WE ARE THE MAJORITY

For an open society

Harald Welzer
Sociologist, thinker, original intellectual, director of the think tank FUTURZWEI, is one of the most important social-liberal authors of our time. He became famous with books such as "Selber denken. A guide to resistance". After Pegida and the rise of the AfD, he founded the "Initiative Offene Gesellschaft" network. His book "We are the majority. For an open society" is a manifesto for the self-confidence of pluralistic democracy.

Today, democracy no longer means that different parties compete on the basis of an open society, but that the defenders and enemies of the open society are in fierce competition with each other. At the latest with Trump, the Brexit shock, Orban and the authoritarian government in Poland, it is clear that we citizens cannot leave the defence of liberal democracy to the politicians.
What's more, the open society is under attack and politicians are reacting in a disastrously wrong way. Instead of supporting the democratic majority, they are letting the new right and populists dictate the issues. But democracy and freedom only exist if enough people stand up for them.

Moderation Robert Misik, Author