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Young Alternative for Germany

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The Young Alternative for Germany (German: Junge Alternative für Deutschland or JA) is a right-wing extremist youth organisation in Germany. Founded on 15 June 2013 in Darmstadt for people aged 14 to 35 years, the JA presents itself as the youth wing of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, but remains legally independent.[3] It has been categorized as a confirmed extremist organization by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) since 2023.[4]

Young Alternative for Germany
Junge Alternative für Deutschland
ChairpersonHannes Gnauck[1]
Founded15 June 2013 (2013-06-15)
HeadquartersBerlin
Membershipc. 2,500 (March 2024)[2]
IdeologyRight-wing populism
PositionFar-right
Mother partyAlternative for Germany
Websitewww.jungealternative.de

Its chairman is Hannes Gnauck,[1][5] and its vice-chairpersons are Sven Kachelmann, Tomasz Froelich and Nils Hartwig.[5]

Logo until 2019

History

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The JA was founded in June 2013, four months after the AfD, with Torsten Heinrich as the organisation's first chairperson.[6]: 202  Heinrich left the party in March 2014.[6]: 202 

In view of the JA's independence, it has been regarded by the AfD hierarchy as being somewhat wayward,[7] with the JA repeatedly accused of being "too far right,"[8] politically regressive and anti-feminist among the German media.[7]

In March 2014, the Junge Alternative hosted Nigel Farage who had been invited to address the party's North Rhine-Westphalia organisation in Cologne.[9] The invitation is alleged to have caused some trouble within the AfD itself over the youth wing's unauthorised invitation of Farage, with the regional association and the youth wing wanting to stress their independence.[10] The invitation was contrary to a decision of the AfD National Executive whose policy is that official contact with foreign parties is decided only by the federal executive.[8] Nigel Farage's presence apparently led to a deterioration in relations with Bernd Lucke, the then-AfD leader, who called the move a "sign of poor political tact."[7]

The JA launched an anti-feminist campaign entitled "Gleichberechtigung statt Gleichmacherei" (variously translated as "equal rights, not levelling down"[11] or "equality instead of uniformity"[7]) on Facebook in response to the Young Socialists in the SPD, which posted photos supportive of feminism to mark International Women's Day. The Facebook page of JA describes feminism as a "left-wing ideology", and asks people to post reasons to reject it.[11] The campaign was in reaction to proposals for gender quotas.[12][13] Sections of the German media labelled election campaign material of the JA which showed attractive women in swimwear under the slogan "equality instead of uniformity" as in bad taste.[7] The JA followed with a poster of four shirtless men under the slogan "end soft justice".[7]

In May 2014, the JA is said to have further irritated AfD bosses with a statement they released on Facebook advocating vigilante action against crime.[14]

In 2015, a JA convention removed sitting chair Philipp Meyer from office.[15] Meyer, an ally of AfD leader Bernd Lucke,[16] was a part of JA's liberal wing and was said to have acted against the JA board's wishes by publicly supporting expulsion proceedings against Björn Höcke.[15] Meyer was replaced by Markus Frohnmaier, a member of JA's hardline right and an ally of Höcke.[17]

By 2016, the JA reported that it had over 800 members across 16 regional organisations.[6]: 202  At the time, the JA was the official youth party of AfD state parties in North Rhine-Westphalia, Saarland, Hamburg, Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Rhineland-Palatinate, and Berlin.[6]: 202  Although it is the de facto youth party of AfD, it is not affiliated at the federal level.[6]: 202 

Marvin Neumann and Carlo Clemens were elected as JA's co-chairs on 18 April 2021.[18] Less than three weeks later, Neumann resigned after pressure from AfD leaders over racist and white supremacist social media posts which the party feared would lead to the group being designated an extremist organisation.[19]

A 2021 report from the US State Department said that the Bavarian Office for the Protection of the Constitution was monitoring the JA.[20]

Since 2023, the JA has been classified as a right-wing extremist organisation by the German national intelligence service Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) after being a case of suspicion and an object of observation since 2019.[4]

Political positions

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The social scientist Alexander Häusler sees the JA as a proponent of a right-wing populist direction that acts as a "bridgehead"[21] of the party to the New Right. Like other youth organizations, it attempts to escalate the position of the parent party.[22] According to the social scientist David Bebnowski (Göttingen Institute for Democracy Research [de]), the youth organization presents itself as an "anti-feminist force."[23] Contrary to the resolution at the 2016 national congress, there are repeated collaborations with the far-right Identitarian Movement at the local level.[24][25]

