Recent years have seen a surge of populism across the Western world, exposing the vulnerabilities of liberal democracy and driving the international political agenda to the right. In Germany in 2017 the recently founded far-right populist party—the Alternative for Germany (AfD)—swept into the Bundestag, claiming to be the voice of the people against a corrupt liberal elite and overturning the delicate postwar political consensus in Germany. We are the People analyzes the sudden growth and radicalization of the AfD, from its Euroskeptic beginnings in 2013 to its increasing extremism. Penny Bochum shows us how the leaders’ use of inflammatory, xenophobic, and even Nazi-era language mirrors that of emerging far-right forces across much of the Western world. At the same time, through a lucid examination of the group’s ideology, Bochum shows how their brand of populism is distinct and based on German experiences and history.

Right-wing populism has been on the rise in Europe and elsewhere. Germany?s foremost populist party is called Alternative for Germany (AfD). Founded in 2013 and entering Germany?s federal parliament in 2017, the AfD increasingly moved towards right-wing extremism. Following the populist playbook, the AfD started off with a simple neoliberal and anti-Europe message, but soon moved towards the extreme right. By 2017 the AfD?s ultra-nationalistic wing had successfully outmanoeuvred the party?s moderate and neoliberal leader Frauke Petry. The author illuminates the party?s ideological and institutional links to present-day Neo-Nazis; its close associations to the right-wing street movement Pegida; the recruitment of right-wing extremists and former Neo-Nazis into its parliamentarian ranks; its xenophobic, anti-Muslim, racist and anti-Semitic ideologies; and its relationship to the neo-fascist Identity Movement. The work engages with the make-up of AfD voters and electoral successes; the party?s relationship to anti-Semitism; and its dreams of re-establishing a mythical Aryan Volksgemeinschaft. Close attention is paid to the AfD?s demagogic and nationalistic leader, Björn Höcke, as well as the party?s admiration for the radical right of neighbouring Austria. Three questions are posed: Will the AfD lead to the end of German democracy? Is Germany moving towards another Third Reich? Is there another Hitler in the making?

Right-wing populism has been on the rise in Europe and elsewhere. Germanys foremost populist party is called Alternative for Germany (AfD). Founded in 2013 and entering Germanys federal parliament in 2017, the AfD increasingly moved towards right-wing extremism. Today, the party is Germanys most successful nationalistic party. Following the populist playbook, the AfD started off with a simple neoliberal and anti-Europe message, but soon moved towards the extreme right. By 2017 the AfDs ultra-nationalistic wing had successfully outmanoeuvred the partys moderate and neoliberal leader Frauke Petry. Written from the standpoint of openness, pluralism, liberalism and democracy, this book examines the AfDs rise to fame, its successes, and the partys ideological links dating back to German Nazism of the 1930s. The author illuminates the partys ideological and institutional links to present-day Neo-Nazis; its close associations to the right-wing street movement Pegida; the recruitment of right-wing extremists and former Neo-Nazis into its parliamentarian ranks; its xenophobic, anti-Muslim, racist and anti-Semitic ideologies; and its relationship to the neo-fascist Identity Movement. A historical overview positions the AfD within Germanys political landscape. The work engages with the make-up of AfD voters and electoral successes; the partys relationship to anti-Semitism; and its dreams of re-establishing a mythical Aryan Volksgemeinschaft. Close attention is paid to the AfDs demagogic and nationalistic leader, Bjoern Hoecke, as well as the partys admiration for the radical right of neighbouring Austria. A final chapter examines the fascist character of the AfD as measured against Umberto Ecos fourteen elements of Ur-Fascism. Three questions are posed: Will the AfD lead to the end of German democracy? Is Germany moving towards another Third Reich? Is there another Hitler in the making?

This book provides a comprehensive analysis of radical right populism in Germany. It gives an overview of historical developments of the phenomenon and its current appearance. It examines three of the main far-right organizations in Germany: the radical right populist party AfD (Alternative for Germany), Pegida (Patriotic Europeans against the Islamification of the Occident), and the Identitarian Movement. The book investigates the positions of these groups as expressed in programmes, publications, and statements of party leaders and movement activists. It explores their history, ideologies, strategies, and their main activists and representatives, as well as the overlap between the groups. The ideological positions examined include populism, nativism, authoritarianism, volkish nationalism, ethnopluralism, xenophobia, Islamophobia, antisemitism, antifeminism, and Euroscepticism. The analysis shows that these ideological features are sometimes strategically interlinked for effect and used to justify specific political demands such as the stronger regulation of immigration and the exclusion of Muslims. This much-needed volume will be of particular interest to students and researchers of German politics, populism, social movements, party politics, and right-wing extremism.

This book explores the question of why and under which conditions right-wing populist parties receive electoral support. The author argues that neither economic variables, nor national culture or history are what account for their successes. Instead, he illustrates that the electoral success of populist parties in Western Europe, such as the French Front National or the Alternative for Germany, is best understood as the unintended consequence of misleading political messaging on the part of established political actors. A two-level theory explains why moderate politicians have changed their approaches to political messaging, potentially benefiting the nationalist, anti-elitist and anti-immigration rhetoric of their populist contenders. Lastly, the book’s theoretical assumptions are empirically validated by case studies on the immigration societies of Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden.

