Through the targeted use of belligerent rhetoric, propaganda and disinformation the Far right attempts to infiltrate youth culture. Far-right ideas are no longer accompanied by skinheads and moles. Far-right slogans are now being shouted with expensive clothes and a glass of rosé in hand. Or spread through TikTok.

The song “L’amour toujours” by the Italian music producer and DJ Gigi d’Agostino became a big hit in the 2000s and is now a classic song at dance events and has many covers. In one of them “L’amour toujours” has now acquired new German lyrics unofficially and without the consent of the outraged creator – and according to the observations of the non-profit Amadeu Antonio Foundation, it is part of the soundtrack of a new, hip generation of far-right extremists here and over a year.

“Foreigners Out” and “Germany to the Germans” shout to this cause in TikTok videos, at village parties and – as recently on the island of Sylt – in a trendy bar. Wealthy young people showed up there naked, chanted the slogans and allowed themselves to be filmed with mobile phones. One of them gave a Nazi salute. A gesture that is illegal in Germany – for obvious reasons. The video went viral and showed once again that far-right radicalism and racism are no longer characteristic of a particular scene, but have many faces.

The “Identity Movement” started

Leaders of the “Identity Movement” recognized this as early as the 2010s. Starting in France, “Identities” also appeared in Germany and other European countries such as the United Kingdom, Austria, Switzerland and Denmark, in in late 2012, in the guise of a modern and moderate youth movement that packaged its right-wing ideology in glossy paper, so skillfully that it initially went unnoticed. Twitter, Facebook and YouTube were their distribution channels, with catchy videos that captured the zeitgeist and the tastes of the youth. The “Identity Movement” (Identitäre Bewegung) has since been categorized by the German Constitutional Protection Agency as “proven far-right extremism”. However, the tactic of exploiting youth culture has long been established in right-wing circles.

Wolf with sheep

The far-right AfD party is represented in the German Bundestag and has more and more supporters. Despite the fact that it is monitored by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and some regional groups and the party’s politicians are characterized as clearly far-right, the party does not lose its popularity. He uses simple means to converse with the world: He provokes and breaks taboos only to backtrack later. Or he uses the “wolf in sheep’s clothing” method: he comes across as friendly, feigns understanding for the other side, and then fights back. Polarization is also a popular method – for example between the supposedly ordinary rural population and the wealthy elite of the big cities – “us down here versus you up there”.

Many young people would vote for the far-right AfD party

The far-right party AfD and its youth organization, the “Junge Alternative”, see great potential in attracting new voters to youth culture. Most of this effort is currently taking place on social networks with the TikTok platform prominent. There are more than 20 million TikTok users in Germany, the majority of whom are teenagers. There the far-right populists spread their very simple messages with breathtaking speed. With music, memes, emojis and humorous packaging. What makes TikTok particularly interesting is that users don’t have to explicitly seek out such content: the propagandist posts wash over their timelines. The more they like, the faster they spread. This pattern has been working for years and is driving prospective voters into the arms of the Far Right. According to data from the “Youth in Germany” survey, 22% of young people aged 14 to 29 would vote for the AfD.

They feel unheard

One need not look far for the reasons. For decades, established parties have failed to listen to young people. This is reflected not only in an education policy that lags behind current social developments – due to lack of staff alone – but also in local political decisions, such as the closure of youth centres. As a result, young people often feel unheard by most parties. And this is where the self-proclaimed New Right comes to the fore, feigning understanding and cooperation. The term “New Right” itself exudes modernity and freshness without referring to its roots: the National Socialist idea that led to the Third Reich and the murder of millions of people. With a modern Zeitgeist and keen instinct, the New Right infiltrates youth subcultures and learns to speak their language.

The battle for cultural supremacy

There is a term for this strategy: “metapolitics” – exerting social influence beyond electoral programs and government work. They address people where they are, at home and supposedly with each other. Public festivals are organized, stalls with sausages and coffees are set up, a sense of camaraderie is created according to the motto: We see you and understand you. “With the help of this meta-politics, right-wing ideas are brought to the people unnoticed,” confirms Lorenz Blumenthaler from the Amadeu Antonio Foundation in an interview with DW. At first, the whole thing seems non-political and harmless, he says, “but in this way they manage to slowly infiltrate people’s minds and place their ideology there.” By the targeted use of war rhetoric, propaganda and misinformation at sensitive points in social discourse, it is easier for the Far Right to win the battle for cultural supremacy – online, in fashion and lifestyle, in gaming communities and at festivals of the province. Sociologist Felix Silk from Tübingen calls this strategy “pre-political space” – whether it’s the internet or the village square. It is a space that must be conquered in order to become politically assertive, he emphasizes. According to Silk in an interview with Deutschlandfunk radio, what is needed is a majority of the population that “shares the ideas and has internalized the motivations behind the policy.”

Implementation of concepts and music

Once a party like the AfD seizes one of these pre-political spaces for itself, it can determine the content and the discourse. It achieves this, for example, when terms from the ethno-right nationalist or racist framework become accepted by being increasingly used in the language. The most recent example is the word “restoration”, which the AfD has seized upon to describe its “Foreigners out” demands. Or – somewhat earlier – the pejorative term “headscarf girl”, which was used to discriminate against young Muslim women (including German women). It recodes terms that originally had a positive connotation: the terms “Gutmensch” (derived from “to do good”) or “Wokeness” (attention and awareness especially towards minorities) have already been lost by far-right opponents. Something similar happened with Gigi d’Agostino’s cover: If it’s played anywhere, Nazi slogans invade. The media coverage now makes the song even more familiar – you’ve heard it a few times and it’s easy to open your mouth and sing along. First behind closed doors, then increasingly as a matter of course, others sing it too – as in Sylt’s classy pub, where racist slogans with a glass of rosé in hand were “just” harmless party fun, those involved claim – with minimal reliability.

Edited by: Sofia Kleftaki