‘I feel like Sophie Scholl’: the (mis)appropriation of icons of anti-Nazi resistance in contemporary Germany

Germany’s Covid-19 protesters and members of the far right have tried to appropriate two key historical figures associated with the German anti-Nazi resistance, Sophie Scholl (1921–1943), who distributed anti-government leaflets, and Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg (1907–1944), the mastermind of the failed coup of 20 July 1944. Neumann places these attempts in the context of the afterlives of Scholl, Stauffenberg and aspiring Hitler assassin Georg Elser (1903–1945). First, he argues that the far right’s attempt to claim Stauffenberg should not be read as a move to deny the Holocaust, nor to reject Germany’s responsibility for it, but rather to distance itself from Holocaust deniers and shift public discourses about German identity and history. Second, he argues that Covid-19 protesters have identified with Scholl because she has been considered the quintessential ‘good German’, she cannot be located on a left–right political spectrum and she represents German resistance as well as victimhood. Finally, he suggests that the success of these attempts to appropriate historical figures points to a lack of knowledge not about Nazi Germany’s victims, or about Scholl and Stauffenberg themselves, but rather about the nature of the Nazi regime.

Post-apartheid South Africa’s exacerbated inequality and the Covid-19 pandemic: intersectionality and the politics of power

Over the past fifteen years there has been an increase in the number of protest movements globally. In recent years and amid the global pandemic there have been hundreds of protests and demonstrations in South Africa. Consequently, in comparison to other parts of the globe, such protest action in South Africa is high. As a result, stable governance in the region has been impacted. Notably, during the resistance years in defiance of the apartheid regime, citizens in South Africa expressed their social discontent against exclusion and marginalisation through identities as radical and intersectional – this was also articulated in the recent protests that occurred in KwaZulu-Natal and parts of Johannesburg in July 2021. This highlights the relevance of intersectionality within this region. Intersectionality can be seen to refer to the inequalities that exist beyond femininities and masculinities. Intersectional theory explores aspects of discrimination, oppression, exploitation and inequality across identity, gender, race, ethnicity and class. This study uses a qualitative research approach to conceptually analyse intersectional theory. Thereafter the study discusses the relevance of intersectional theory in a post-apartheid context by illustrating intersectionality through the unrest and protests that occurred, following the jailing of former president Jacob Zuma. The findings of the study suggest the need to unpack the legacies of African elitism and social relations, while implementing intersectional reform that promotes greater inclusivity of citizens in the state.