Interview on the mass protests: “The AfD appears to be highly insecure”

The AfD is reacting to the mass demonstrations against the right with panic, says sociologist Matthias Quent. Civil society could still reach some of the AfD supporters with their protest.

tagesschau.de: Hundreds of thousands are demonstrating these days against the AfD and right-wing extremism. How does the AfD deal with this?

Matthias Quent: The AfD is extremely unsettled by these demonstrations. The extreme right is literally in a panic. Attempts are being made to question these demonstrations as fakes and as stagings.

But these narratives don’t really penetrate. It is claimed to be a staged campaign; because these images that we are seeing now naturally question the aura that the AfD is the party of the people. And that’s why the AfD is actually reacting in panic.

Keeping the electorate engaged

tagesschau.de: We looked at many current quotes from AfD politicians in their channels and on new right platforms. There you hear that the protests were organized by the government. The critics of the AfD are not afraid of democracy, but of democracy. Germany is no longer a functioning democracy, the AfD is the only real opposition. People are now mobilizing against them because of the high poll numbers. What does the AfD aim with such stories?

Quent: On the one hand, the AfD wants to delegitimize these demonstrations for the general public by suggesting that they are not legitimate and that they are on behalf of the government. Or even to equate them with the marches of the National Socialists or the GDR, so to speak as parades of committed citizens demonstrating against the opposition.

Above all, the AfD has to keep its electorate in line, which is deeply unsettled by the headwind that they were no longer used to in public after the poll highs of the past few months. And in order to counteract this, the AfD has to delegitimize and deny these protests in order to be able to continue to claim that they are the true voice of the people.

“Achievable part of the AfD electorate”

tagesschau.de: Does this AfD narrative trap a parallel reality among the party’s supporters?

Quent: There is an ideologically hardened part of the AfD electorate. They believe everything the AfD tells them. In case of doubt, these demonstrations polarize themselves further into irrationality.

But there is also a reachable part of the AfD electorate who can be irritated by the protests and who do not take these protective claims that are now being put forward by the party leaders at face value. You also notice in your own environment that there is a contradiction, that there is great outrage about the “remigration” plans and about the growing right-wing extremism. AfD sympathizers react to this in a divided way.

“Isolate yourself from other arguments”

tagesschau.de: If we first concentrate on those who are already somewhat hardened: Does this make the AfD itself and its supporters somewhat immune to the facts and to the protest?

Quent: It’s about isolating yourself from other arguments and other opinions. In the idea that you are on the right side in the group of sympathizers, supporters or even members of the AfD. To strengthen each other. To ward off any external irritation.

We already know this from the political business, often from dealing with the media. When it is said: This is all “lying press”, that is not true. Every irritation is rejected in order not to endanger one’s own worldview and thus not to endanger one’s own social group. This is also a social psychological defense mechanism.

Radicalization effects not uniform

tagesschau.de: A dropout from the AfD has in one ARD-Documentary said that these protests against the AfD are bringing people closer together inside. Is there an inside and an outside? Why is that?

Quent: Yes, these effects of affective polarization, in which one sets oneself apart from one’s political opponents and thereby strengthens one’s own identity, definitely exist for a part of the electorate. So they say: especially now. This shows how depraved, how corrupt, how wrong the political opponent is. And that’s why we have to deal with it all the more mercilessly.

This means that these radicalization effects exist, but they are not uniform for all AfD voters. Other parts of the sympathizers react quite differently.

“Good when protests civil society are worn”

tagesschau.de: When we move away from those who are already unattainable and look at this other half. Is there a way to combat this alternative reality?

Quent: What can take the wind out of the sails of these conspiracy-ideological narratives, according to which the demos are staged by the state, are of course, above all, everyday experiences. The perception that such demonstrations also take place in small places, on a small scale, in one’s own environment. That you might know people at work or in your private life who go to such demonstrations. This can at least break through and irritate the polarization on social media.

And of course it is good if these protests are carried out primarily by civil society, if other political parties are not particularly present there. This underlines that the demos are supported by a wide range of civil society, which on a large scale is not motivated or committed to party politics.

“Right-wing populism lives from fears of doom”

tagesschau.de: Another AfD dropout spoke in the ARD-Documentation shows that AfD members who have already been radicalized are more likely to be reached through emotions than through facts. Can you explain that?

Quent: Right-wing populism and also right-wing extremism thrive on fears of doom and the idea that everything is ruined, that everything is getting worse and worse and that ultimately only in the AfD, only right-wing extremists are the ones who can still save the country, and are the only ones.

But when it becomes clear that there are also positive emotions here, that there is hope, support for democracy, a rejection of these destructive positions and this cultural pessimism, then it makes you emotional. And we are already seeing this in demonstrations, with speakers on social media, that one effect of these demonstrations on the right-wing extremist side is something like frustration, a loss of energy, a decreased commitment.

People are frustrated and shocked that their own ideas about society are being so shaken by these demonstrations. And this happens very much on an emotional level and not just on a rational one. This is also why these demonstrations are so important – perhaps more important than one or two scientific explanations.

The interview was conducted by Susanne Petersohn, WDR.

You can find out more about this topic in the ARD documentary “We were in the AfD – those who dropped out report”.