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

Yıl 2023, Cilt: 11 Sayı: 1, 289 - 303, 21.06.2023
https://doi.org/10.14514/beykozad.1277183

Öz

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.

Teşekkür

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.

Kaynakça

  • Akman, U. (2019). Rise of Right-Wing Populism in Europe? The Case of Alternative Für Deutschland (AfD) in Germany. Unpublished Master Thesis. Sabancı University, İstanbul.
  • Annual Report of the Federal Government on the Status of German Unity. (2021). Jahresbericht der Bundesregierung zum Stand der Deutschen Einheit. https://www.bmwk.de/Redaktion/DE/Publikationen/Neue-Laender/2021-jahresbericht-der-bundesregierung-zum-stand-der-deutschen-einheit-jbde.html (accessed 28 August 2022).
  • Arzheimer, K. and Berning, C. (2019). How the Alternative for Germany (AfD) and their voters veered to the radical right, 2013-2017. Electoral Studies, 60, https://doi.org/10.1111/spsr.12306
  • Behrend, H. (1995). Inglorious German Unification. In Behrend, H. (Ed.) German Unification: The Destruction of an Economy (pp. 1-34). London: Pluto Press.
  • Bernburg, J. G. (2002). Anomie, Social Change and Crime: A Theoretical Examination of Institutional-Anomie Theory. British Journal of Criminology, 42(4): 729-742.
  • Berning, C. and Arzheimer, K. (2008). The German Alternative für Deutschland (AfD). https://www.score.uni-mainz.de/2018/02/24/the-german-alternative-fur-deutschland-afd/ (accessed 3 September 2022).
  • Betzelt, S. (2015). The myth of more social inclusion through activation reforms: The case of Germany. Working Paper, No. 57/2015. Hochschule für Wirtschaft und Recht Berlin, Institute for International Political Economy (IPE), Berlin.
  • Bothfeld, S. and Betzelt, S. (2011). How do Activation Policies Affect Social Citizenship?. In Betzelt S., and Bothfeld, S. (Ed.). Activation and Labour Market Reforms in Europe (pp. 15-34). Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Burda M. C. And Seele S. (2016). No Role for the Hartz Reforms? Demand and Supply Factors in the German Labor Market, 1993-2014. SFB 649 Discussion Paper, Sonderforschungsbereich 649, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany.
  • Cengiz, F. Ç. (2023). The Rise of the Right Wing Good Party (İYİP) in Turkey: Authoritarian Turn, Anomie, and Regulatory Nostalgia. Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies, https://doi.org/10.1080/19448953.2023.2167183
  • Decker, F. (2016). “The Alternative for Germany”: Factors behind its emergence and profile of a new right-wing populist party. German Politics and Society, 34(2): 1-16.
  • Deutsche Welle. (2016). German right-leaning AfD leader calls for police right to shoot at refugees. https://www.dw.com/en/german-right-leaning-afd-leader-calls-for-police-right-to-shoot-at-refugees/a-19013137 (accessed 29 August 2022).
  • Deutsche Welle. (2021, September 27). Germany’s far-right populist AfD: No gains, small losses. https://www.dw.com/en/germanys-far-right-populist-afd-no-gains-small-losses/a-59330183 (accessed 29 August 2022).
  • Deutsche Welle. (2021, September 28). Germany’s election results: Facts and figures. https://www.dw.com/en/germanys-election-results-facts-and-figures/a-59343789 (accessed 27 August 2022).
  • Durkheim, É. (1984). The Division of Labour in Society. Halls, W. D. (Trans.). Hampshire: Macmillan Press, (originally published 1893).
  • Fervers, L. (2018). Economic miracle, political disaster? Political consequences of Hartz IV. Journal of European Social Policy, doi: 10.1177/0958928718774259
  • Gook, B. (2018). Backdating German neoliberalism: Ordoliberalism, the German model and economic experiments in eastern Germany after 1989. Journal of Sociology, doi: 10.1177/14407833187590
