Die konstruierte Gefahr

With the end of the bipolar world order and with the threat of communism having waned, anti-Semitism, anti-Americanism and anti-capitalism have come to the fore in political discourse. The three extremes represented by Islamism, right-wing extremism and left-wing extremism use the aforementioned ideologies — in different forms — to arouse public concern, which puts the exclusivity of their world views in jeopardy. The consequences of this are that they fear for their idproduct and struggle for sovereignty of interpretation. Fabian Fischer uses the examples of the German political parties the NPD and DIE LINKE to analyse how their perceptions of who or what they see as potential threats are alike. Where do they intersect and how do they differ? How do the protagonists themselves see the parallels? The author also sheds light on the takeover and defence strategies deployed by these parties as a result of their common perceptions of who their enemies are and their cognitive dissonance. Fischer’s study provides deep insights into the causes of extremist thinking and reveals the key techniques and strategies used in anti-democratic propaganda.