Right-wing extremism

Right-wing extremism and the violence that emanates from it have long left their mark on German society. In recent years and decades, people have repeatedly been threatened or murdered because of their appearance, their religion, a supposedly foreign origin or their political opinion. The Amadeu Antonio Foundation researched that there were at least 213 murders with right-wing extremist motives in Germany between 1990 and 2020 alone.

What is right-wing extremism?

But what do we actually mean when we talk about right-wing extremism? Everyone is familiar with this term and yet many find it difficult to describe what it means. Right-wing extremism is first and foremost a political world view. The word itself suggests that it is an “extreme” or “extremist” worldview that is explicitly different from a “non-extremist” worldview. However, this does not tell us exactly what is “extreme”. The much-criticized so-called Horseshoe theory assumes that right-wing extremism is to be distinguished from a “middle of society”. This is misleading because it suggests that the so-called “center of society” does not hold any right-wing extremist ideas. Furthermore, the theory implies that right-wing extremism and left-wing extremism are very close to each other - like the ends of a horseshoe. According to this theory, no criticism of left-wing or right-wing ideas should be made, instead the postulate applies that “extreme” opinions - regardless of their content - are the problem in themselves. Historically, however, and at the latest since the rise of a partly far-right party in recent years, the idea of a good democratic center must be critically questioned. Because even there, in the supposedly unsuspicious “middle of society”, prejudices and ideas of inequality are rampant.

The extreme right rejects human rights, human dignity and ideals of equality

It is therefore worth defining the concept of right-wing extremism more precisely: On the one hand, right-wing extremism is characterized by an ideology of inequality (legitimized by ethnicity) and, on the other hand, by efforts to enforce this by authoritarian means, such as coercion, intimidation, suppression or manipulation. In concrete terms, this means that right-wing extremists use racist, anti-Semitic, queer-hostile, anti-feminist, political and social Darwinist attributions to determine who belongs to “the people”. Rigid and traditionalist notions of gender and family also play a central role in protecting their imagined nation. In the second instance, right-wing extremists are prepared to pursue these goals with authoritarian means, sometimes even with violence. The basis for this is often a fundamental hostility towards democratic principles, such as the rule of law or the separation of powers.

Right-wing extremists therefore reject human rights, human dignity and ideals of equality and accordingly assume a natural inequality of constructed groups of people. Not all right-wing extremists formulate this explicitly, as they differ greatly in the strategies they use to achieve their goals. While some - such as parliamentary forces - try to conceal the consequences of their right-wing extremist ideas, as right-wing extremism is still not generally regarded as a legitimate principle for shaping society, pop and youth culture actors, for example, focus on making a “right-wing extremist lifestyle” (e.g. through clothing brands, music, social media content) appealing to young people in particular. Activist right-wing extremists, on the other hand, aim to shake up the taboo of right-wing extremist ideas, while right-wing extremist media actors work towards targeted shifts in discourse.

The appeal of right-wing extremism

Both the various forms of expression of right-wing extremism and its ideological content are attractive to people - especially young people. In the recent past in particular, the far right has succeeded in re-establishing a far-right youth culture, with the result that a far-right or even neo-Nazi worldview is once again being formulated more openly and confidently by young people in some regions and also performed (sub)culturally.

Extreme right-wing groups are specifically targeting young people and creating offers for them: Identity offers, “explanatory” models, but also leisure activities. These include a certain style of clothing, music and social media content, but also extreme right-wing ideas about gender roles and world views. For young people, it can therefore subjectively feel as if right-wing extremism is helping them to overcome the real challenges of growing up. However, this is not a sustainable long-term coping strategy. Nevertheless, joining the right-wing scene can be helpful and meaningful for young people on a socio-psychological level, even if membership of right-wing extremist structures is dangerous and destructive.

The factors that can motivate young people to turn to right-wing extremist scenes are diverse and individual. As a rule, however, both intrinsic motives and external, social factors play a role. Intrinsic motives include, for example, the desire for recognition, belonging, superiority and differentiation. Often there is also a diffuse tendency to devalue different groups. External factors, on the other hand, relate to the social framework conditions and socio-spatial specifics as well as family experiences. So if right-wing extremism is becoming increasingly accepted in society and right-wing extremist cliques are also recruiting members in the young people's social environment, while there are few or no alternative leisure activities and there have been experiences of violence within the family, an authoritarian parenting style and possibly unstable relationship experiences, relationship breakdowns or traumatization, these are important factors that promote right-wing extremist radicalization.

Identifying alternative coping strategies

Cultures Interactive e.V. is interested in looking at these dynamics as a whole, i.e. starting with both subjective and external factors in order to talk to young people about their political attitudes. This is why our work is geared towards the world in which young people live. We want to engage in a critical and open-minded exchange with young people about their everyday experiences, talk to them about their emotional and social concerns and, if necessary, identify and try out alternative coping strategies. At a time when right-wing extremist actors and discourses are gaining momentum everywhere, forcing their way into institutions and defaming a civil society based on equality and pluralism - including its offers for young people - this is more important than ever.