Status: 02/28/2023 3:11 p.m
According to a study, protest events in Germany have normalized. The trend towards radicalization observed in the Corona years has been stopped. Despite the 2022 crises, the number of confrontational and violent protests declined.
In the past year, the number of confrontational and violent protests has fallen compared to the years 2020 and 2021, which were shaped by Corona. According to an analysis by the Berlin Social Science Center (WZB), despite overlapping crises and rising living costs, the radicalization trend of the past Corona years has not continued.
Although parts of the climate movement, above all “The Last Generation”, often resorted to forms of protest such as road blockades and airport occupations, the level of confrontational and violent protests was well below that of the previous pandemic years.
Feared radicalization did not materialize
Rising energy and food prices, rising inflation and the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine had fueled fears that the violence seen during the Corona protests could continue and cause unrest in the country.
However, rising energy and living costs have mobilized fewer people than expected. In view of the expected protests about the energy crisis, there was no “hot” autumn. Less than ten percent of the total recorded protest events can be assigned to the mobilization for energy and living costs. According to the researchers, protests in Germany are returning to normal.
According to the WZB, the results are based on the systematic analysis of protest events in 2022. In December, WZB researchers also surveyed 2,800 people in Germany representatively about their protest behavior.
Willingness to protest nonetheless present
Violent radicalization tendencies have decreased, but the willingness to protest among the population has not been broken. According to the WZB survey, more than one in four respondents could imagine taking part in a demonstration against rising energy and living costs. Two-thirds of those questioned at least showed understanding for taking to the streets for this purpose.
The acceptance of corona protests is again lower in comparison: Only one in four still understands protests of this kind.
Relief packages were able to smooth the waves
The survey results also showed that the willingness to participate in protests decreases significantly when they are co-organized by political parties. The Left Party and the AfD therefore lacked the power to mobilize in 2022.
Two factors, among others, could be identified as reasons for the absence of protests: the overlapping of many different protest topics ensured, for example, that the energy of the population was not focused on one issue. According to the WZB, the federal government’s financial relief packages are also a key factor that counteracted major protests.