The Nature and Origins of Political Extremism In Germany and Beyond

245 Pages·2021·10.84 MB·English

by  Sebastian Jungkunz

NEW PERSPECTIVES IN
GERMAN POLITICAL STUDIES
Sebastian Jungkkuuunnnzzzz
New Perspectives in German Political Studies
Series Editors
William E. Paterson, Aston University, Birmingham, UK
Thomas Saalfeld, Universität Bamberg, Bamberg, Bayern, Germany
Far reaching changes are now taking place in Germany. Stability lay at
the core of the German model and much of the writing from Peter
Katzenstein and Manfred Schmidt onwards sought to explain this envi-
ablestability.Changesintheexternalenvironmenthavecreatedanumber
of fundamental challenges which pose a threat to that stability. Germany
is now Europe’s central power but this has generated controversy about
how it is to exercise this new power. Although attention is often centred
on German power the migration crisis demonstrates its limits. New
Perspectives in German Political Studies aims to engage with these new
challenges and to cater for the heightened interest in Germany. The
Editorswouldwelcomeproposalsforsingle-authoredmonographs,edited
collections and Pivots, from junior as well as well-established scholars
working on contemporary German Politics.
More information about this series at
https://link.springer.com/bookseries/14735
Sebastian Jungkunz
The Nature
and Origins
of Political Extremism
In Germany
and Beyond
Sebastian Jungkunz
University of Duisburg-Essen
Duisburg, Germany
University of Bamberg
Bamberg, Germany
New Perspectives in German Political Studies
ISBN 978-3-030-83335-0 ISBN 978-3-030-83336-7 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-83336-7
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People need a sense of history just as migratory birds need a sense of
orientation. Whatever the economic circumstances, man cannot be
content with an existence without obsessions and without utopia.
—Régis Debray, Preface to Victor Serge Carnets1
1Paris 1985. Translated by the author.
To Leon
Acknowledgments
The time that has passed until the completion of this book has been a
wonderful ride that has changed my life not only professionally but also
personally. Although I had doubts at the beginning, over the years there
have been numerous people who have always put their trust in me. I
feel very fortunate to have met all of them, and I would like to take this
opportunity to express my gratitude. First of all, I would like to thank
Marc Helbling for his constant support. I greatly appreciate the freedom
you gave your assistants and collaborators. At the same time, you always
pushed us to seek new challenges in order to develop further. I would
also like to thank Airo Hino who allowed me to have an incredible time
during my research stay at Waseda University in Tokyo. I greatly appre-
ciate the hospitality of you and your family. For their theoretical and
methodological input, I would like to thank Martin Elff, Cas Mudde,
Susanne Rässler (†), Thomas Saalfeld, and Harald Schoen. This research
wasalsofinalizedaspartoftheproject:“Theinfluenceofsocio-economic
problems on political integration” (PI: Paul Marx) funded by the North
Rhine-Westphalian Ministry of Culture and Science. The preparation of
the book was greatly assisted by Ambra Finotello and Ashwini Elango
of Palgrave and Preetha Kuttiappan of Springer Nature, and my thanks
to Scott Martingell for proofreading the manuscript. I am also grateful
for the financial support from Zeppelin University. Finally, I thank the
Bamberg Graduate School of Social Sciences (BAGSS) for the help it has
given me over the years.
ix
x ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I am also very grateful to everyone I met during my time at the
University of Bamberg and elsewhere. Thank you for all the feedback,
the ideas we exchanged, or just the drinks we had on one occasion or
another: Henning Bergmann, Andreas Böhler, Bruno Castanho Silva,
Fabian Endres,Rob Fahey, Aleksander Ferguson,Andrea Förtsch,Daniel
Förtsch, Jonathan Führer, Anna Fuß, Robert Greszki, Tobias Heid,
Erik Jäger, Felix Jäger, Christopher Köhler, Levi Littvay, Paul Marx,
MarcoMeyer,HelgaNützel,JohannesPfeufer,MateaPlatschek,Kathrina
Schafhauser, Tobias Scheuering, Nino Schrepfer, Alexander Schuberth,
CarolineSchultz,CarstenSchwemmer,JohannesSeufert,StephanSimon,
Sebastien Volker, and Nadja Wehl.
But above all, my deepest thanks go to my family. My parents, Vera
and Werner, and my brother Johannes have supported me uncondition-
allyalongtheway,eveniftheyweren’talwayssurewhereIwouldendup.
I also didn’t know that working on this project would mean becoming a
father. Leon, you mean the world to me. In all these years, you’ve prob-
ably changed me the most. I am so happy to see you grow up and I
cherish every single moment with you. Thank you!
Contents
1 Introduction 1
1.1 What We Know About Political Extremism 5
1.2 Why We Need to Study Attitudes 8
1.3 Choosing the Political Context 10
1.4 Data 12
1.5 Outline of the Book 12
References 14
2 What Is Political Extremism? 17
2.1 Right-Wing Extremism 24
2.2 Left-Wing Extremism 27
2.3 Critical Assessment and Conclusion 36
References 38
3 A Theory of Political Extremism 45
3.1 Similarities Between LWE and RWE 45
3.2 Motivations for Political Extremism 49
3.3 A Unified Model of Political Extremism 67
References 69
4 Research Design: From Theory to Application 81
4.1 Data Sets 82
4.2 Operationalization 84
4.3 Hypotheses 90
4.4 Method 94
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