Freiheit in der Offensive?

Freedom and Plurality in Unity: The European Politics of <i>Der Monat</i>

“…Thus, Der Monat can be best understood as 'ein Instrument qualitativ hochwertiger intellektueller Propaganda des Westens' ['an instrument of high-quality intellectual Western propaganda']'. 23 Lasky, who saw the main appeal of the magazine in the fact that it wasn't perceived as 'a kind of "foreign body"'24 by its readers, that it wasn't identified as American propaganda,25 emphasizes the importance of Der Monat representing not an American but a 'Western point of view'26 in order for the magazine to become 'a native and genuine part of the European community'.27 J. Laughlin, a representative of the Ford Foundation who travelled through Germany in 1954 and interviewed German intellectuals on their reception of Der Monat, confirms that Lasky's strategy succeeded. 'Der Monat is considered international but not American', Laughlin concludes in his report.…”

Kulturand Its Ambiguities: West German Intellectuals and the Société Européenne de Culture in the Early 1950s

“…Sternberger, Paeschke and Jaspers focused attention on different motifs in the problematic dialogue between West German intellectuals and Campagnolo: the acknowledgement of a distinctive German mindset as regarded 'culture'; the lack of a cultural impact from communism; anti-communism at a political level and West Germany's position internationally. However, they had in common an absence of clarity and a distrustful attitude; they seemed, on the one hand, to be the passive subjects of political and cultural developments decided by authorities inside or outside the country, 49 on the other, to exploit this same position as an excuse to avoid a profound and straightforward dialogue with Campagnolo.…”

“…Internal quarrels, the decentralisation of national cultural life and a lack of influence over the central bureau of the organisation, whose headquarters were in Paris, contributed to that failure. 58 Moreover, the CCF was introducing philosophical ideas that many Germans still saw as foreign to Kulturwith some success. Therefore, the early 1950s appear to be the nadir of international intellectual associations in West Germany, either because of the complex political situation, which inspired fear of political manipulation, or from a desire not to transform culture into a mere political asset.…”