WE HAVE TO ACT!

The influence of extreme right-wing parties has been growing – not just since the last German national elections – and the danger of fascists taking over has become more imminent in Germany as well as worldwide. The time to act is now. But how? Arne Semsrott, head editor of ‘FragDenStaat’, has written a guide for resistance that suggests specific measures – for politics, civil society, the judiciary, media, companies, unions, and culture. Together with additional conversation partners, he discusses which structural changes are needed. Analysis is important, but self-efficacy and action as well. And we need this to defend interacting in solidarity.

Arne Semsrott, born in Hamburg in 1988, is a political scientist and activist. He runs the research and transparency portal FragDenStaat, with which he ensured the publication of the "NSU files", among other things. He was also a co-initiator of Hochschulwatch and OpenSCHUFA and founded the Freiheitsfonds. Semsrott writes for fluter, netzpolitik.org and Le Monde diplomatique, among others, and is a two-time winner of the Otto Brenner Prize for critical journalism. His bestseller Machtübernahme was published by Droemer in 2024.

Tanja Krone is a director, musician, and performer. In her work, she defines art as a space of possibility, explores forms of collective experience, and pushes the supposed poetry of the documentary as a textual basis for her artistic explorations. She is the creator and co-founder of the world’s largest women’s rock bands, youthful Salvation Armies, and cities of women*, and she loves talking to REAL people — for example, about getting involved.

In 2023, she ran for the office of mayor in Mannheim, gaining expertise in an unfamiliar field, which she now enjoys sharing in various formats. Most recently, in SONGS OF (IN)SECURITY, she gave all of Chemnitz a voice to express their feelings of (in)security.

Heinrich Horwitz is a director, choreographer, and actor. Heinrich has created productions in the independent scene, at municipal and state theaters, and within the contemporary music scene. Heinrich studied directing and choreography at the Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Arts in Berlin and is a recipient of the 2023 Tabori Award.

Heinrich teaches in the directing department at the Academy of Performing Arts in Ludwigsburg and holds a year-group mentorship there. Heinrich is part of #ActOut and is also an activist.