From its publication in March 2024, Daniel Mullis' book “Der Aufstieg der Rechten in Krisenzeiten. Die Regression der Mitte” received a great deal of attention and a broad media response when it was published by Reclam Verlag. Now, the Federal Agency for Civic Education has added the publication to its portfolio. Since November 21, 2024, the book can be purchased on their portal at a moderate price.
In his study, Daniel Mullis and his colleagues are investigating the question of which dynamics in the center of society are responsible for the rise of right-wing parties and groups in recent years. In order to find answers to this question, the researcher, who has been working at PRIF since 2017, conducted interviews with eligible voters in Frankfurt am Main and Leipzig as part of his project. The aim was to trace the developments that have led to an increasing spread of reactionary attitudes, even among former supporters of moderate parties. According to Mullis' findings, the coronavirus pandemic, the newly sparked wars and the climate crisis have increased insecurities that make voters in East and West Germany susceptible to right-wing ideologies.
The publication is based on the research project led by Daniel Mullis entitled “Everyday Political Subjectification and the Rise of Regressive Politics. Downward Mobility, Urbanization and the Production of Space in Frankfurt am Main and Leipzig”, which has been funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) since 2021. It focuses on the strengthening of regressive dynamics in Germany and understands regression not only as the rise of the extreme right, but as an interplay of social processes of individualization, the expansion of authoritarian tendencies and attitudes and the all-round enforcement of competitive logics.
In order to engage with the public, the research findings were presented at numerous readings throughout Germany. In particular, the conference “The Extreme Right in Hesse: Analyses and Counter-Strategies”, which Daniel Mullis organized in October 2024 for PRIF and together with the Frankfurt Institute for Social Research. Taking Hesse as a starting point, the conference looked at developments across Germany and Europe and the overlaps between far-right ideologies and the so-called bourgeois center.