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)”
For decades, anti-Semitism has been a steady ideological feature of radical-right violence and terrorism in Germany. The suspect in the terrorist attack on a synagogue in the German city of Halle in October, 27-year-old Stephan B., was driven by anti-Semitism and a radical-right worldview. After the murder of Walter Lübcke in June, this was the second deadly… Continue reading “Anti-Semitism Continues to Be a Steady Feature Among Germany’s Radicals”
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”
The Nazis of my generation grew up. They have kids now. But they still carry the hate of their teenage years. On the day the Berlin Wall fell, as it happened, I almost died. Constipated from too much chocolate, I battled for my life in an east-Berlin hospital with my panic-stricken mother at my bedside,… Continue reading “30 years after the Berlin Wall fell, the far right has come of age”
In early October, the east German city of Halle became the scene of yet another terrorist attack on European soil. Armed with multiple homemade weapons, explosives, and Molotov cocktails, a 27-year-old right-wing extremist aimed to storm the local synagogue to commit a massacre during Yom Kippur. After he failed to enter the premise, he shot… Continue reading “Lessons not learned: From Christchurch to Halle”
A neo-Nazi targeted a synagogue on Yom Kippur, aiming to “kill as many Jews as possible.” His manifesto continues a trend of white supremacist terrorism. With The Resistable Rise of Arturo Ui (1941) German playwright Berthold Brecht (1898-1956) produced a satirical allegory of the rise to power of Nazism and Hitler. In Brecht’s typical educational fashion, the… Continue reading “The Germany Synagogue Terrorist’s Manifesto Highlights Threat Of Neo-Nazism”
Since the May 2019 European Parliament election’s ‘Green wave’ in Germany, where the Green party increased its share of the vote by 9.8 to 20.5 per cent and came second after the Christian Democratic Union of Germany, climate-change policy has played a particularly prominent role in public debate. As one of the most outright climate-change… Continue reading “Something new under the sun? The Alternative for Germany’s recent discussion of climate change and homeland protection”
Armed robberies were often the first crimes nascent right-wing extremist organizations carried out after deciding to take the terrorist “option.” Little research has been done on the financing of radical-right terrorist groups, especially when it comes to Germany. However, the finding within terrorism research that “money is the lifeblood of any organization, including the ones… Continue reading “How Crime Helps Finance Radical-Right Terrorism”
Women must not be underestimated in their function as active participants in radical right terrorist groups. When the German radical right terrorist group “Nationalsozialistischer Untergrund” (“National Socialist Underground”) (NSU) was revealed in 2011, one aspect particularly intrigued the media and the general public: A woman, Beate Zschäpe, had been a key member of the group.… Continue reading “Germany: the role of women in radical right terrorism”