LAG pokuBi – Federal State Co-operation for Political and Cultural Education
Possibilities for intervention
concerning Neo-Nazism and Racism through
training in democratic skills
LAG pokuBi – Federal State Co-operation Possibilities for intervention
concerning Neo-Nazism and Racism through
training in democratic skills
“Empowered against neo-Nazism and Racism”
In 2002, the ThinkAhead educational division of the Heinrich Böll Foundation developed the concept of adult education in Saxony, under the working name of “Empowered against rightwing extremism and racism”*. Bearing in mind the previous 14 years in which neo-Nazi violence repeatedly came to attention and the neo-Nazi strength without a doubt increased, it was clear that a pool of trainers for multipliers (people whose work with the public and in sensitive areas makes them especially effective as messengers or role models) should be created.
Social groups that deal in their work with neo-Nazi attitudes, everyday racism and undemocratic actions, had to be strengthened. However, till then regular training opportunities did not exist.
Through the interconnected structures of democracy-supporting associations and foundations, about 20 men and women were quickly found who were interested in getting trained for this purpose. US!
Most of the group was and is able to refer to a solid background of collected experience, as the majority has already worked in pro-democracy fields. We developed a common basis for our work in three educational phases between autumn 2002 and spring 2003.
Now it could all begin. During many hours and weekends we worked out what exactly we wanted to do. We created three working groups around the themes of neo-Nazism, racism and democracy. Concepts were established, discussed and tested, so that in autumn 2003 we could offer and lead three seminar modules under the new name: Federal State Co-operation for Political and Cultural Education in Saxony (LAG pokuBi).
Early in 2005 we started looking for new trainers who could expand our LAG. They would be integrated into our work through trainings and visitations, until they felt they were confident enough to lead seminars on their own.
Since July 2005 we have been supported by the federal state project World-open Saxony, which gave us much more room to manoeuvre. We began with an internal evaluation of our seminars, and improved our own qualifications through extensive trainings. Moreover, thanks to intensified public relations work we reached a broader circle of participants. At the beginning of 2006 we changed the institutional frames of the federal state co-operation, and established a non-profit public organization.
As part of the support from the federal state project World-open Saxony, since 2006 we have been evaluated by the “Institute for Interdisciplinary Conflict and Violence Research” of the Bielefeld University. This greatly contributed to the mode of our functioning. Recently we have been able to expand our offer to include intensive trainings on more detailed themes.
In 2007 six new experienced trainers joined the LAG pokuBi. They have their own experience with migration and offer trainings on the topics of “Empowerment in the context of migration, culture and racism” and “Diversity”.
* the previously used term ‘rightwing extremism’ was replaced at the end of 2008 by ‘neo-Nazism’ which names the problem more accurately and which is linguistically differentiated from the more widely-used term. This also reflects our own distance from the commonly existing conceptions of extremism.