  • Gorres, A., Spies, D., Kumlin, S. (2018). The Electoral Supporter Base of the Alternative for Germany. Swiss Political Science Review, 24(3): 246-269.
  • Grimm, R. (2015). The rise of the German Eurosceptic party Alternative für Deutschland, between ordoliberal critique and popular anxiety. International Political Science Review, 36(3): 264-278.
  • Havertz, R. (2021). Radical Right Populism in Germany: AfD, Pegdida, and the Identitarian Movement. Oxon: Routledge.
  • Jarausch, K. and Gransow, V. (1994). Uniting Germany: Documents and Debates, 1944-1993. Oxford: Berghahn Books.
  • Kuper, S. (2021, September 16). The East-West divide still splits in Germany. Financial Times, https://www.ft.com/content/d1f91478-92e0-4600-8781-ac1310601b3e (accessed 1 April 2023).
  • Lees, C. (2018). The ‘Alternative for Germany’: The rise of right-wing populism at the heart of Europe. Politics, 38(3): 295-310.
  • McGowan, L. (2014). The Radical Right in Germany: The Radical Right in Germany 1870 to the Present. New York: Routledge.
  • Merton, R. (1938). Social Structure and Anomie. American Sociological Review, 3(5): 672-682.
  • Nick, H. (1995). An Unparalleled Destruction and Squandering of Economic Assets. In Behrend, H. (Ed.). German Unification: The Destruction of an Economy (pp. 80-118). London: Pluto Press.
  • Passas, N. (2000). Global Anomie, Dysnomie, and Economic Crime: Hidden Consequences of Neoliberalism and Globalization in Russia and Around the World. Social Justice, 27(2): 16-44.
  • Patton, D. F. (2017). The Alternative for Germany’s radicalization in historical-comparative perspective. Journal of Contemporary Central and Eastern Europe, 25(2): 163-180.
  • Rosenfeld, R., Trappe, H. and Gornick, J. C. (2004). Gender and Work in Germany: Before and After Reunification. Annual Review of Sociology, 30: 103-124.
  • Rosenfeld, R. and Messner, S. F. (2019). Crime and the American Dream: An Institutional Analysis. In Adler, and Laufer, W. S. (Ed.). The Legacy of Anomie Theory (pp. 218-247). London and NY: Routledge.
  • Siri, J. (2018). The Alternative for Germany after the 2017 Election. German Politics, 27(1): 141-145. Spiegel International. (2007, August 24). NPD Leader Charged with Inciting Race Hate. https://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/after-nominating-rudolf-hess-for-nobel-peace-prize-npd-leader-charged-with-inciting-race-hate-a-501910.html (accessed 20 August 2022).
  • Spiegel (2016). The Immigration of Muslims Will Change Our Culture. https://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/interview-with-frauke-petry-of-the-alternative-for-germany-a-1084493.html (accessed 1 April 2023).
  • Starke, P. (2022). The German Welfare State. In Larres, K., Moroff, H., and Wittlinger, R. (Ed.). The Oxford Handbook of German Politics (pp. 304-322). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Thomaneck, J. (1995). From Euphoria to Reality: Social Problems of Post-Unification. In Lewis, D. and McKenzie, J. (Ed.). The New Germany: Social, Political and Cultural Challenges of Unification (pp. 7-30). Exeter: University of Exeter Press.
  • Vorländer, H., Herold, M, and Schäller, S. (2018). PEGİDA and New Right-Wing Populism in Germany. Palgrave Macmillian.
  • Weisskircher, M. (2020). The Strength of Far-Right AfD in Eastern Germany: The East-West Divide and the Multiple Causes behind ‘Populism’. The Political Quarterly, 91(3): 614-622.
  • Weisskircher, M. (2022). The Importance of Being Eastern German: The Multiple Heartlands of Germany’s Far Right. In Mörner, M. (Ed.). The Many Faces of the Far Right in the Post-Communist Space: A Comparative Study of Far-Right Movements and Identity in the Region (pp. 91-99). published by Centre for Baltic and East European Studies, CBESS, Södertörn University. http://iriss.idn.org.rs/794/1/ZPavlovic_BTodosijevic_The_Core_Idea_Is_Our_Own_Peopl_First.pdf (accessed 1April 2023).