Germany's newest right-wing party, Alternative fur Deutschland (AfD), burst on to Germany's political stage in 2013 and has achieved more success than any German right-wing party since 1949. The resurgence of the German right wing has caused concern for many who still remember the legacy of National Socialism, and the wave of right-wing populism that has swept Europe has exacerbated those fears. Is AfD's rise, although significant, really a threat to the established German political order? Can AfD really influence German politics and foreign policy? These questions are answered by placing AfD's rise into the historical context of Germany's far-right wing since 1949. The analysis of all right-wing parties since 1949, to include the AfD, reveals key continuities in the German extreme right. These continuities have contributed to the inability of the far right to gain political representation at the national level or to sustain long-term success at the state level. The analysis indicates that AfD is simply the latest iteration, or fifth wave, of the German extreme right since 1949, and is likely to fail just like all its predecessors. Although AfD's long-term success is unlikely, its influence on contemporary German politics has been substantial. AfD's political activism has called Merkel's rule into question, potentially creating the possibility for new coalitions that will shift political power toward the center-left.This significance of this research is two-fold. First, this thesis provides a holistic assessment of AfD as a post-war German far right-wing party. The examination of German politics since 1949, with in-depth focus placed on the party dynamics, political programs, and electoral patterns, provides, the proper historical context in which to assess AfD's rise in Germany. Close study of the German far right since 1949 reveals several continuities that contributed to the far right's collective failure in German politics. The establishment of these continuities creates a common profile for the German far right since 1949 and provides a valuable tool that can be used to assess AfD, and any future German far right-wing party.Second, this thesis examines the potential impact of AfD's rise on contemporary German politics and foreign policy. This analysis includes how a young, inexperienced party like AfD successfully leveraged Germans' fear to push its nationalist agenda and routinely punch above its weight in the German political arena. This analysis is extended to assess the potential impact that AfD could have on German Foreign policy during a period of trans-Atlantic uncertainty. The analysis is then extrapolated to the international level, and assesses AfD's potential impact on European solidarity and security.To realize the purpose of this thesis, a review of two different but related themes was required. The first theme was dedicated to the history of German politics since 1945. The examination focused on literature centered on the post-war development of the German government, politics, and foreign policy since 1945. The second theme was dedicated to the examination of European far right-wing politics. The examination focused heavily on German right-wing political trends and how they fit into the European far right.

Across the West, hard-right leaders are surging to power on platforms of ethno-economic nationalism, Christianity, and traditional family values. Is this phenomenon the end of neoliberalism or its monstrous offspring? In the Ruins of Neoliberalism casts the hard-right turn as animated by socioeconomically aggrieved white working- and middle-class populations but contoured by neoliberalism’s multipronged assault on democratic values. From its inception, neoliberalism flirted with authoritarian liberalism as it warred against robust democracy. It repelled social-justice claims through appeals to market freedom and morality. It sought to de-democratize the state, economy, and society and re-secure the patriarchal family. In key works of the founding neoliberal intellectuals, Wendy Brown traces the ambition to replace democratic orders with ones disciplined by markets and traditional morality and democratic states with technocratic ones. Yet plutocracy, white supremacy, politicized mass affect, indifference to truth, and extreme social disinhibition were no part of the neoliberal vision. Brown theorizes their unintentional spurring by neoliberal reason, from its attack on the value of society and its fetish of individual freedom to its legitimation of inequality. Above all, she argues, neoliberalism’s intensification of nihilism coupled with its accidental wounding of white male supremacy generates an apocalyptic populism willing to destroy the world rather than endure a future in which this supremacy disappears.

"The years since the financial crisis have been marked by a remarkable stability in national government which hides the impact of a new kind of issue based politics which has arisen with parties such as Podemos in Spain, Srizia in Greece, The National Front in France and UKiP in the UK, all of whom have had a significant influence in shaping the political agenda in their own countries even if they have not actually secured formal power. This is the first book to present a rigorous yet accessible analysis of this phenomenon, grounded in the theories and methods of quantitative political science but drawing on empirical insights and theory from political psychology and sociology as well to try to understand the similarities and differences in the circumstances that have lead to these parties springing up and shaping political discourse and even policy to an extent that has challenged the very existence of the traditional party system"--

Contemporary Germany is a modern industrial democracy admired throughout the world. Many Germans believe that they live in the 'best Germany' that has ever existed. Yet there are dissenting voices: individuals and groups that reject cosmopolitanism, globalization and multiculturalism, and yearn for the more homogeneous country of earlier times. They are part of a global movement, often characterized as populist, that values tradition over innovation or constant change. In Germany, such people are routinely portrayed as reactionary or even neo- fascist. The present study seeks to provide a portrait of these individuals and their organizations. Very little has been written in English about the cultural figures who play a role in this movement. When the political side is discussed--whether in its manifestation as a party (the Alternative for Germany) or a citizens' group (PEGIDA)--the cultural dimension is usually ignored. Jay Julian Rosellini places the so-called New Right in the context of currents in German culture and history that differ from those in other countries. With Germany the dominant country in the European Union, economically and politically, this volume offers an essential view of its current conditions, future prospects and political particularities.

Why does Islamophobia dominate public debate in France? Islamophobia in France is rising, with Muslims subjected to unprecedented scrutiny of what they wear, eat and say. Championed by Marine Le Pen and drawing on the French colonial legacy, France's 'new secularism' gives racism a respectable veneer. Jim Wolfreys exposes the dynamic driving this intolerance: a society polarized by inequality, and the authoritarian neoliberalism of the French political mainstream. This officially sanctioned Islamophobia risks going unchallenged. It has divided the traditional anti-racist movement and undermined the left's opposition to bigotry. Wolfreys deftly unravels the problems facing those trying to confront today's rise in racism. Republic of Islamophobia illuminates both the uniqueness of France's anti-Muslim backlash and its broader implications for the West.