ALMANYA'DA POPÜLİST ALTERNATİF: DIE LINKE ÖRNEĞİ

Year 2020, , 415 - 439, 30.09.2020

Şenol Arslantaş , Düzgün Arslantaş

https://doi.org/10.17065/huniibf.648380

Abstract

2007 – 2008 finansallaşmış kapitalist krizin patlak vermesinin ardından Avrupa’da ulusal hükümetlerin kemer sıkmaya yönelmesi, ağır sosyal sonuçlara yol açmıştır. Bu durum, birçok ülkede siyasi memnuniyetsizliği tetikleyerek güçlü radikal partilerin ortaya çıkmasına zemin hazırlamıştır. Ne var ki kemer sıkma çağında radikal aktörlerin eş zamanlı yükselişine rağmen siyasal partiler çalışmalarında radikal sol partilerin atılımı büyük oranda göz ardı edilmektedir. Bu boşluğun doldurulması için makalede, Almanya’da Die Linke örneklemi üzerinden radikal solun evrimi, yapısal politik ekonomik ve politik kurumsal koşullar, toplumsal protesto dinamikleri ve toplumsal hareketlilik açısından analiz edilmektedir. Die Linke’nin yükselişinde ülkede sosyal adalet talebinin temel temsilcisi haline gelerek parti sisteminde SPD’nin geleneksel olarak işgal ettiği yere kaymasının kritik bir rol oynadığı savunulmaktadır. Bununla birlikte 2013 sonrasında radikal sağ AfD’nin kamusal söylemi ve parti rekabetini belirleyen konuları tayin etmesiyle birlikte radikal solun atılım dönemi sona ermiştir

Keywords

Die Linke, SPD, radikal sol partiler, sosyal demokrasi, popülizm, radikal sağ partiler

THE POPULIST ALTERNATIVE IN GERMANY: THE CASE OF DIE LINKE

Abstract

Following the outbreak of the financialized capitalist crisis of 2007-2008, the adoption of the austerity by national governments in Europe has led to severe social consequences. This has also triggered political dissatisfaction in many countries, paving the way for the emergence of powerful radical actors. However, despite the simultaneous rise of radical actors in the age of austerity, the breakthrough of radical left parties has been largely ignored in political party studies. In order to fill this gap, the evolution of the German radical left through the case of the Die Linke has been analyzed with regard to structural political economic and political institutional conditions, social protest dynamics, and social mobilization. It is argued that the move of the Die Linke to the place that was traditionally occupied by the SPD through emerging as the main representative of the demand for social justice in the party system has played a critical role in the rise of this party. Nonetheless, following 2013, the radical right’s successful determination of the public discourse and the issues that determined party competition have ended the breakthrough of the radical left.

Keywords

Die Linke, SPD, radical left parties, social democracy, populism, radical right parties

