Can there be a better solution than spreading awareness and counter-narratives? In her recent article on openDemocracy, Miranda Christou argues that the radical right does three things: spreads (dangerously) false information, recontextualizes acknowledged facts and research, and spreads narratives to lay doubt at the ability of others to offer their own narratives. She is right about… Continue reading “Can anything be done against radical right misinformation?”
Suggestions to make the 8th May a national German holiday on occasion of the 75th anniversary of the end of Second World War have given the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) the opportunity to challenge dominant German memory culture by urging to remember German victims and offering alternative lessons to be learned from German history. What… Continue reading “An “ambivalent day”: How the AfD attempts to re-frame the 8th May as day to commemorate German Victimhood “
Introduction In April 2020, the German radical right party ‘Alternative for Germany’ (AfD) lost more than 4% in the opinion polls compared to January. Its popularity this month was at the level of 9-10% (down from a record of 18% nationally in 2018 and 25% in the eastern state polls). There are two reasons for… Continue reading “Will be the world more tolerant after the Covid-19 Pandemic?”
In the campaign “Gemeinsam für das Grundgesetz” (Together for the Basic Law), the AfD (Alternative für Deutschland) presents its far-right political positions as liberal-conservative to defy accusations of anti-constitutionality. During the last month, the German far-right populist party AfD has faced two major challenges. The Corona crisis has decreased public interest in immigration issues and… Continue reading ““Long live freedom!”: How the AfD presents itself as Defender of the German Basic Law”
German far-right responses to the COVID-19 pandemic reveal their lack of social responsibility. As the COVID-19 pandemic is impacting public life across the globe, the far-right “Patriotic Europeans against the Islamization of the Occident” (PEGIDA) which emerged from the eastern German city of Dresden has difficulties to conform with the new safety and health regulations.… Continue reading “Germany: is the COVID-19 pandemic weakening the far right?”
Unlike yesterday’s fascists, today’s radical right-wing leaders propagate neither territorial expansion nor anything close to the racial laws of the 1930s. Björn Höcke is public enemy number one in present-day Germany. At least that’s what German media suggest. Höcke is a leading exponent of the “völkisch” wing of Alternative for Germany (AfD), the country’s radical right-wing populist… Continue reading “Have We Seen the Eternal Return of Fascism?”
By now, the climate-change scepticism of the radical-right, populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) is well-known and has been discussed in both academic and non-academic publications. Opposition to the thesis of anthropogenic climate change – as well as scientific/public processes and responses to the phenomenon – are visible in the party’s manifesto and a range of… Continue reading “‘Protect the Environment!’ – Environmental Campaigning by the Radical Right Alternative for Germany”
Democracy has a core meaning but it needs to be defined from a vantage point, given that is is a contested concept subject to dynamic framing and reframing processes. According to Habermas’ deliberative democracy theory, deliberation is central to democratic decision making. Hence, language development is an essential part of democracy and democratic discourse: autocrats… Continue reading “Of ‘Nazi-Pigs’, ‘Jewish sows’ and ‘bourgeois coalitions’ (A German perspective)”
The recent surge of the radical right in Europe raises questions about whether the idea of a ‘Nazi state of emergency’ requires wider consideration. In October, the radical right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) came second in elections in the East German state of Thuringia, pushing Angela Merkel’s CDU into third place. Although the AfD failed… Continue reading “Why We Should Take Dresden, Germany’s “Nazi State Of Emergency” Seriously”
On Saturday, Germany’s conservative Christian Democrats face a new leadership contest at their annual conference. The growing discontent of the party base with the current leadership opens up new avenues for far-right ideology in the party not from the outside but from within. CARR Doctoral Fellow, Mr Julian Göpffarth, explores how the CDU’s new radical… Continue reading “Radicalising the establishment from within? The CDU and the Werte Union”