Germany: The AfD’s Staggering between Reason and Resistance

Lembcke, Oliver W. (2021) Germany: The AfD’s Staggering between Reason and Resistance. In: Populism and the Politicization of the COVID-19 Crisis in Europe. Palgrave Macmillan, https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9783030660109. ISBN 978-3-030-66011-6, DOI:10.1007/978-3-030-66011-6

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Abstract

This chapter argues that the AfD has not been able to capture the media’s attention and display itself as the centre of protest against the government’s COVID-19 policies. One of the key reasons is that the AfD has limited its critique to highlighting the failures in prevention and to stressing mistakes made in effectively managing the crisis. Consequently, the AfD could not exert the same radical critique as for example during the migration crisis. To be sure, the AfD has refused to participate in the overall COVID-19 consensus by politicizing the issue. It also tried to radicalize its critique by switching from a ‘safety first’ strategy to a strategy of ‘individual rights first’. But with no avail. It seems that the party has been suffering from some ‘outbidding’ by forms of extra-parliamentary opposition (APO), which are much more radical and in some ways also more populist than the AfD itself.

Item Type:	Book Section
Title in English:	Germany: The AfD’s Staggering between Reason and Resistance
Additional information:	The book " Populism and the Politicization of the COVID-19 Crisis in Europe" (DOI:10.1007/978-3-030-66011-6) provides a first overview of how populist parties responded to the COVID-19 pandemic crisis in Europe. Although populism would normally benefit from crisis situations (e.g., political representation or economic crises), the peculiar nature of this health crisis does not make the benefit obvious. For it to be exploited, a crisis must be politicized. While populists have tried to take advantage of the crisis situation, the impossibility of taking ownership of the COVID-19 issue has made the crisis hard to be exploited. In particular, populists in power have tried to depoliticize the pandemic, whereas radical right-populists in opposition tried to politicize the crisis, though failing to gain the relevant public support. This book considers populist parties in eight European democracies, providing a framework of analysis for their responses to the COVID-19 crisis. It does so by engaging with the literature on crisis and populism from a theoretical perspective and through the lens of the politicization process. This book consist of 10 chapters. The other chapters are coming soon.
Keywords in English:	AfD, COVID-19 policies, populism
Subjects:	J Political Science > JA Political science (General)
Divisions:	Institute for Political Science
Research funder:	European Union, Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Action DEMOS grant no. 822590
Depositing User:	Enikő Meiszterics
Date Deposited:	25 Mar 2021 10:25
Last Modified:	02 Sep 2021 12:54
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URI:	https://openarchive.tk.mta.hu/id/eprint/452

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