The debate over the meaning and absurdity of climate activism has brought the word to the fore – criminalizing and defaming, as the German jury explains.
The 2022 “nonsense word of the year” in Germany is “climate terrorists”. This was announced by the language-critical “unword” campaign on Tuesday in Marburg. The expression was used in public discourse to discredit activists and their protests for more climate protection, the jury justified its choice. She criticized the use of the term because activists are “equipped as terrorists and therefore criminalized and vilified”.
The jury complained that non-violent forms of protest, civil disobedience and democratic resistance were placed in the context of violence and hostility to the state. The election of the “non-word”, which has been taking place since 1991, aims to draw attention to the inappropriate use of language and, thus, raise awareness of the need for judicious use of terms.
“Last Generation”: “Don’t want to please us”
Climate activists from the group “Last Generation” reacted positively to the announcement. “It is encouraging to see that today the term ‘climate terrorists’ has been chosen as the non-word of the year 2022,” said a spokeswoman for the activist group the German Press Agency. In particular, “on days like these” it was “encouraging to continue to offer peaceful resistance,” she said, referring to her group’s climate protection campaigns.
“We don’t want to make ourselves popular with our actions,” said the “last generation” spokeswoman. However, there is a difference “between anger or criticism over the implementation and a systematic and linguistic vilification and criminalization by some politicians, super-rich CEOs and populist media creators with words like “climate terrorists”, “she emphasized. By equating protest with terrorism, “democratically legitimate resistance is placed in the context of violence and hostility to the state.”
In recent weeks, his group has suffered violence, denunciations, criticism “in the street and also in discussions in the media”. But there is also “increasing support and encouragement from more and more people”.
stuck in the streets
Members of the “Last Generation” in Germany and Austria have repeatedly made headlines since last year because they glued themselves to highways or attacked works of art in protest of the government’s climate policy. Debates in Germany reached a climax in early November when a tragic traffic accident occurred in Berlin, resulting in the death of a cyclist. According to the fire department, a special vehicle that was supposed to help free her was stuck for minutes in a traffic jam. The delay was caused by a “last generation” protest action, she said. A turning point that led to a heated discussion in the media about the limits of climate protests.
Even Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), who previously refrained from commenting on the protests, appealed to activists after the accident not to endanger human life. At the same time, the federal government has distanced itself from any comparison with terrorism. Prior to that, they could mostly be heard in the AfD and Union ranks, where calls for tougher legal action became ever louder.
The other places on the podium
The jury, made up mostly of linguists, placed the expression “social tourism”, which had been voted “non-word” in 2013, in second place for the “nonsense word of the year”. CDU leader Friedrich Merz used the word last September in connection with war refugees from Ukraine and later apologized for it. The jury saw in the use of the word “discrimination against people fleeing war and seeking protection in Germany”. Furthermore, the word obscures your fundamental right to it.
Third came the phrase “defensive architecture”, which was criticized as misleading and euphemistic. The term refers to a type of construction that prevents homeless people from staying in public places for longer.
The “nonsense word of the year” was selected according to various criteria from suggestions that interested parties submitted by December 31, 2022. There were a total of 1,476 entries with 497 different terms, of which almost 55 met the criteria of the jury.
Words that violate the principles of human dignity or democracy, that discriminate against social groups or that are euphemistic, obscure or misleading are eligible. When choosing “nonsense”, it doesn’t matter how many times a term was suggested. In 2021, the choice fell on the “pushback”.
(APA/dpa)