AANMELDEN

DEEL DIT PROGRAMMA  

Together with political scientist Léonie de Jonge and blogger and activist Thomas Laschyk, we will talk about the urgent and thorny questions of how to deal with the far right in the Netherlands and Germany. What are the threats and risks to democracy, and what can we do to protect our democratic institutions and values? And what can the Netherlands and Germany learn from each other?

Slowly but surely, the far right is coming to power in many European countries. The Netherlands is no exception: as the big winner of the Tweede Kamer elections, the radical right-wing party PVV is part of the government now. Meanwhile in Germany, the partially extremist Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) is on the rise. This deeply worrisome trend challenges our liberal democracies. How can we push back the wave of right-wing extremism and defend democracy?

At first glance, the success of the PVV in the Tweede Kamer elections came as a surprise. But it was in the making for a long time as many citizens, the media and politicians have gradually accepted the radical right-wing party as a legitimate player in political The Hague. In the end, his victory could almost be presented as normal: democratic business as usual. How and where is the new government putting strains on the Dutch democracy?

In Germany, the concept of a “resilient democracy” (also called “militant democracy”) has a long tradition with the National Socialist dictatorship as its central reference point. State and society are called upon to do everything in their power to defend the institutions and values of liberal democracy against all totalitarian challenges. Recently, this concept is widely discussed again because Germany is facing a strong pull to the right. The electoral win of AfD in the state elections in East Germany in September has shocked many, and for the first time since World War II, a radical right-wing party has won a German election. Unlike in the case of the PVV, in Germany there are no parties who are willing to cooperate with the AfD as they uphold a so-called Brandmauer or cordon sanitaire against the right — But it is unclear to what extent they will be able to maintain this principle.

With the speakers we will discuss how to explore institutions and values against the rise of the far right in conversation, while the Dutch-German band Deuba will explore the topic with a special selection of German protest songs.