• About Us
  • Who Are We
  • Work With Us
Tuesday, March 21, 2023
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Globe Post
39 °f
New York
44 ° Fri
46 ° Sat
40 ° Sun
41 ° Mon
No Result
View All Result
The Globe Post
No Result
View All Result
Home Opinion

Confronting the Mainstream Context of Germany’s Far-Right Extremism

Aristotle Kallis by Aristotle Kallis
03/11/20
in Opinion
Supporters of the "Der Dritte Weg/Der III Weg" (The Third Path/The III Path) far-right and neo-nazi party walk through Plauen, eastern Germany, during a demonstration on Labour Day, May 1, 2019

Far-right and neo-Nazi supporters walk trough Plauen in Eastern Germany, 2019. Photo: Sebastian Willnow, AFP

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

The day that Tobias R. decided to go on a shooting rampage in the center of the German town of Hanau, he crossed the disturbing threshold into violent extremism. As information about his profile and motives began to emerge in the chaotic hours after the attack, it was hard not to conclude that he ticked most of the boxes of a typical “far-right extremist.”

Further information pieced together a complex portrait of a lone actor with an intense hatred of immigrants, a broad spectrum of racist views underpinned by a host of stereotypes and prejudices, and a disturbing fondness of bizarre conspiracy theories.

It was only a matter of time before the question of the 43-year-old’s mental health was also dragged into the discussion. Jörg Meuthen, co-leader of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) radical-right party, used the perpetrator’s online “manifesto” to label him a “paranoid-hallucinatory schizophrenic.”

Hanau Shooting: Isolated Act?

“Extremist,” “far-right,” “disturbed,” and “madman.” Notice how so much of the language used in the story’s framing emphasizes the perceived exceptionality of the perpetrator. Mainstream society wants to see in Tobias R. the antithesis of itself. It is thus comforting to focus primarily on his oddball conspiracy ramblings, the intensity of his hatred towards immigrants, the unconventional details of his lifestyle, and the murderous violence of his method.

Das "Manifest" des Wahnsinnigen von Hanau ist nun bekannt. Ferndiagnose einer Psychiaterin: paranoid-halluzinatorische Schizophrenie. Er hätte in die Psychiatrie gehört! Stattdessen will man UNS die Schuld in die Schuhe schieben. So schäbig & widerlich!

➡https://t.co/gg0OH7dvFR pic.twitter.com/b4OmhdrMCk

— Prof. Dr. Jörg Meuthen (@Joerg_Meuthen) February 21, 2020

By branding him “extremist” and “far-right,” a cliché designation that serves the purpose of ideological distancing and detachment, Tobias R. was turned into something other than “us” – a fringe figure, outlier, maniac, and abnormal zealot. Invoking his mental health as the primary explanation for his violent behavior and obsessive ideas has effectively removed him from any political, social, or cultural context.

This is precisely what the AfD leadership did in the wake of the attack. Meuthen dismissed the chorus of voices that had pointed the finger to the “far-right” views of the perpetrator, arguing instead that this was “neither right nor left-wing terrorism” but an isolated act derived from a delusional mind.

Mainstream Context

But by exceptionalizing Tobias R. in one way or another, we have also deprived him of his connection to our society and culture. We have over-emphasized the extremity of his violent method and his outlandish persecutory delusions only to dodge the consummate normality of the underlying assumptions that shaped and motivated his hatred: that immigration is the root of all present-day problems; that races exist and are inherently unequal; that national identity is under existential threat from multiculturalism; that elites have betrayed the people; and so on.

These views are anything but “extreme” in the sense that they have come to saturate everyday mainstream discourse and have become accepted or tolerated by wide sections of mainstream society. They feed on undercurrents of cliché nationalism, conventional narratives of history, normalized anger, and long-standing prejudices that were for long assumed to be on their way out but never ceased to ferment underneath the skin-deep veneer of a seeming liberal, ever-progressive public consensus.

Far-Right in Germany

When it became clear that the perpetrator fitted the profile of a lone self-radicalized far-right terrorist, attention was drawn to the particular German context of the incident.

Only days before the Hanau terror incident, the crackdown against the clandestine anti-Muslim terror cell Der harte Kern (Hard Core), whose members planned violent attacks on mosques, immigrant targets, and key political figures seen as pro-immigration, illustrated the growing threat from the militant far-right in contemporary Germany.

In September, the trial of another neo-Nazi terror cell (Revolution Chemnitz) that planned to attack both immigrants and elite political and media figures, kicked off in Berlin. In June, a far-right extremist with a violent anti-immigrant past assassinated Walter Lübcke, a prominent figure of the ruling CDU party in Hesse known for his pro-refugee views.

Slain left-wing German politician Walter Luebcke
Slain German CDU politician Walter Lübcke. Photo: AFP

These and other incidents of increasing far-right violent activity unfolded against the backdrop of the recent rise of support for the AfD in the polls. News of the Hanau killing spree led a series of German politicians from all mainstream parties to link the incident, as well as the broader recent increase in far-right terrorism across the country, with the anti-immigrant ideas and divisive nationalist language used by the AfD.

Such a focus on the corrosive, cumulative effects of offline and online hate speech is of course welcome and long overdue. Germany is far from unique in having recorded significant electoral gains made by anti-establishment, populist radical-right parties in recent years. It is definitely not the only country where far-right terrorist activities are on the rise and represent a major – perhaps the major – threat to social cohesion.

Line Against Extremism

The president of the German parliament, Wolfgang Schäuble, admitted that the country had underestimated the threat from the far right. He also claimed that such violent incidents do not occur “in a vacuum” but remain anchored in a broader political culture where anger and resentment towards “others” have become normalized. “Words can be followed by action,” said Schäuble, accusing the AfD of failing to “draw a line” against extremism.

