political education in rural areas
Very fundamental considerations on civic engagement and empowerment in rural areas were already presented by Claudia Neu in 2014.
Neu, Claudia (2014): Ländliche Räume und Daseinsvorsorge - Bürgerschaftliches Engagement und Selbstaktivierung. In: Dünkel, Frieder/ Herbst, Michael/ Schlegel, Thomas (eds.): Think Rual! Dynamics of change in peripheral rural areas and their implications for services of general interest, Wiesbaden, pp. 117-124.
The focus of the considerations is on the effects of demographic change, which affect the individual sub-regions of Germany to very different degrees. Metropolitan regions such as Berlin, Munich and Hamburg will continue to attract people in the future. Many other regions, on the other hand, will continue to lose inhabitants. Remote rural areas in particular - not only in eastern Germany - and small (rural) towns have been confronted with the direct consequences of declining birth rates, ageing and migration losses for several years. Gymnasiums remain unused, bus services are practically reduced to school transport and the closure of the nearest rural doctor's surgery is imminent anyway.
Becker, Rainer/ Hafenegger, Benno (2012): Rechtsextremismus im ländlichen Raum – im Spannungsfeld von politischer Bildung, Beratung und pädagogischer Arbeit mit rechten Jugendlichen. In: Debiel, Stefanie/ Engel, Alexandra/ Hermann-Stietz, Ina/ Litges, Gerhard/ Penke, Swantje/ Wagner, Leonie (Hrsg.): Soziale Arbeit in ländlichen Räumen, Wiesbaden, S. 147-160.
Rainer Becker and Benno Hafenegger already dealt with the challenge of growing right-wing extremism in rural areas in 2012. The article provides an insight into the experiences that have been made since the 1990s within the framework of various federal programs by different sponsors - youth associations/rings, educational institutions, academies, municipal youth work, churches, trade unions, adult education centres, etc. - and helps to avoid repeating mistakes. For in Germany - despite all justified criticism of the Federal and State governments' funding policies - an increasingly professional field of education and counseling has been able to develop and network over a longer period of time, which deals with right-wing extremist phenomena and the facets of group-focused enmity in a continuous and differentiated manner. As a result of this differentiation of educational and advisory services in the problem area of right-wing extremism, the focus on rural areas is an important field of action, where the right-wing extremist organized and especially the youth clique scene have their local and regional focus.
Political education with senior citizens
Rural areas also have to deal with certain demographic challenges, which is why we recommend addressing the topic of "political education with senior citizens" in this context. Unfortunately, this is not yet a really well-developed field. However, starting points for dealing with this topic can still be found.
For example, the Federal Agency for Civic Education has compiled important points in an online article entitled Older people and civic education .
The Anne Frank Center has launched a pilot project entitled "65+. Rural areas in the new federal states and their resources - the 65+ generation". Documentation is available online.
Literature for further reading:
Blaumeiser, Heinz/ Wappelshammer, Elisabeth (2004): Partizipation und Vertretung von Senioren. In: SWS-Rundschau 44, H. 4, S. 437-463. online verfügbar
Henning, Eike/ Biermann, Paul/ Leder, Hannelore/ Müller, Dieter/ Pacho, Norbert et. al (2016): Politische Bildung im Alter, Frankfurt a. M.
Kruse, Andreas (2009): Bildung im Alter. In: Tippelt, Rudolf/ von Hippel, Aiga (Hrsg.): Handbuch Erwachsenenbildung/ Weiterbildung, Wiesbaden, S.827-840.