THE FALSE FRIENDS OF ORDINARY PEOPLE

Book presentation

Robert Misik in conversation with Michel Reimon

The false friends of ordinary people

„For the upper classes, change means that you develop further or found a start-up. For the working class, change usually means you get fired.“

The working classes are exposed to economic competition, experience relegation, experience themselves as interchangeable and see their lifestyles culturally devalued. There is an anger among the »common people« that is linked to the values and norms that have developed in the popular classes over the past 200 years. The ethos of hard work; that you don't get anything for free; but that you deserve respect for your achievements. It also includes an egalitarian spirit: that everyone is worth the same; a pride in being »normal«; a sense of community with local patriotism and a rebellious yet traditional culture.
Robert Misik vividly and empirically describes how the values of the working classes have developed - and how they are now being exploited by the false friends of the »common people«. You cannot explain the rise of populism if you do not understand the hidden wounds in a class society.

Robert Misik, author and journalist talks to Michel Reimon about his latest book.

Robert Misik
The false friends of ordinary people
Planned publication: 11 November 2019
edition suhrkamp 2741, paperback, 160 pages
ISBN: 978-3-518-12741-4