From Party to Movement? The German Radical Right

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Minkenberg “From Party to Movement?The German Radical Right in Transition” 14 analysis of the mobilization process of the radical right in East and West Germany must take into a account the several contextual factors. Among these are structural and cultural variables, such as the nature of the processes of modernization and regime change, traditions of nationalism, political culture and religion, and cleavage and opportunity structures in the party movement sector. In the following, the trends described above shall be explained based on an analysis of these factors and some analytical models developed in earlier writings. 26 First of all, in Western Europe, including Germany, the mobilization of the radical right today occurs in the context of a new, post-modern cleavage of political forces. The “silent revolution” of post-materialist value change, new social movements and left-libertarian or Green parties is now followed by a “silent counter-revolution”, a materialist and authoritarian reaction of right-wing parties and movements. This new radical right differs from its right-wing predecessors as well as from conservatism both in terms of its ideology and its support patterns. In terms of program and demographic characteristics of its voters, it is the polar opposite to the post-materialist New Left, new social movements and related parties or party factions. Only in the context of this structural change and accompanying political discourse, single issues like immigration which is not a new issue per se, gain new significance and a mobilizing function. In contrast to Western Europe, the transformation process in Eastern Europe is more far- reaching, deeper and complex, in at least three dimensions. 27 With some modifications due to the particularities of the process of German unification, they also apply to the new Länder. First, the transformation includes the collapse not only of political regimes but also of their legitimating ideologies. While the return to communist ideas is far from imminent, groups which combine socialist with nationalist ideas can benefit from this constellation. This is what the NPD has been doing for a number of years now, with increasing success. 28 Second, the democratization of regimes is accompanied by an economic and social transformation which touches all aspects of 26 Michael Minkenberg, “The Radical Right in Post-socialist Central and Eastern Europe: Comparative Observations and Interpretations,” in East European Politics and Society 16, 2 (2002), pp. 335-362; Timm Beichelt and Michael Minkenberg, “Explaining the Radical Right in Transition: Theories of Right-wing Radicalism and Opportunity Structures in Post-Socialist Europe”, FIT paper 3/2002 (Europa-Universität Viadrina Frankfurt/Oder); Minkenberg, “The West European Radical Right as a Collective Actor”, op.cit. 27 Klaus von Beyme, Systemwechsel in Osteuropa. (Frankfurt/Main: Suhrkamp, 1994), pp. 12-14. 28 See Bernd Wagner, “Kulturelle Subversion von rechts in Ost- und Westdeutschland: Zu rechtesextremen Entwicklungen und Strategien,” in: Thomas Grumke and Bernd Wagner (eds.) Handbuch Rechtsradikalismus S4. EXTREMA DRETA A EUROPA, UNA REALITAT POLIÈDRICA Sabadell, 5 i 6 de juliol de 2004
Minkenberg “From Party to Movement?The German Radical Right in Transition” 15 life. The complexity of the transformation process produces large “transformation costs”, which can benefit the radical right. Third, the exchange of entire social systems causes high levels of social disorientation and ambivalence towards the new order. Again, political entrepreneurs who offer simple solutions and appeal to the “people” or nation rather than a particular social class or universalist vision of progress have a competitive advantage. 29 In sum, these transformation-induced opportunity structures which lie behind the institutional settings of liberal democracy as they are put into place in East Germany must be seen as generally favorable to the radical right. It is also clear that these processes are fundamentally different from the West German transition from industrial to post-industrial society. However, the transformation process is even more complicated by the fact that it is a multiple modernization process, i.e. the transition to a liberal democracy and market capitalism along with elements of a change from industrialism to post-industrialism, which often involves aspects of simultaneous nation- and state-building as well. As a result, the radical right in East Germany is successful when it combines post-industrial aspects such as the use of modern mass media and the decreasing role of mass (party) organizations with the ideologies of a particular past, i.e. the mix of traditional nationalism in the East and the legacy of state socialism, in particular a critical stand on capitalism, free trade, the EU and the USA. However, there are clear limits for these attempts in Germany, rooted in the political culture of anti-fascism (including the legacy of anti-fascism by decree in the East), and a legal system which imposes prohibitive costs of repression on any open revival of Nazi ideas by radical right-wing actors. 30 For a more systematic assessment of these factors, the article now turns to a comparative overview of right-wing radical mobilization concerning major independent (cultural and structural context) and dependent variables (party vs. and movement strength). However, difficulties of measurement and of availability of relevant data arise since as of today, there are no comprehensive and systematic comparative studies of the non-party sector of the radical right beyond Germany. As a first step, party strength – here measured in electoral strength – reveals the following pattern in the (Opladen: Leske + Budrich, 2002), pp. 25-26. 29 See Sabrina Ramet (ed.), The Radical Right in Central and Eastern Europe (University Park: the University of Pennsylvania Press, 1999). 30 A number of such groups have been banned, mostly in the East, since unification. The most recent example of repressive reactions by the state is the failed attempt to ban the NPD, see Michael Minkenberg, “Repressionsstrategien gegen Rechtsradikalismus und Gewalt“ in: Forschungsjournal Neue Soziale Bewegungen S4. EXTREMA DRETA A EUROPA, UNA REALITAT POLIÈDRICA Sabadell, 5 i 6 de juliol de 2004
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From Party to Movement? The German Radical Right

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