The line, however, is not traversing just the AfD or parties with similar radical xenophobic, anti-immigrant or anti-Muslim views in other countries. It is a deep fault line that has festered at the very heart of mainstream politics and culture. Schäuble’s own party too is facing the temptation to embrace a more hardline nationalist stance as it plots its direction in the post-Merkel era amidst electoral debacles and internal ideological divisions.

Framing the discussion exclusively in terms of a threat from “extremist” views that belong to the margins of society sustains the comforting fiction of a clear-cut fissure between mainstream and radical-extremist ideas or parties.

The Cologne sex assaults sparked mass protests in Germany and a surge in support for anti-Islam PEGIDA movement
Anti-refugee protest in Germany. Photo: Tobias Schwarz, AFP

Yet attacks such as the one perpetrated in Hanau illustrate how extreme hatred of “others” does not explode out of nowhere but grows over time, in unspectacular small steps, from otherwise unremarkable, even trivialized individual assumptions and ideas into a collective moral blind spot.

There is a crucial line that distinguishes nonviolent from violent forms of radicalization, and this is a line that needs to be drawn and enforced with renewed determination and rigor. Yet this is not the only, the most urgent, or the most disturbing one. It only matters alongside another line that targets hate speech and verbal “othering.” This broader context that normalizes radicalization and feeds violent extremism cannot continue to be overshadowed by the focus on the act itself. The forest matters at least as much as the trees.

We will do the victims of the Hanau terrorist attack little service if we carry on framing it as the exclusive, isolated product of an “extremist” mindset that inhabits the fringes of society. This has been made possible by a rogue hotchpotch of otherwise normalized xenophobic, hyper-nationalist, racist, anti-Muslim ideas amidst a contemporary context that has grown tolerant of, if not largely desensitized to, aggressive hate speech.

The extreme method and devastating effects of the attack belie the sheer mundanity and disturbingly broad mainstream acceptance of the ideas that underpinned it.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of The Globe Post.
ShareTweet
Aristotle Kallis

Aristotle Kallis

Professor of Modern & Contemporary History, School of Humanities, Keele University, UK

Related Posts

Heavily armed police inspect the area near a Jehovah's Witness church where several people have been killed in a shooting in Hamburg, northern Germany
World

Eight Dead in Shooting at Jehovah’s Witness Hall in Germany

by Staff Writer
March 10, 2023
Mario Draghi
Business

EU Leaders Clash Over How to Tackle Energy Prices

by Staff Writer
October 20, 2022
Arne Schoenbohm
World

German Cybersecurity Chief Sacked Over Alleged Russia Ties

by Staff Writer
October 18, 2022
Olaf Scholz
Business

Germany Defends Massive Energy Plan Against EU Critics

by Staff Writer
October 4, 2022
German police
World

Woman Dies After Stabbing on German University Campus

by Staff Writer
June 13, 2022
Volkswagen logo
Environment

German Farmer Sues Volkswagen Over CO2 Emissions

by Staff Writer
May 20, 2022
Next Post
Traders work after the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on August 7, 2019 on Wall Street in New York City.

Stocks, Oil Plunge as Trump Travel Ban Fans Recession Fears

US President Donald Trump speaks on his administration's response to the coronavirus.

Europe Furious Over Trump's Unilateral Travel Ban

Recommended

Transgender Army veteran Tanya Walker speaks to protesters in Times Square near a military recruitment centre

Tennessee Is A Drag on the First Amendment

March 21, 2023
participants of an artificial intelligence conference

How AI Could Upend the World Even More Than Electricity or the Internet

March 19, 2023
Chinese President Xi Jinping

China’s Path to Economic Dominance

March 15, 2023
Heavily armed police inspect the area near a Jehovah's Witness church where several people have been killed in a shooting in Hamburg, northern Germany

Eight Dead in Shooting at Jehovah’s Witness Hall in Germany

March 10, 2023
Myanmar Rohingya refugees look on in a refugee camp in Teknaf, in Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar, on November 26, 2016

US Announces $26M in New Aid for Rohingya

March 8, 2023
A flooded road in Batu Berendam in Malaysia's southern coastal state of Malacca

At Least Four Dead, Tens of Thousands Evacuated in Malaysia Floods

March 6, 2023

Opinion

Transgender Army veteran Tanya Walker speaks to protesters in Times Square near a military recruitment centre

Tennessee Is A Drag on the First Amendment

March 21, 2023
Chinese President Xi Jinping

China’s Path to Economic Dominance

March 15, 2023
An earthquake survivor reacts as rescuers look for victims and other survivors in Hatay, a Turkish province where hundreds of buildings were destroyed by the earthquake

Heed the Call of Our Broken World

March 1, 2023
Top view of the US House of Representatives

‘Cringy Awards:’ Who Is the Most Embarrassing US House Representative?

February 13, 2023
Protesters rally against the fatal police assault of Tyre Nichols, outside of the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center in Detroit, Michigan, on January 27, 2023

How Do Violent ‘Monsters’ Take Root?

February 3, 2023
George Santos from the 3rd Congressional district of New York

George Santos for Speaker!

January 16, 2023
Facebook Twitter

Newsletter

Do you like our reporting?
SUBSCRIBE

About Us

The Globe Post

The Globe Post is part of Globe Post Media, a U.S. digital news organization that is publishing the world's best targeted news sites.

submit oped

© 2018 The Globe Post

No Result
View All Result
  • National
  • World
  • Business
  • Interviews
  • Lifestyle
  • Democracy at Risk
    • Media Freedom
  • Opinion
    • Editorials
    • Columns
    • Book Reviews
    • Stage
  • Submit Op-ed

© 2018 The Globe Post