Ijoma Mangold keeps a political diary. In it he describes current events as well as his constantly changing reactions to them: from Trump and Greta to Boris Johnson, who he would have gladly been taken in by; to the disaster of Thuringia, the terror of Hanau and conversations during the Berlinale; to corona virus. He regards with astonishment those for whom terms such as ‘political correctness’ or "multicultural romanticism", as well as, at the same time, "ageism" or "fascism" roll trippingly off the tongue; the foundation upon which we make judgements each day is narrow and shaky. And yet it is all that we have.
The old clarity has disappeared from politics. It has been replaced by reflexes and shocks, by anger and contradictions. But it is precisely the gut reactions, the emotions, the regular discussions that we hear within ourselves all the time. That, according to Mangold, is what constitutes politics at its deepest level. How we form opinions, how we become comfortable with them and how we can ideally get rid of them one day – that is what this book of self-observation is about. A historical interpretation has emerged, a depiction of the current political shenanigans by an attentive insider and at the same time a political anthropology.