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

Yıl 2023, Cilt: 11 Sayı: 1, 289 - 303, 21.06.2023
https://doi.org/10.14514/beykozad.1277183

Öz

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.

Kaynakça

  • Akman, U. (2019). Rise of Right-Wing Populism in Europe? The Case of Alternative Für Deutschland (AfD) in Germany. Unpublished Master Thesis. Sabancı University, İstanbul.
  • Annual Report of the Federal Government on the Status of German Unity. (2021). Jahresbericht der Bundesregierung zum Stand der Deutschen Einheit. https://www.bmwk.de/Redaktion/DE/Publikationen/Neue-Laender/2021-jahresbericht-der-bundesregierung-zum-stand-der-deutschen-einheit-jbde.html (accessed 28 August 2022).
  • Arzheimer, K. and Berning, C. (2019). How the Alternative for Germany (AfD) and their voters veered to the radical right, 2013-2017. Electoral Studies, 60, https://doi.org/10.1111/spsr.12306
  • Behrend, H. (1995). Inglorious German Unification. In Behrend, H. (Ed.) German Unification: The Destruction of an Economy (pp. 1-34). London: Pluto Press.
  • Bernburg, J. G. (2002). Anomie, Social Change and Crime: A Theoretical Examination of Institutional-Anomie Theory. British Journal of Criminology, 42(4): 729-742.
  • Berning, C. and Arzheimer, K. (2008). The German Alternative für Deutschland (AfD). https://www.score.uni-mainz.de/2018/02/24/the-german-alternative-fur-deutschland-afd/ (accessed 3 September 2022).
  • Betzelt, S. (2015). The myth of more social inclusion through activation reforms: The case of Germany. Working Paper, No. 57/2015. Hochschule für Wirtschaft und Recht Berlin, Institute for International Political Economy (IPE), Berlin.
  • Bothfeld, S. and Betzelt, S. (2011). How do Activation Policies Affect Social Citizenship?. In Betzelt S., and Bothfeld, S. (Ed.). Activation and Labour Market Reforms in Europe (pp. 15-34). Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Burda M. C. And Seele S. (2016). No Role for the Hartz Reforms? Demand and Supply Factors in the German Labor Market, 1993-2014. SFB 649 Discussion Paper, Sonderforschungsbereich 649, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany.
  • Cengiz, F. Ç. (2023). The Rise of the Right Wing Good Party (İYİP) in Turkey: Authoritarian Turn, Anomie, and Regulatory Nostalgia. Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies, https://doi.org/10.1080/19448953.2023.2167183
  • Decker, F. (2016). “The Alternative for Germany”: Factors behind its emergence and profile of a new right-wing populist party. German Politics and Society, 34(2): 1-16.
  • Deutsche Welle. (2016). German right-leaning AfD leader calls for police right to shoot at refugees. https://www.dw.com/en/german-right-leaning-afd-leader-calls-for-police-right-to-shoot-at-refugees/a-19013137 (accessed 29 August 2022).
  • Deutsche Welle. (2021, September 27). Germany’s far-right populist AfD: No gains, small losses. https://www.dw.com/en/germanys-far-right-populist-afd-no-gains-small-losses/a-59330183 (accessed 29 August 2022).
  • Deutsche Welle. (2021, September 28). Germany’s election results: Facts and figures. https://www.dw.com/en/germanys-election-results-facts-and-figures/a-59343789 (accessed 27 August 2022).
  • Durkheim, É. (1984). The Division of Labour in Society. Halls, W. D. (Trans.). Hampshire: Macmillan Press, (originally published 1893).
  • Fervers, L. (2018). Economic miracle, political disaster? Political consequences of Hartz IV. Journal of European Social Policy, doi: 10.1177/0958928718774259
  • Gook, B. (2018). Backdating German neoliberalism: Ordoliberalism, the German model and economic experiments in eastern Germany after 1989. Journal of Sociology, doi: 10.1177/14407833187590
  • Gorres, A., Spies, D., Kumlin, S. (2018). The Electoral Supporter Base of the Alternative for Germany. Swiss Political Science Review, 24(3): 246-269.
