#1 ,Please stop telling me that everything‘s fine in Germany
When the Coronavirus first hit, the international press was full of reports praising Angela Merkel’s handling of the pandemic. In an article written in April, Phil Butland argued that if you look at the actual statistics, German response was middling, somewhere between Singapore and Portugal, and much worse than large swathes of the Global South.
#2 How a viral facebook post came to symbolise Berlin’s growing housing crisis
In late October, a facebook post offered a room in the Berlin district of Neukölln. The room was a bathroom, and you must bring your own mattress. Alice Lambert argued that, regardless of whether this was a hoax, it symbolized the pressing issue of gentrification in Berlin.
#3 German. Anti-German, Syn-German?
Nothing seems to confuse International activists in Germany more than the Antideutsche (anti-Germans), supposedly left-wingers who support every last crime of the Israeli government. In July, we asked Berlin-based Israeli activist Yossi Bartal to explain who are the Antideutsche and where they come from.
#4 Killing twelve chickens a minute
In June, Nora Labo, union organiser in the Irish meat plant industry, reported a crisis of terrible working conditions that was being exacerbated by the Coronavirus crisis. Workers in the industry – mainly women from Easter Europe were starting to fight back to defend themselves.
#5 What’s happening in Berlin on May 1, 2020?
On 30 April, the day before the annual demonstrations for International Workers’ Day, we published a map of where all planned demos were taking place and how the organisation had been affected by the Coronavirus.
#6 Kamala Harris is no Feminist Hero
The selection of Kamala Harris as Joe Biden’s running mate was hailed by some as a great victory for Black women, In September, Elena Gagovska argued that if we look at Harris’s track record, neither women nor Black people can expect to benefit from her tenure.
#7 A socialist comes off the fence
In 2017, Anna Southern joined the Labour Party, excited by Jeremy Corbyn’s programme of radical reforms. Just over three years later, she’s had enough and resigned from the party (while remaining politically active). In September, we published Anna’s resignation letter.
#8 Men and babysitting, women and childcare
At the beginning of December, Jacinta Nandi called out liberal dads for not doing their fair share of childcare. And despite welcoming the fact that men will (finally) pay for half of the babysitting costs, it’s mainly women who have to organise it all.
#9 Yes, the Ausländerbehörde is a racist institution
In the most recent article in this list, from only last week, Tina Lee explains how she’s fed up of hearing people tell her that racism’s not a real problem in Germany. In a rant about everyday racism here, she points out that its particularly bad in the Ausländerbehörde. She’s even provided links in German for her doubters.
#10 Solidarity instead of common cause with Nazis
In August, as the extreme right were welcomed on the “Querdenker” demonstrations against Corona restrictions, we translated an article by German MP Christine Buchholz and Rene Paukolat from Aufstehen gegen Rassismus explaining how these demonstrations are dangerous and why die LINKE is opposing them.
