#Germany
News
An Authoritarian Turn in Contemporary Germany? – In Conversation with Robin Celikates
The threat of the far-right dominates politics in Germany today. The ascendance of the AfD marks the first time since the end of World War II that such a force has attracted a considerable share of the German electorate. This regularly leads politicians from centrist parties to emphasize the importance of preventing German history from repeating itself. However, these same actors have simultaneously brought far-right policies into the mainstream and adopted practices that resemble the playbook of autocrats. Such practices have been particularly visible in the repression of pro-Palestinian voices over the last two years. In recent articles, Prof. Robin Celikates has argued that these developments indicate an authoritarian turn in contemporary Germany.
11.12.2025
News
Quo Vadis, Deutschland? – The Future of the Green Agenda
This mini-series brings together leading scholars working in and on Germany to offer their insights into the key questions arising from this pivotal moment of transition. Through a multi-angled, interdisciplinary discussion, it examines the political, economic, and social forces driving change and shaping the country’s and the broader region’s future. In this third edition, our contributors examine the pressures weighing on Germany’s ecological transformation.
18.03.2025
News
How Germany’s Fiscal Orthodoxy Toppled Its Government and Imperils Its Future
On November 6, 2024, Chancellor Olaf Scholz dismissed Finance Minister Christian Lindner, ending Germany’s “traffic light” coalition in dramatic fashion. This wasn’t just a matter of personal differences—it was the inevitable result of a fiscal orthodoxy that has shackled Germany’s economy for over a decade. Dogged adherence to balanced budgets has systematically thwarted critical investments in infrastructure, climate action, and digitalization, while external demand masked the model’s flaws. With export markets shrinking in the United States and China, the enablers of this approach have fallen, exposing deep cracks in the foundations of Germany’s economic model. Yet the political obstacles to dismantling this self-harming paradigm remain formidable.
11.12.2024
The Beginning of the End: Recent Regional Elections Signal the Demise of Not Only Scholz, but Left-Liberal-Green Hegemony in Germany
Germany is facing an endemic crisis of its economic model as a whole, with the ruling left-liberal-green coalition also facing a crisis of moral authority after the recent regional elections in East Germany, which amounted to a political earthquake. What awaits is a new governmental project under the aegis of the conservatives and under pressure from far-right forces.
27.09.2024
The Federal Republic at 75 and the Unmaking of the Post-War Era
The Federal Republic of Germany turns 75 this week. As the post-war model of democracy has largely seized to function, there is a disorientation about the relation between this history and Germany’s current juncture. How urgent problems are approached, however, will depend on the meaning given to those years.
22.05.2024