  • Grimm, R. (2015). The rise of the German Eurosceptic party Alternative für Deutschland, between ordoliberal critique and popular anxiety. International Political Science Review, 36(3): 264-278.
  • Havertz, R. (2021). Radical Right Populism in Germany: AfD, Pegdida, and the Identitarian Movement. Oxon: Routledge.
  • Jarausch, K. and Gransow, V. (1994). Uniting Germany: Documents and Debates, 1944-1993. Oxford: Berghahn Books.
  • Kuper, S. (2021, September 16). The East-West divide still splits in Germany. Financial Times, https://www.ft.com/content/d1f91478-92e0-4600-8781-ac1310601b3e (accessed 1 April 2023).
  • Lees, C. (2018). The ‘Alternative for Germany’: The rise of right-wing populism at the heart of Europe. Politics, 38(3): 295-310.
  • McGowan, L. (2014). The Radical Right in Germany: The Radical Right in Germany 1870 to the Present. New York: Routledge.
  • Merton, R. (1938). Social Structure and Anomie. American Sociological Review, 3(5): 672-682.
  • Nick, H. (1995). An Unparalleled Destruction and Squandering of Economic Assets. In Behrend, H. (Ed.). German Unification: The Destruction of an Economy (pp. 80-118). London: Pluto Press.
  • Passas, N. (2000). Global Anomie, Dysnomie, and Economic Crime: Hidden Consequences of Neoliberalism and Globalization in Russia and Around the World. Social Justice, 27(2): 16-44.
  • Patton, D. F. (2017). The Alternative for Germany’s radicalization in historical-comparative perspective. Journal of Contemporary Central and Eastern Europe, 25(2): 163-180.
  • Rosenfeld, R., Trappe, H. and Gornick, J. C. (2004). Gender and Work in Germany: Before and After Reunification. Annual Review of Sociology, 30: 103-124.
  • Rosenfeld, R. and Messner, S. F. (2019). Crime and the American Dream: An Institutional Analysis. In Adler, and Laufer, W. S. (Ed.). The Legacy of Anomie Theory (pp. 218-247). London and NY: Routledge.
  • Siri, J. (2018). The Alternative for Germany after the 2017 Election. German Politics, 27(1): 141-145. Spiegel International. (2007, August 24). NPD Leader Charged with Inciting Race Hate. https://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/after-nominating-rudolf-hess-for-nobel-peace-prize-npd-leader-charged-with-inciting-race-hate-a-501910.html (accessed 20 August 2022).
  • Spiegel (2016). The Immigration of Muslims Will Change Our Culture. https://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/interview-with-frauke-petry-of-the-alternative-for-germany-a-1084493.html (accessed 1 April 2023).
  • Starke, P. (2022). The German Welfare State. In Larres, K., Moroff, H., and Wittlinger, R. (Ed.). The Oxford Handbook of German Politics (pp. 304-322). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Thomaneck, J. (1995). From Euphoria to Reality: Social Problems of Post-Unification. In Lewis, D. and McKenzie, J. (Ed.). The New Germany: Social, Political and Cultural Challenges of Unification (pp. 7-30). Exeter: University of Exeter Press.
  • Vorländer, H., Herold, M, and Schäller, S. (2018). PEGİDA and New Right-Wing Populism in Germany. Palgrave Macmillian.
  • Weisskircher, M. (2020). The Strength of Far-Right AfD in Eastern Germany: The East-West Divide and the Multiple Causes behind ‘Populism’. The Political Quarterly, 91(3): 614-622.
  • Weisskircher, M. (2022). The Importance of Being Eastern German: The Multiple Heartlands of Germany’s Far Right. In Mörner, M. (Ed.). The Many Faces of the Far Right in the Post-Communist Space: A Comparative Study of Far-Right Movements and Identity in the Region (pp. 91-99). published by Centre for Baltic and East European Studies, CBESS, Södertörn University. http://iriss.idn.org.rs/794/1/ZPavlovic_BTodosijevic_The_Core_Idea_Is_Our_Own_Peopl_First.pdf (accessed 1April 2023).
Toplam 37 adet kaynakça vardır.

