Jörg Alt

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Jörg Alt, around 2010.

Jörg Alt SJ (born October 15, 1961 in Saarbrücken ) is a German social scientist , social ethicist , priest and university pastor. Alt became known for his socio-ethical research work and publications as well as for his socio-political engagement in campaigns focusing on migration , globalization and poverty reduction .

Father Alt has been a member of the Jesuit Order since 1981 and was ordained a priest in 1993 .

Academic training and activities until 2003

After graduating from the Albert-Einstein-Gymnasium in Frankenthal in 1981, Alt studied from 1983 to 1985 at the University of Philosophy of the Jesuits in Munich, a basic course in philosophy, completed with a bachelor's degree . After working in a counseling center for asylum seekers of Caritas in Würzburg , from 1988 to 1991 an undergraduate degree in theology at Heythrop College of the Jesuits at the University of London , completed with a Bachelor of Divinity (BD). After that, Alt worked as a chaplain in Leipzig .

From 1994 to 1997 he worked as a coordinator for the Federal German Initiative Group for the Ban on Landmines , a subdivision of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines . He ended this activity after the first important breakthroughs: The Federal Armed Forces' ban on anti-personnel mines, the Ottawa Convention on Prohibition and the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize being awarded to the International Campaign to Ban Landmines .

Alt then pursued his study goals, initially from 1998 with the main course in philosophy, again at the University of Philosophy in Munich, graduating in 2001 with the Magister Artium (MA) in social ethics. In 2003 he received his doctorate in the sociology department at the Berlin Humboldt University on the subject of illegal immigration and illegal residence of migrants; his dissertation, Leben in der Schattenwelt , was awarded the Augsburg Science Prize for Intercultural Studies in 2004.

Activities since 2003

In 2004/2005, Alt was managing director of the Catholic Forum Living in Illegality in Berlin. There he coordinated the Manifesto Illegal Immigration , which was signed by over 400 prominent representatives from politics, the judiciary, associations and science and which called for a new way of dealing with the taboo subject of illegality under residence law in Germany. Vera Gaserow described this broad alliance on March 3, 2005 in the Frankfurter Rundschau as “almost a miracle” and “a historic novelty in Germany” because up to now “so many prominent names have hardly succeeded even on less precarious foreign policy issues bring together ".

After returning from a long stay abroad in Belize and the USA , Alt has been working in Nuremberg since 2009 as a university chaplain for the Catholic University Congregation and as an employee of the Jesuit mission. From there he initiated and coordinated the “ Tax against Poverty : Financial Transaction Tax” campaign, an amalgamation of 101 (as of August 2017) banks, church, trade union and development organizations, political parties and academics. The online petition submitted to the German Bundestag on November 6, 2009 was signed by more than 60,000 citizens within a short period of time and made the issue known in national politics. In response to this commitment, Alt was characterized in a portrait by the Tagesspiegel in 2010 as “one of the most successful political activists in the republic”.

Since March 2012, Alt has been working increasingly on the topics of globalization and justice, migration, Africa and Catholic social teaching . From 2013 until today his main focus is the study Tax Justice and Poverty , a cooperation with the Jesuit Hakimani Center (Nairobi) and the Jesuit Center for Theological Reflection (Lusaka). In October 2016, the German partial study of the research cooperation was published as a book with the title "We are giving away billions"; in March 2018, selected international results were published in the short version of the international research report. The political and strategic recommendations from the research cooperation on practical improvements in the capabilities of African countries in terms of tax collection and the prevention of illicit financial flows were presented from 12-14 March 2019 at a high-level conference organized jointly with the Jesuit Conference of Africa and Madagascar in Nairobi. This in turn cleared the way for further conferences and workshops in Brussels (autumn 2019) and in West and South Africa (2020).

The research cooperation on Tax Justice and Poverty, just like the German migration debates since 2015, increased the urgency of the question of which suggestions the Catholic Social Doctrine and current papal letters such as Evangelii Gaudium or Laudato si ' contain or contain for a more just and at the same time more appropriate migration and tax policy What role taxes can play in the transformation of the current neoliberal-inspired social system towards a more socially just and ecologically sustainable social order that is committed to the common good of all. In the first step, discussion papers were written together with African interlocutors and put up for public discussion, and a book is being prepared. Sociopolitical actions in this context were the co-initiation of the open letter on the hallmarks of Christian and social politics before the state elections in Bavaria in 2018 and, together with the Jesuit Conference of Africa and Madagascar, the initiative "Flows of Migrants, Flows of Money" vis-à-vis the Austrian EU Council Presidency, also in 2018.

