• Thu 11 05 2017 / 7 pm •
AfD, Pegida & Co. – Who Are the People in Populism?

with MARK TERKESSIDIS, RICHARD GEBHARDT and BIANCA KLOSE

“Traitors to the people,” “we are the people,” “if you don’t like Germany you should leave…” These are some of the typical slogans shouted at demonstrations by Pegida (the “Patriotic Europeans against the Islamization of the Occident” or AfD (the “Alternative for Germany”). Both organizations have experienced a meteoric rise in recent years, ever-present in the German media. AfD has become a force to be reckoned with in electoral politics. Which “people” does the “new völkisch movement” speak for and is it really something new? What do the populists mean by the “ethnocultural identity” that “concerned citizens” and “asylum critics” are supposed to defend against “the great exchange?” Writer Richard Gebhardt, social activist Bianca Klose, and writer and Academy-member Mark Terkessidis join in a conversation to take a critical look at the agents, key terms and ideologemes of Germany’s rising populist movements. They look at the differences and similarities to traditional conservative, crypto-nationalist, and neo-fascist positions, and assess the socio-economic conditions and grievances that have led to their emergence. How great is the danger posed by this insurgent New Right, and what might be done to counteract its seemingly irresistible rise?

Venue: ACADEMYSPACE, Herwarthstraße 3, 50672 Cologne
Free admission
In German