References

• Akçay, Ü., A. R. Güngen (2016), Finansallaşma, Borç Krizi ve Çöküş: Küresel Kapitalizmin Geleceği, Ankara: NotaBene Yayınları.
• Arzheimer, K. (2006), “‘Dead Men Walking?’ Party Identification in Germany, 1977-2002”, Electoral Studies, 25, 791-807.
• Arzheimer, K. (2015) “The AfD: Finally a Successful Right-Wing Populist Eurosceptic Party for Germany?”, German Politics, 38 (3), 535-556.
• Bailey, D. J. (2016), “Capitalist Crisis or Crisis of Capitalism? How the Radical Left Conceptualises the Crisis”, in L. March, D. Keith (eds.), Europe’s Radical Left: From Marginality to the Mainstream?, London and New York: Rowman & Littlefield, 51-70.
• Berbuir, N., M. Lewandowsky, J. Siri (2015) “The AfD and its Sympathisers: Finally a Right-Wing Populist Movement in Germany?”, German Politics, 24 (2), 154-178.
• Bieling, H – J. (2012), “European Governance: On the Relationship Between Democratic and Non-democratic Deliberation Within the European Multi-level System”, World Political Science Review, 8 (1) 201-216.
• Bieling, H – J. (2014), “Shattered Expectations: The Defeat of European Ambitions of Global Financial Reform”, Journal of European Public Policy, 21 (3), 346-366.
• Bouma, A. (2016), “Ideological Confirmation and Party Consolidation: Germany’s Die Linke and the Financial and Refugee Crises,”, in L. March, D. Keith (eds.), Europe’s Radical Left: From Marginality to the Mainstream?, London and New York: Rowman & Littlefield, 133-154.
• Bowyer, B. T., M. I. Vail (2011), “Economic Insecurity, the Social Market Economy, and Support for the German Left”, West European Politics, 34 (4), 683-705.
• Cahuc, P., S. Carcillo, U. Rinne, K. F. Zimmermann (2013) “Youth Unemployment in Old Europe: The Polar Cases of France and Germany”, Journal of European Labor Studies, 2 (18), 1-23.
• Charalambous, G. (2011) “All the Shades of Red: Examining the Radical Left’s Euroscepticism”, Contemporary Politics, 17 (3), 299-320.
• Çubukçu, S. U. (2013), “Sosyal Demokrasi: Melez Bir Politik Gelenek”, in H. B.Örs (ed.), 19. Yüzyıldan 20. Yüzyıla Modern Siyasal İdeolojiler, İstanbul: İstanbul Bilgi Üniversitesi Yayınları, 253-306.
• Die Linke Parti Programı (2011), https://en.diel inke.de/fileadmin/dow nload/english_pages/programme_of_the_die_linke_party_erfurt_ 2011.pdf, E. T.: 05.07.2019.
• Dingelday, I. (2007), “Between Workfare and Enablement – The Different Paths to Transformation of the Welfare State: A Comparative Analysis of Activating Labour Market Policies”, European Journal of Political Research, 46, 823-851.
• Doerschler, P. (2015), “Die Linke: Still an Eastern Cultural Icon?”, German Politics, 24 (3), 377-401.
• Dostal, J. D. (2015), “The Pegida Movement and German Political Culture: Is Right-Wing Populism Here to Stay?”, The Political Quarterly, 86 (4), 523-531.
• Dyson, K. (2008), “A Crisis of Leadership in the Euro Area,” The Euro at 10: Europeanization, Power, and Convergence, Ed. by. Kenneth Dyson, Oxford-New York, Oxford University Press, 2008, s. 132-164.
• Eisenberg, C. W. (1996), Drawing the Line: The American Decision to Divide Germany, 1944-1949, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Faas, T. (2015), “The German Federal Election of 2013: Merkel’s Triumph, the Disappearance of the Liberal Party, and Yet Another Grand Coalition”, West European Politics, 38 (1), 238-247.
• Hildebrandt, C. (2011), “The Left Party in Germany”, in B. Daiber, C. Hildebrandt, A. Striethorst (eds.), From Revolution to Coalition – Radical Left Parties in Europe, Berlin: Rosa-Luxemburg Foundation, 93-113.
• Hildebrandt, C. (2013), “A Political Earthquake in Germany”, Transform, 13, 149-154.
• Hough, D. (2010), “From Pariah to Prospective Partner? The German Left Party’s Winding Path towards Government”, in (J. Olsen, M. Kob, D. Hough (eds.), Left Parties in National Governments, London: Palgrave Macmillan, 138-154.
• Hough, D., M. Koß (2009), “Populism Personified or Reinvigorated Reformers? The German Left Party in 2009 and Beyond”, German Politics and Society, 27 (2), 76-91.
• Hudson, K. (2000), European Communism since 1989: Towards a New European Left?, Basingstoke: Macmillan.
• Jackle, S., P. D. König (2017), “The Dark Side of the German ‘Welcome Culture’: Investigating the Causes behind Attacks on Refugees in 2015”, West European Politics, 40 (2), 223-251.
• Kitschelt, H., W. Streeck (2003), “From Stability to Stagnation: Germany at the Beginning of the Twenty-first Century”, West European Politics, 26 (4), 1-34.
• Küçükali, C. (2014), “The Perceptions, Attitudes and Political Strategies of ‘Die Linke’: A Political Discourse Analysis”, GeTMA Working Paper Series, 2, 1-72.
• Major, P. (1997), The Death of the KPD: Communism and Anti-Communism in West Germany, 1945-1956, New York: Oxford University Press.
• March, L., C. Mudde (2005), “What’s Left of the Radical Left? The European Radical Left After 1989: Decline and Mutation”, Comparative European Politics, 3, 23-49.
• McGiffen, S. (2011), “Bloodless Coup d'Etat: The European Union's Response to the Eurozone Crisis”, Socialism and Democracy, 25 (2), 25-43.
• McKay, J. (2017) “The Berlin Land Election 2011”, German Politics, 21 (2), 228-238.
• Mewes, H. (1983) “The West German Green Party”, New German Critique, 28, 51-85.
• Nachtwey, O., T. Spier (2007), “Political Opportunity Structures and the Success of the German Left Party in 2005”, Journal of Contemporary Central and Eastern Europe, 15 (2), 123-154.
• Neumayer, C. (2016) “Contested Hashtags: Blockupy Frankfurt in Social Media”, International Journal of Communication, 10, 5558-5579.
• Olsen, J. (2007) “The Merger of the PDS and WASG: From Eastern German Regional Party to National Radical Left Party?”, German Politics, 16 (2), 205-221.
• Olsen, J. (2018), “The Left Party and the AfD: Populist Competitors in Eastern Germany?”, German Politics and Society, 36 (1), 70-83.
• Oppelland, T. (2012), “Rituals of Commemoration – Identity and Conflict: The Case of Die Linke in Germany”, German Politics, 21 (4), 429-443.
• Patton, D. F. (2013) “The Left Party at Six: The PDS – WASG Merger in Comparative Perspective”, German Politics, 22 (3), 219-234.
• Proksch, S - O., J. B. Slapin (2006) “Institutions and Coalition Formation: The German Election of 2005”, German Politics, 21 (2), 540-559.
• Saalfed, T. (1990) “The West German Bundestag After 40 Years: The Role of Parliament in a ‘Party Democracy”, West European Politics, 13 (3), 68-89.
• Sierp, A. (2009), “Nostalgia for Times Past. On the Uses and Abuses of the Ostalgie Phenomenon in Eastern Germany”, Contemporary European Studies, 4 (2), 47-60.
• Solty, I. (2008), “The Historic Significance of the New German Left Party”, Socialism and Democracy, 22 (1), 1-34.
• Storm, S., C.W.M. Naastepad (2015), “Crisis and Recovery in the German Economy: The Real Lessons”, Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, 32, 11-24.
• Taylor, R. (2009) “Europe’s Divided Left”, Dissent, 56 (2), 5-9.
• Wolf, F. O. (2015) “The Radical Left in Germany”, Socialism and Democracy, 29 (3), 81-92. Zur, Roi. (2017) “When Valence Crushes: Explaining the Electoral Failure of the German FDP in the 2013 Election”, German Politics, 26 (3), 380-397.