The far-right AfD party has been trying to exploit Russian-Germans feelings of neglect, nostalgia, and fear. They’re experiencing some success. “We open the borders for migrants, but the doors to Germany are closed for ethnic Germans in crisis regions.” This critical statement on Germany’s recent immigration policy came from Waldemar Herdt, an MP for the Alternative für… Continue reading “The German AfD Makes Appeals To Russian-Germans”
Heidegger’s philosophy has legitimised the far right’s regional environmentalism, populism and cultural racism. On 28 May 2020, Björn Höcke, the leader of Germany’s far-right party Alternative für Deutschland in the state of Thuringia published a glossy picture of himself on his Facebook profile. On the photo, one can see him sitting on a park bench… Continue reading “Why did Heidegger emerge as the central philosopher of the far right?”
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?”
On 5 February, the liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP) candidate, Thomas Kemmerich, was officially appointed to the position of Thuringia’s Minister-President, relying on the votes of both the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the populist far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party. The latter congratulated itself for being at the bottom of concessions made by the… Continue reading “In Bed with the Far Right in Thuringia: A Watershed Moment for Muslim CDU supporters?”
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”
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”
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”
In 2018, following electoral gains made by Democrats during the US midterms, it took commentators a while to figure out whether or not to speak of a ‘blue wave’. In Germany, following the 2019 European Parliament elections, a ‘Green wave’ was, however, quickly identified – unsurprisingly, given that the Green Party increased its share of… Continue reading “Rethinking the ‘Green wave’? Climate change, the European Parliament elections 2019 and the German-speaking radical right”
What’s the importance of radical right leadership? A discussion of Olaf Sundermeyer’s, Gauland. Die Rache des alten Mannes [Gauland – The Revenge of the Old Man], Beck: Munich (2018). Among political analysts, it has for a long time been commonsense to highlight the importance of individual leaders’ public appeal. In an extreme form, the likes of Jörg Haider… Continue reading “Understanding Gauland – how to think about radical right leadership”