Last Friday, the 1st of February, a few activist friends from Budapest and I got on the train to Vienna. Not to check out the glorious cafés and stroll the beautiful avenues, but to join the crowd of people who had decided to take to the streets on that very night to protest. When I arrived home in Budapest people asked me why I went all the way to Austria to protest. I thought it strange. Why wouldn’t I care about what’s going on “over there”? What is going on in Austria does not only concern Austrians but us as European and indeed global political subjects.
I am not an expert on Austrian politics but I do know that the Wiener Akademikerball, organized by members of the right-wing populist FPÖ,[i] Freedom Party of Austria, is something to be concerned about. Gathering around 780 guests from all over Europe,[ii] this traditional ball is one of the biggest high-profile annual events in Vienna where a mixture of politicians, including many controversial far-right figures, academics, scientists and business people joyfully mingle and dance in the most prestigious venue in, Hofburg, located at the impressive Heldenplatz (Hero Square).
Politics always takes symbolic forms and symbols of power are always political so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that this venue was chosen by the ball organisers. Comprising the buildings of the governing emperors, Heldenplatz also hosted Hitler’s pronouncement of the annexation of Austria, which was greeted with enthusiasm by the audience on March 15 1938.[iii] Today Heldenplatz remains not only a symbolic place of power, prestige, prominence and principal authority; it is de facto so, comprising the offices of the Bundespräsident and the Bundeskanzler. Still so, regardless where such a ball would be staged, protest is needed.
As I browse through FPÖ posters, I immediately encounter “blood and soil” slogans like "More Courage in favour of Our "Viennese Blood", “Too much of foreignness does no one any good", "Work and Morals instead of Greed and Capital: Homeland in Homehand", "Love of the Homeland instead of theft by the Moroccans".
What confounds me the most is not only how the political establishment of Vienna can allow the ball to take place in the prestigious arena but their enthusiastic attendance of it.[iv] The fact that the ball is held so successfully at all and at this very location, should perhaps not be a surprise, given that FPÖ is one of the most influential political parties in Austria. Recent polls show that its ideology, a combination of social conservatism and anti-immigrant, -in particular anti-Islamic-, rhetoric are shared by a steadily growing percentage of the population.
We will never forget the 1999 general elections when the controversial figure Jürg Haider led the party to an astonishing 26.9% per cent. This groundbreaking result of the far-right was however trumped in the 2008 general election. By then Haider had left the party and founded a new one, BZÖ (Alliance for the Future of Austria), that mobilised 10.7% of the votes.[v] Together the two parties won a total of 29% of the votes.[vi] An additional indicator of the growth of the FPÖ as a single party is the April 2012 polls showing 28% voter support.[vii]
Taking a closer look at the younger generation, it is extremely worrisome that a 2011 poll showed that 42% of the voters under 30 support FPÖ.[viii] This is the generation that will come to dominate politics and other vital societal functions in a couple of years time. It is the generation that most likely will socialise their children in a manner tainted by the ideological framework that refuses to see the equal value of human beings and the arbitrariness of borders and life destinies.
For me, taking part in the protests last Friday is imbued with three interconnected meanings. First, it means taking a stance against the historical injustices done in the name of racism and fascism not only in Austria but globally. In contrast to Germany, Austria has never properly dealt with its genocidal past. Second, it also means refusing the mainstreaming of contemporary ideologies placing a higher value on certain individuals and human collectivities than others.
The ball last Friday and the growth of the populist right in Austria are not isolated events. They reflect broader trends of pan-European erosion of humanism and the respect for all people’s equal value and worthy of respect, safety and dignity, regardless of their race, ethnicity, culture, religion, class, gender, ability or any other identity marker.
Third, taking to the streets is an act of speaking with your legs. It’s a bodily act literally refuting passivity. Doing nothing is an act that in theory and practice doesn’t exist. Passivity gives credence to the status quo and thus makes it possible for skilful political entrepreneurs to go on unchecked. It does not require an eloquent tongue to use your legs. Being endowed with capacity for political action compels engagement with the issues that we find pressing.
I can understand if not everyone feels like participating in protests. But the brilliant thing about political activism is that an unlimited number of means and ways of expression are available. For activism to make sense, it is up to everyone to create their own meanings and find the right forums and acts to express the beliefs and causes that they hold dear.
No one can do everything, but certainly everyone can do something.
Time to rise!
Miranda Myrberg,
Nationalism Studies
[i] DiePresse.com, "Nach WKR-Ball macht FPÖ 2013 Fest in Hofburg", 2012-03-10, accessed online 2013-02-08, at http://diepresse.com/home/politik/innenpolitik/739027/Nach-WKRBall-macht-FPOe-2013-Fest-in-Hofburg.
[ii] http://www.linkswende.org/6293/Nach-dem-Akademikerball-das-Schlamassel-der-FPOe-erklaeren
[iii] Thomas Weyr, The Setting of the Pearl: Vienna under Hitler, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005)
[iv] see the official website of the ball: http://www.wiener-akademikerball.at, accessed 2013-02-08.
[v] Austrian Times, “BZÖ ends Stronach speculations”, 2012-05-18, accessed online at http://www.austriantimes.at/news/General_News/2012-05-18/41699/BZ%D6_ends_Stronach_speculations .
[vi] Nicholas Kulish, “Far-Right, Anti-Immigrant Parties Make Gains in Austrian Elections”, NY Times , 2008-09-28, accessed 2013-02-08 online at http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/29/world/europe/29austria.html?_r=0.
[vii] OE 24, ”Umfrage: Strache ist schon erste”, accessed online 2013-02-08 at http://www.oe24.at/oesterreich/politik/Strache-ist-schon-Erster/63650869
[viii] DiePresse.com “Umfrage: FPÖ schafft Anschluss an"Großparteien”, accessed online 2013-02-08 at http://diepresse.com/home/politik/innenpolitik/627076/Umfrage_FPOe-schafft-Anschluss-an-Grossparteien
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