigen: Meine Generation und der neue Ernst des Lebens" (The Smooth Ones: My generation and life's new seriousness)

DW: In your latest book, you write about the new generation of politicians in Germany: They are "smooth," consensus-oriented, willing to compromise — but they also lack attitude, maturity. How are these politicians doing in light of Russian President Putin's war of aggression?

Nora Bossong: Just a few weeks ago, I was very critical of how our politicians were acting. Fortunately, they have meanwhile changed their policy. Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock  and Chancellor Olaf Scholz have shown quite some decisiveness of late. They have managed to think outside the box.

One example is when they decided in favor of comprehensive our politicians, a halt to the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline and arms deliveries to Ukraine, which ushers in a new era in German foreign policy. How do you feel about the war against Ukraine?

Initially I was in a state of shock. I have always been committed to democracy, freedom, peace. To see how that suddenly breaks down, how the language of violence is so much louder and more unconditional than what we have tried to build, that raises questions: Where did we go wrong? Have we taken peace and democracy too much for granted — democracy as a self-service store, so to speak.

 

How do you view the situation as a writer?

I understand why some people don't pin their hopes on literature. All the texts about peace, all the writers committed to a political point of view — they were there before, and they couldn't prevent the war. You could spend two days reading poems to Vladimir Putin, I don't think that would change his attitude. But it isn't a question of either/or. Literature and poetry are democracy's building blocks, which is very important. If a few bricks are missing in the wrong place, the whole house collapses.

What can Germans, and other countries, expect from German politicians in future?

What we can expect from this generation is the return of a more long-term perspective in politics. The prevailing feeling is that we really have to take responsibility now, precisely because we were lucky enough to have grown up in such a peaceful time in Germany. We have to think about climate change and security policy. These are two topics that have been contained for a long time, especially in Germany.

Is your generation — people who are around 40 years old — ready to offer a vision?

The strength of the "smooth" generation is its ideology-free thinking. People tend to look at what unites them rather than what divides them — just look at Germany's current coalition government. We are witnessing an attack on our understanding of freedom, the rule of law and democracy; a threat from an autocratic, aggressive individual who has initiated and carried through the invasion of a sovereign country. I would like us all to look more at what unites us as democratic people and as Europeans.

What is it, then, that unites us?

A desire for a Europe with few borders, a Europe that is connected and offers a perspective of freedom for as many people as possible, a democracy all people can really participate in — not an illiberal democracy like that of Viktor Orban in Hungary. As far as democratic participation is concerned, there is still room for improvement in Germany, too — people first have to be in a position to participate, which means education and social self-confidence.

What do foresee for the future?

I see the danger that everything we hoped for — prematurely perhaps— in the 1990s, this triumphant advance of democracy and the rule of law, is being called into question. The utopia I would like to present is that we will manage to become more aware of political thinking again and to put the focus on political action.

What would such political action look like?

It would have to be action beyond adding a Ukrainian flag to my Facebook profile photo. We need to think about things more seriously, not just rashly toss out opinions — that is not a political mindset. I would like to see political thinking that goes outside the box. Everyone can be a politically active person, it's the only way to experience to a large degree what it means to be human. That is my hope and my vision for the future.

This interview has been translated from German.