Ayrıntılar

Birincil Dil İngilizce
Konular İletişim Çalışmaları
Bölüm Makaleler
Yazarlar

Fatih Çağatay Cengiz 0000-0002-8582-2665

Yayımlanma Tarihi 21 Haziran 2023
Gönderilme Tarihi 4 Nisan 2023
Kabul Tarihi 3 Mayıs 2023
Yayımlandığı Sayı Yıl 2023 Cilt: 11 Sayı: 1

Kaynak Göster

APA Cengiz, F. Ç. (2023). EXPLAINING THE RISE OF ALTERNATIVE FÜR DEUTSCHLAND (AFD) IN GERMANY WITH FAILED PROMISES OF UNIFICATION. Beykoz Akademi Dergisi, 11(1), 289-303. https://doi.org/10.14514/beykozad.1277183
AMA Cengiz FÇ. EXPLAINING THE RISE OF ALTERNATIVE FÜR DEUTSCHLAND (AFD) IN GERMANY WITH FAILED PROMISES OF UNIFICATION. Beykoz Akademi Dergisi. Haziran 2023;11(1):289-303. doi:10.14514/beykozad.1277183
Chicago Cengiz, Fatih Çağatay. “EXPLAINING THE RISE OF ALTERNATIVE FÜR DEUTSCHLAND (AFD) IN GERMANY WITH FAILED PROMISES OF UNIFICATION”. Beykoz Akademi Dergisi 11, sy. 1 (Haziran 2023): 289-303. https://doi.org/10.14514/beykozad.1277183.
EndNote Cengiz FÇ (01 Haziran 2023) EXPLAINING THE RISE OF ALTERNATIVE FÜR DEUTSCHLAND (AFD) IN GERMANY WITH FAILED PROMISES OF UNIFICATION. Beykoz Akademi Dergisi 11 1 289–303.
IEEE F. Ç. Cengiz, “EXPLAINING THE RISE OF ALTERNATIVE FÜR DEUTSCHLAND (AFD) IN GERMANY WITH FAILED PROMISES OF UNIFICATION”, Beykoz Akademi Dergisi, c. 11, sy. 1, ss. 289–303, 2023, doi: 10.14514/beykozad.1277183.
ISNAD Cengiz, Fatih Çağatay. “EXPLAINING THE RISE OF ALTERNATIVE FÜR DEUTSCHLAND (AFD) IN GERMANY WITH FAILED PROMISES OF UNIFICATION”. Beykoz Akademi Dergisi 11/1 (Haziran 2023), 289-303. https://doi.org/10.14514/beykozad.1277183.
JAMA Cengiz FÇ. EXPLAINING THE RISE OF ALTERNATIVE FÜR DEUTSCHLAND (AFD) IN GERMANY WITH FAILED PROMISES OF UNIFICATION. Beykoz Akademi Dergisi. 2023;11:289–303.
MLA Cengiz, Fatih Çağatay. “EXPLAINING THE RISE OF ALTERNATIVE FÜR DEUTSCHLAND (AFD) IN GERMANY WITH FAILED PROMISES OF UNIFICATION”. Beykoz Akademi Dergisi, c. 11, sy. 1, 2023, ss. 289-03, doi:10.14514/beykozad.1277183.
Vancouver Cengiz FÇ. EXPLAINING THE RISE OF ALTERNATIVE FÜR DEUTSCHLAND (AFD) IN GERMANY WITH FAILED PROMISES OF UNIFICATION. Beykoz Akademi Dergisi. 2023;11(1):289-303.