Thuringia, one of the five eastern German Länder, has just broken a post-1949 taboo - and smashed a civil society firewall and political cordon sanitaire - by making a Far Right party, AfD (Alternative für Deutschland), the winner of its state election on September 1. The result, giving it almost a third of the vote (2.8%) there and over 30% (30.6%) in neighbouring Saxony, was … [Read more...] about An alarming Alternative for Germany
anti-fascism
The AfD can win on an extremist platform
The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) has achieved unprecedented results in regional elections in the states of Saxony and Thuringia, both part of former East Germany. The party took around 30 per cent of the vote in each state. In Thuringia, this put the AfD well ahead of any other party. In Saxony, the AfD was a close second behind the Christian Democratic Union … [Read more...] about The AfD can win on an extremist platform
Looking for political dynamism in UK/Scotland
Keir Starmer and Yvette Cooper have overseen and backed rapid charging of far-right rioters, a violent, vicious mob. And they’ve acknowledged these riots are driven by unacceptable racism. But there are wider questions about the language of politics and media around immigration and race, and the social media and political underpinnings of the far right. And there are questions … [Read more...] about Looking for political dynamism in UK/Scotland
The trouble with – and in – England
The violent unrest that has caused so much damage in the UK has not in fact happened across the UK. It has almost been exclusively confined to England. True, violent riots also took place in Belfast, Northern Ireland, but, interestingly enough, even there they were largely perpetrated by British loyalists, along with a few far-right extremists from Dublin. The … [Read more...] about The trouble with – and in – England
George Orwell and Europe’s new normal
An image of George Orwell is circulating on ‘social media’. He is reading a book, entitled 2024, and he looks shocked if not terrified. Is the situation really so bad? Can Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, first published in 1949, be a guide for today? One might sniff that European integration has not died since ‘Brexit’ and the ascent to power of sovereigntist politicians such as … [Read more...] about George Orwell and Europe’s new normal