SPIEGEL: Like what?
DUTSCHKE: By the thousands, we want to carry out nonviolent forms of resistance in front of the Springer press to obstruct delivery procedures. On the day of this action, which we will announce in advance through flyers, we want to circulate self-published critical and informative newspapers for all segments of the population. [ . . . ]
SPIEGEL: Does the arsenal of direct actions also include the attempt to set up a counter-university, as has been talked about recently in student circles?
DUTSCHKE: Yes, there are two models. One form of counter-university is conceived as an appendix, a supplement to the existing university. That means we will try to initiate lecture classes next semester led by Ph.D. students, other well-trained students, research and teaching assistants, as well as professors. The classes will include discussion, oral reports, and seminars on subjects that have not been discussed within the university up to now.
SPIEGEL: Such as?
DUTSCHKE: Such as the Chinese revolution and its consequences for current debate.
SPIEGEL: So you mean a Marxist appendix to the university?
DUTSCHKE: A critical appendix to the university, not necessarily a Marxist one. Let’s put it this way: The politicization of the material would be revolutionary scholarship, scholarship that bases its analysis on present-day conflict situations throughout the world.
SPIEGEL: How many students, assistants, and doctoral students could you win for such a project?
DUTSCHKE: I think there is already enough interest from people with sufficient training to carry out this appendix model and to educate our antiauthoritarian students – that is, the camp of about 4,000 to 5,000 – about existing mechanisms of rule and about the liberation movement.
SPIEGEL: And the second concept for a counter-university?
DUTSCHKE: That would be to establish a university outside of Dahlem in an area between factory workers – such as the Spandau area or near the AEG [corporation] – and middle-class districts. Departments could be set up in barracks to teach blue- and white-collar employees, and high school and university students. We could also offer continuous medical instruction, in particular sex education, for wide segments of the population, especially young working-class men and women. We could also offer legal counseling for people without means, organize rent strikes, and so on. Such a university would serve a consciousness-raising function. But there is the question of whether it is possible to support this model financially.
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