Protest researchers: Sustained momentum at demonstrations against the right

Leipzig-based protest researcher Alexander Leistner expects the current demonstrations against right-wing extremism and racism to have a "sustained dynamic". "For some, the demonstrations are like a wake-up call to wake up from a kind of paralysis of shock. For others, it feels like a new dawn that people have been waiting for, because many people who have been involved for a long time have perhaps also had a feeling of resignation in recent months," explained the researcher from the Institute for Cultural Studies at Leipzig University on Friday.

"At the moment, we are experiencing a wave of protest that is building up rather than subsiding after the large demonstrations of the last few days," explained Leistner. On the one hand, rallies are being reorganized in many places, while counter-protests are being revived elsewhere. The latter was evident at anti-refugee demonstrations in Dresden or at a protest against the Thuringian AfD leader Björn Höcke in Gera.

The demonstrations were in some ways reminiscent of 2018, when the "Indivisible" alliance organized large rallies for solidarity and against exclusion. "What is new, however, is the mass, short-term nature and, above all, the rapid spread of the current protests. And certainly also that they are taking place against the backdrop of this election year and a feeling that something is really at stake due to the developments," said Leistner.