EXPLAINING THE RISE OF ALTERNATIVE FÜR DEUTSCHLAND (AFD) IN GERMANY WITH FAILED PROMISES OF UNIFICATION

Year 2023, , 289 - 303, 21.06.2023

Fatih Çağatay Cengiz

https://doi.org/10.14514/beykozad.1277183

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to explain the rise of a far-right political party, Alternative Für Deutschland (AfD), particularly in the eastern part of Germany, in relation to the failed promises of Unification in 1990. Despite the fact that a plethora of literature has primarily focused on the social consequences of immigration and populist rhetoric for the rise of the AfD in German politics since 2013, the paper critically questions why the AfD has a particularly stronghold in Germany's Neuen Länder (New States). The paper suggests, based on a political economy analysis that incorporates Durkheim's theory of anomie, that the gradual withdrawal of early euphoria in German Unification and its transformation into economic grievance and political distrust under neoliberalism has created anomic tensions in society, a condition that far-right politics can exploit. In other words, while German unification created euphoric expectations for the future, these expectations were not met under neoliberal conditions. It is, therefore, concluded that the persistence of unequal economic power between East and West Germany, as well as political underrepresentation of Eastern Germans, has exacerbated anomic tensions. As a result, the rise of the AfD is not a pathological issue, but rather can be explained in terms of unmet social demands among Germans.

Keywords

AfD, Far-Right, Anomie, German Unification, Neoliberalism

Thanks

I would like to thank the DAAD for providing me with a scholarship for a research stay at IPE Berlin, which resulted in the publication of this article.

BİRLEŞMENİN GERÇEKLEŞMEMİŞ VAATLERİ ÜZERİNDEN AFD’NİN (ALTERNATIVE FÜR DEUTSCHLAND) ALMANYA’DAKİ YÜKŞELİŞİNİ AÇIKLAMAK

Abstract

Bu çalışmanın amacı, Alternative Für Deutschland (Almanya için Alternatif, AfD) adlı aşırı sağ siyasi partinin özellikle Almanya’nın doğu bölgelerindeki yükselişini, iki Almanya’nın 1990 yılındaki birleşmesinin gerçekleşmeyen vaatleri üzerinden açıklamaktır. Kurulduğu 2013 yılından bu yana, AfD’nin Alman siyasetindeki yükselişi, literatürde her ne kadar popülist retorik ve göçün toplumsal sonuçları üzerinden açıklanıyor olsa da, bu çalışma AfD’nin neden özellikle Almanya’nın Neuen Länder (Yeni Eyaletler) olarak geçen coğrafyada güçlü olduğunu eleştirel bir biçimde sorgulamaktadır. Durkheim’in anomi teorisini içeren ekonomi politik bir analize dayanan bu çalışma, iki Almanya’nın birleşmesiyle ortaya çıkan öforinin (yoğun çoşku) zamanla geri çekilmesinin ve bu çekilmenin neoliberalizm altında ekonomik ve politik memnuniyetsizliğe dönüşmesinin toplumda anomik gerilimler yarattığını, bu gerilimlerin de aşırı sağın kullanımına uygun bir ortam hazırladığını iddia etmektedir. Diğer bir anlatımla, iki Almanya’nın birleşmesi her ne kadar gelecek için öforik beklentiler yaratsa da, neoliberal koşullar altında bu beklentiler karşılanamamıştır. Doğu Almanya’da yaşayanların yetersiz politik temsilinin ve Doğu-Batı Almanya arasındaki eşitsiz ekonomik gücün sürekliliğinin toplumdaki anomik gerilimleri arttırdığı sonucuna ulaşılmıştır. Böyle bir ortamda, AfD’nin yükselişinin patolojik bir sorun olmadığı, söz konusu yükselişin ancak Almanların gerçekleşmeyen toplumsal taleplerinin göz önüne alınarak açıklanabileceği iddia edilmiştir.

Keywords

Aşırı Sağ, Anomi, İki Almanya’nın Birleşmesi, Neoliberalizm

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