Issue 1, 2005   

International solidarity advocated. A battle in development-politics.

Michael Spreng, An election campaign as cool as a polar expediton, FJNSB 01/2006, pp.

Spreng analyzes relentlessly the CDU´s/CSU´s election campaign last year. The author, himself very familiar with the Union and leading Edmund Stoiber`s election campaign in 2002, shows which mistakes were committed by the Union and the candidate Angela Merkel within the campaign. From Spreng`s point of view the election campaign was "cold, without emotions and without enthusiasm: CDU/CSU offered an very cool polar expedition though most voters prefer a trip to the warm south." Spreng offers with this analysis, what the leading party staff was not willing to undertake after entering the Kanzleramt: a straight and honest analysis of the unexpectedly bad turnout at the ballots in 2005.

Felix Kolb, Social Movements - Political impacts and success, FJ NSB 2006/1, pp

Felix Kolb discusses the rather difficult task of measuring social movement´s success. He claims that instead of success impacts have to be measured first, since it is virtually impossible to measure all aims of a social movement. Kolb focusses on political impacts and distinguishes between agenda impact, alternative impacts, policy impact and collective goods impact. Concerning political-institutional impacts one has to distinguish between impacts on institutions, impacts on the political structure and a revolutionary change of the whole system.

Ute Gerhard, Succeeding feminist movement - Generations and social change, FJ NSB 2006/1, pp.

The state of feminist research is hard to assess. The article wants to show, why there is no public discussion, though social inequality maintains. Afterwards women´s attitudes towards politics and their life schemes are analyzed. This reveals that there has not only been a generation change but also a change of mind concerning the fields of discussion.

Jochen Roose, 30 years of environmental movement: Effectively squibbed?, FJ NSB 2006/1, pp

Several topics have been mobilized successfully by the environental movement within the last decades. The article analyzes the impacts on public opinion and the behaviour of the public as well as politcal actors. General awareness of environment has been enhancened. Especially on short time protest is able to sensetize for the importance of an issue. Referring to nuclear power the attitude changed only after the Tschernobyl-accident. In the German parliament there is virtually no impact at all, at least till the Greens move into parliament and when a ministry of environment is installed. Regarding public behaviour, cars are used less and garbage is seperated more often, but the influence of the protest from environmental movement is probably rather minor.

Michelle Beyeler: Successfully critzizing globalization? Analyzing campaigns against WEF and WTO. FJ NSB 1/2006, pp

The article aims to answer the question, if protests against the World Trade Organization and the World Economic Forum have been a success. The focus is on three criteria: (1) in how far is it perceived as a movement by the media, (2) in how far critic has been picked up by media an political actors, and (3) in how far critics of globalization have gained more access to policy-makers. For the success not only circumstances have been important, but also the coordination within the movement.

Karin Urich, Won liberties, lost utopias - the mixed summary of the social movement in the GDR, shown on the example of Dresden. FJ NSB 1/2006, pp.

In the first view, the story of the social movement in the GDR seems to be a complete success, because the whole state had to disappear. But did the actors really like to reach this? The author describes on the example of Dresden which roots the actors had. The actors of the first generation of social movements wanted a reformed GDR, the actors of the second generation wanted a reunited Germany. They got it and reached a total change of the elites. They worked active for this change while the first generation was disappointed.

Matthias Heyck, More success because of qualification?, FJ NSB, 2006/1, pp

The German Naturschutzring and the Bewegungsakademie have created a education programme called Zukunftspiloten in order to qualify activists within environmental movement. Matthias Heyck introduces this programme Mainly he considers the question, which parts of the programme are expected to be successful. An not-intended impact could be a further professionization and concentration on formal provedures instead of more protest.

Malte Kreuzfeld: Stopping On Half Way? The Role of Success for the Further Mobilization of Attac Germany. FJ NSB 1/2006, pp.

"Nothing convinces more than success" - this sentence is also true for the global critical movement attac. Media-Speaker Malte Kreuzfeld shows, how attac describes his success to motivate the people who work for attac and to find more people who like to do this in future. But he also sees the danger to be fixed on success and to forget what the movement really wants.