The conference “Right-Wing Extremists in Hesse. Analyses and Counter-Strategies” aims to take stock of the current situation of the extreme right: starting from Hesse, it will look at developments across Germany and Europe and discuss right-wing ideologies and counter-strategies. A particular focus is on the overlaps between right-wing ideas and the so-called center of society.
The continuity of right-wing terrorism in Kassel, Wächtersbach and Hanau, as well as the success of the AfD in the 2023 federal state elections, have shown that the extreme right in Hesse has gained strength. With numerous keynotes, panels and workshops, the conference from October 11 to 13, 2024 offers space for exchange between academics and civil society actors.
The PRIF - Leibniz Institute for Peace and Conflict Research is organizing the conference together with the Institute for Social Research (IfS), the Kassel Institute for Sustainability, the AStA of Goethe University and the Open House of Cultures. The conference will take place in the Studierendenhaus Frankfurt and will start with a welcome on Friday, October 11, 2024, at 14:00.
The first keynote speech of the conference on Friday, 11 October, will be given by Natascha Strobl from 18:00 to 20:00 on the topic “Radicalization of the Middle? Radicalized conservatism”. From 20-22:00, Michaela Köttig, Daniel Mullis and Anne Rabe, moderated by Hanning Voigts, will discuss the topic “At the authoritarian tipping point? The shift to the right in Germany”.
Fabian Virchow will speak about the right's ideas of the state on Saturday, October 12 from 4-6 pm. His keynote is entitled “The extreme right wants a different republic - how does it go about it? How far has it come?”. The subsequent discussion “Rechtes Land Hessen?” from 18-20:00 will focus on the situation in Hesse. Anna Yeliz Schentke will moderate the panel with Sonja Brasch, Armin Kurtović and Martín Steinhagen.
The 16 workshops at the conference, which will take place from Friday to Sunday, are organized into four thematic areas: Approaches, ideologies, stocktaking and counter-strategies.
Registration is requested for the workshops. The keynotes and panels are open to all without registration.
The conference program is available as a PDF file (in German). Further information on the conference can be found on the IfS homepage. The conference venue is the Studierendenhaus of the Goethe University (Mertonstraße 26, 60325 Frankfurt a. M.) on the Bockenheim campus.