Recommendations of the Editorial team
When Kevin Kühnert resigned as SPD General Secretary in October 2024 and announced his retirement from politics, many were dismayed. With his departure, an eloquent, intelligent and controversial voice fell silent. She fought for social cohesion and sustainable social policy. And took a clear stance against right-wing extremism and divisive political trends.
Now this voice is back – as a ROLLING STONE columnist. The zero number of his column, which is called “Participant Observation” and will appear on our website every two weeks from November, will be available in the print edition of ROLLING STONE from Friday. There Kühnert analyzes the public self-presentation of the Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder.
Söder as an identity politician
“Söder presents himself as the Lord Seal Keeper of a Bavarian way of life, which he carefully curates himself,” he writes. “This is cheap identity politics – and no one should fall into this sausage trap again.” The CSU boss is shaping the Bavarian identity into a political brand, said Kühnert. “The former TV editor Söder manages to present a Brettljause as if it were an investment package worth billions.” In reality, however, this is just “tourism marketing mixed with occasional political content”.
The politician Söder functions in public “like a large language model from ChatGPT,” Kühnert continued. “Based on calculations, it is determined how a person would probably react to a question or an issue… But anyone who has met Markus Söder in real life will quickly notice that the warmth and coziness here are about as real as the sets of the Bavaria Film Studios.
In “Participant Observation” Kühnert will show himself as a critical observer of social and political developments. As a commentator with great insider knowledge who mediates between analysis, reflection and personal assessment. We are looking forward to it!