On Alexander Langer
Occorre quindi una grande capacità di affrontare e dissolvere la conflittualità etnica. Ciò richiederà che in ogni comunità etnica si valorizzino le persone e le forze capaci di autocritica, verso la propria comunità: veri e propri « traditori della compattezza etnica », che però non si devono mai trasformare in transfughi, se vogliono mantenere le radici e restare credibili.
(It therefore requires a great capacity to face and dissolve ethnic conflict. This will demand that, within every ethnic community, individuals and forces capable of self-criticism towards their own community be valued: true ‘traitors to ethnic solidarity’, who, however, must never turn into deserters, if they wish to keep their roots and remain credible.)
This is Alessandro Raveggi’s
favorite line of the Italian writer, activist and politician Alexander Langer (1946-1995). In the summer of 2025, Raveggi published a literary-essayistic portrait of Langer called Continuate in ciò che è giusto: Storia di Alexander Langer (« Continue doing what’s right: the story of Alexander Langer ») at Bompiani.
Why this line?
« There are many beautiful phrases that are both prophetic and pragmatic. This one, which I believe is important today, is found in his Attempt at a Decalogue for Interethnic Coexistence, a text that over the years has become multilingual like a Universal Declaration of Rights. In the text, Langer talks about the role of ‘traitors to ethnic unity’, that is, people capable of bridging ideological divides in their own
community and, I would add, in the human race. These traitors and wall jumpers, Langer continued, however, ‘must never become defectors if they want to maintain their roots and remain credible.’ I believe that here we can find the essence of Alexander Langer’s actions and his crazy life: Langer, the Europeanist, the practical pacifist, the man who inaugurated Italian environmentalism and inspired European environmentalism, asked people to betray their origins, to become a bridge, but never to deny their roots, never to stop being human. This is why he is also the ideologist of the concept of ‘ecological conversion’, which is as relevant today as it is disregarded. »
What do you mean with « has become multilingual like a Universal Declaration of Rights. » Why ‘multilingual’?
« The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) is translated into multiple languages, as is the Decalogue by Langer. Alexander Langer is from Sud Tirol, a region where the official languages are German, Italian and Ladino. This is the multilingual background that helps us to understand Alexander Langer. »
And what is ‘ecological conversion’?
« It is a concept that Langer developed in the 80s, focusing on the individual best practices to change the world to an ecological turn. It has also a spiritual and moral request: if we want to save the environment, we must start from our singular lives. This concept was used thirty years later by Pope Francis in his ‘Laudato Si’. »