Brave and important debattbok Jonas Gahr Støre – Dagbladet.no

Brave and important debattbok Jonas Gahr Støre – Dagbladet.no

REVIEW: Jonas Gahr Støre is a politician out of the ordinary. To him goes practical politics go hand in hand with well-written lyrics, sharp analysis and wise reflection.

In the book “In Motion”, he discusses not only a number of important party political issues, but the first he treats a sensitive issue related the terrorist attacks on 22 July 2011. He takes issue with the normalization of extreme right-wing attitudes.

conversation book

“In motion” consists of four newly written essays and eleven interviews with Jonas Bals, who is also adviser Unions. The chapters alternate between autobiographical and reflective essay, including how he was a social democrat and Labour man, and talks on a range of key national topics.

In the opening chapter tells the Minister that he has two purposes in the book. On the one hand he will think highly of Social Democracy challenges and opportunities. He is “convinced that social democracy has the most modern solutions,” and takes up the most important political issues of the 21st century in an attempt to convince us of the same.

Some of these are ideological and act on basic community values ​​and freedom and confidence. Not without criticism of their own party, he takes up how Labor can continue to be a people’s party with room for new groups in an increasingly diverse society.

As they come more classic political issues up for debate, and Gahr Støre stressed that the climate issue sets the framework for all other policies. These chapters on health, immigration and energy are detailed and contains proposals that will be discussed. As such, “In Motion” an engaging book, but not so different from many other political debate books.

22. July

On the other hand, takes Gahr Støre up a more pressing question. He seeks a broader understanding of the terrorist attack on 22 July 2011 because it was ‘a carefully planned attack on the Norwegian democracy and the Labour Party’s youth “.

As the first politician he asks why we have not had a debate about the attitudes that inspired Anders Behring Breivik’s actions. “Have we tried to understand where they came from? They shared the many. “

This controversial question is the basis for his criticism of the Conservative coalition with the Progressive Party, in the chapter” Right Populism. ” Here he also takes a sharp confrontation with Siv Jensen, and above all, her party colleague Christian Tybring-Pike, who in writing and speech came with hateful attacks on immigrants and Ap.

Against this background Gahr Støre claims that the present government is an example of høyrepopulismens called “legitimacy phase”, ie that it is politically housebroken because it is painted white by parties in the Christian democratic tradition.

Right Extremism

finally taken the issue up again in the chapter “Time Skillet”, consisting of a courageous essay on 22 July and the relationship between attitudes and actions. Based on their own experiences that day, he discusses our time xenophobia in historical perspective. Here he takes a sharp confrontation with right-wing extremism in the past and present, to get the hatred against the ethnically diverse community and labor for life.

He argues that this form of extremism is not only found in network roll and debate on the Internet, but also by elected politicians.

He contention is that the normalization of extreme right-wing attitudes helped to create the political climate Breivik appeared in, and therefore must be involved and take responsibility for July 22.

“In Motion” is therefore more than an engaging political debattbok of social democracy’s future. Gahr Støre also raises a question that has been smoldering in the Norwegian society over the last three years. It’s a bold move, and it makes “In motion” an important book.