New normal

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

“ New Normality ” was conceptually coined in 2018 by the Austrian philosopher and political scientist Paul Sailer-Wlasits and introduced into the socio-political discourse in German-speaking countries. In his publications, Sailer-Wlasits contextualized the term u. a. with political populism and with the 45th US administration under Donald Trump as the new global normal. The term was subsequently taken up and deepened by the German essayist and philosopher Hans Martin Esser . Esser uses it in his 2019 philosophical essay The Large Bracket - A Theory of Normality ( Kulturverlag Kadmos ). He sees exogenous shocks or historical figures as those who, in coordination with the population, create a “new normal” within the framework of a paradigm shift . According to Esser, however, a “new normal” is never the perpetuation of a state of emergency, since normality is permanent and based on the statistical average.

In the course of the COVID-19 pandemic , the expression became a political buzzword in spring 2020 after German and Austrian politicians repeatedly announced a “new normal”. There were multiple contradictions against this linguistic classification. Among other things, the former German Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger criticized that it was a "misleading choice of term", since a state of crisis cannot be declared a normal state by definition.

In Austria, Chancellor Sebastian Kurz included the expression in his rhetoric, which is typically based on a few catchy slogans, from mid-April 2020 and established it as a new political catchphrase. The Austrian media reacted critically and asked whether such a permanent erosion of civil rights should be conveyed.

The German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz and his cabinet colleague Health Minister Jens Spahn used the expression almost simultaneously with Kurz in numerous speeches. The supposed “new normal” was contrasted with the old normal before the pandemic, as a synonym for a new reality that one had to adjust to.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Paul Sailer-Wlasits: The New Normal: What we have to get used to. Retrieved April 25, 2020 .
  2. ↑ webdecker- www.webdecker.de: The big bracket. Retrieved April 24, 2020 .
  3. ↑ Home. Retrieved April 24, 2020 .
  4. ↑ Gisela Zifonun: Interjection on "new normality" (2020), p. 1.
  5. ↑ Peter Münch: Austria: Kurz wants to find a "new normal". Retrieved April 24, 2020 .
  6. ↑ Which words are appropriate in the corona crisis? Retrieved April 24, 2020 .
  7. ↑ Briefly New Normality - Google Search. Retrieved April 24, 2020 .
  8. ↑ ORF at / Agencies red: National Council: Debate on the catchphrase “new normality”. April 22, 2020, accessed April 24, 2020 .
  9. ↑ Scholz: "We need a new normal for a long time". April 18, 2020, accessed April 24, 2020 .
  10. ^ Saarbrücker Zeitung: Public life: Government expects "a new normal for a long time". Retrieved April 24, 2020 .
  11. ↑ PNP.de: Government expects "a new normal for a long time". Retrieved April 24, 2020 .
  12. ↑ Spahn: "Will be the new normal". Retrieved April 24, 2020 .