Publications

  • Act! An appeal to Christians and churches to save the future . Vier-Türme-Verlag, Münsterschwarzach 2020, ISBN 978-3-7365-0295-6 .
  • Tax Justice & Poverty: Short Version of the Final Synthesis Report. English summary of the results of the three-country research project in Germany, Kenya and Zambia. Online resource [1]
  • We are giving away billions. Findings of the research project "Tax Justice and Poverty". Echter Verlag, Würzburg 2016, ISBN 978-3-429-03961-5 .
  • as ed. with Patrick Zoll: Who has, who is given? Taxing Wealth: Arguments, Problems, Alternatives. Echter Verlag, Würzburg 2016, ISBN 978-3-429-03913-4 .
  • as ed. with Klaus Väthröder: Poor Church - Church for the Poor: A contradiction? Echter Verlag, Würzburg 2014, ISBN 978-3-429-03685-0 .
  • as publisher: De-worldization or interference - how much church can society tolerate? Echter Verlag, Würzburg 2013, ISBN 978-3-429-03579-2 .
  • as ed. with Samuel Drempetic: Prosperity think differently. Lessons from the current world crises . Echter Verlag, Würzburg 2012, ISBN 978-3-429-03473-3 .
  • Globalization - Illegal Migration - Poverty Reduction: Analysis of a Complex Phenomenon . Loeper, Karlsruhe 2009, ISBN 978-3-86059-524-4 .
  • as ed. with Michael Bommes : Illegality: Limits and possibilities of migration policy. Verlag für Sozialwissenschaft, Wiesbaden 2006, ISBN 3-531-14834-6 ( table of contents (PDF)).
  • Life in the shadow world - problem complex of “illegal” migration. New insights into the living situation of 'illegal' migrants in Munich and other cities in Germany . Loeper, Karlsruhe 2003, ISBN 3-86059-499-0 .
  • with Ralf Fodor: Without rights? Undocumented people: suggestions for determining your position. Loeper, Karlsruhe 2001, ISBN 3-86059-498-2 .
  • Illegal in Germany. Research project on the living situation of illegal migrants . Loeper, Karlsruhe 1999, ISBN 3-86059-486-9 .

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ The remarks on Alt's biography in this article follow the tabular information on the publicist's website: About the person ; Retrieved August 2, 2017.
  2. ^ Regulations and status of ratification of the Ottawa Convention on the Prohibition of Anti-Personnel Mines ; Retrieved August 2, 2017.
  3. ^ Nobelprize.org: The Nobel Peace Prize 1997 ; Retrieved August 2, 2017.
  4. ↑ Manifesto Illegal Immigration (PDF); Retrieved August 2, 2017.
  5. ↑ Vera Gaserow: Only a lowest common denominator (PDF, accessible via Jörg Alt's website). In: Frankfurter Rundschau, March 3, 2005; Retrieved August 2, 2017.
  6. ↑ Tax against Poverty: The Financial Transaction Tax (FTS) ; Retrieved August 2, 2017.
  7. ^ Petition 8236, Tax Policy - Introduction of a Financial Transaction Tax of November 6, 2009 ; Retrieved August 2, 2017.
  8. ↑ Harald Schumann: Crooked paths and straight steps. Der Tagesspiegel March 26, 2010 (PDF, available on the website of the Kath. Hochschulgem. Nürnberg; see also website Alt ); Retrieved August 2, 2017.
  9. ^ Tax Justice and Poverty ; accessed June 30, 2019.
  10. ↑ Abstract of the research report
  11. ↑ Conference on Domestic Resource Mobilization and Illicit Financial Flows , accessed June 30, 2019.
  12. ↑ Jörg Alt - Forum , accessed June 30, 2019.
  13. ↑ Open letter on the hallmarks of Christian and social politics , accessed June 30, 2019.
  14. ^ Joint Advocacy - Addressing Politics and Politicians , accessed June 30, 2019.
personal data
SURNAME Alt, Jörg
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Alt, Jörg SJ
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German social ethicist and religious
DATE OF BIRTH October 15, 1961
PLACE OF BIRTH Saarbrücken