What does the ‚Zeitenwende‘ mean right now for left-wing thinking, which only recently was still championing care, criticism of violence and peace policy? When pacifism is now considered ridiculous, irresponsible or Querdenker-like, we should be worried about the foundations of our coexistence. With sharp intelligence and loving bewilderment, Mithu Sanyal asks uncomfortable questions without playing down global aggression. Her book NEIN (Hanser, 2026) is extremely necessary in reminding us that a world without violence is not a distant ideal – but the most urgent of our tasks.
Mithu Sanyal is a writer, cultural scholar, journalist and critic. In 2009 her non-fiction book Vulva. Das unsichtbare Geschlecht appeared, and in 2016 Vergewaltigung. Aspekte eines Verbrechens.