According to researcher Anna-Lena Herkenhoff, members of the Junge Alternative "repeatedly stand out due to public statements that are astoundingly compatible with extreme right-wing discourse."[26] The sociologist alludes to statements by Markus Frohnmaier and Robert Wasiliew, that exemplify how "the Junge Alternative uses a common right-wing, racist discourse" and follows a "public relations strategy typical of the extreme right".[26] Whether the Junge Alternative also "has affinities with right-wing populist or extreme right-wing positions as an association as a whole" however, is still a "research desideratum" for sociologist Martin Langebach [de].[27]

According to Häusler, the Junge Alternative is "more offensive than the parent party" in its efforts to "establish contacts with other right-wing populist parties in Europe." In 2014, for example, the JA organized a controversial event within the party with Nigel Farage, the leader of the British UK Independence Party. Moreover, Frohnmaier and Tritschler had also "sought direct contact with the FPÖ earlier than the leading functionaries of their parent party [...]" and now also maintained contacts with the Young SVP and the youth organizations of the True Finns and United Russia. [28][29]

In the summer of 2014, the JA advertised frontier justice as "the new police" in a campaign on Facebook.[30]

In May 2019, David Eckert, Chairman of JA Berlin, criticized the parent party's denial of climate change: the AfD should "distance itself from the [near incomprehensible] statement that humans do not influence the climate".[31] As a result, several members of the state executive committee resigned, leaving the committee unable to continue working.[32]

Federal chairpeople

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  • 2013–2014: Torsten Heinrich, resigned from JA
  • 2014–2015: Philipp Ritz, resigned from JA
  • 2015: Philipp Meyer[15]
  • 2015–2018: Sven Tritschler[33] and Markus Frohnmaier[34]
  • 2018–2021: Damian Lohr
  • April 2021 – 2022: Marvin Neumann (resigned May 2021) and Carlo Clemens[18]
  • since 2022: Hannes Gnauck (MP)

Literature

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  • Herkenhoff, AL. (2016): Rechter Nachwuchs für die AfD – die Junge Alternative (JA). In: Häusler, A. (eds) Die Alternative für Deutschland. Springer VS, Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-10638-6_14
  • Raabe, L. (2018): Diskursstrategien in Online-Teilöffentlichkeiten am Beispiel der Jungen Alternative für Deutschland. In: Oswald, M., Johann, M. (eds) Strategische Politische Kommunikation im digitalen Wandel. Springer VS, Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007

References

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  1. ^ a b "Junge Alternative wählt als Extremisten eingestuften Soldaten zum Bundesvorsitzenden" [Junge Alternative elects soldier classified as extremist as federal chairman]. Der Spiegel (in German). 16 October 2022. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
  2. ^ "Junge Alternative - Über uns". 2 March 2024. Retrieved 2 March 2024.
  3. ^ "Bernd Lucke und die wilde Jugend" (in German). N24. 13 June 2014. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
  4. ^ a b "Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz stuft "Institut für Staatspolitik", "Ein Prozent e.V." und "Junge Alternative" als gesichert rechtsextremistische Bestrebungen ein". Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz (in German). Retrieved 24 May 2023.
  5. ^ a b "Bundesvorstand". Bundesvorstand Alternative für Deutschland (in German). AfD. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
  6. ^ a b c d e Anna-Lena Herkenhoff (2016). "Rechter Nachwuchs für die AfD – die Junge Alternative (JA)". In Häusler, Alexander (ed.). Die Alternative für Deutschland: Programmatik, Entwicklung und politische Verortung (in German). Springer VS Wiesbaden. pp. 201–217. ISBN 978-3-658-10637-9.
  7. ^ a b c d e f Lamparski, NIna (12 May 2014). "Germany's youth rebels against EU". BBC News. Retrieved 12 May 2014.
  8. ^ a b Krass, Sebastian (31 March 2014). "Zu weit rechts". Süddeutsche Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 12 May 2014.
  9. ^ "Junge Alternative: Nigel Farage zu Gast in Köln". Eigenmütlich Frei Magazine (in German). 19 March 2014. Retrieved 20 March 2014.
  10. ^ Weingärtner, Daniela (April 2014). "March of the populists". The German Times. Retrieved 16 April 2014.
  11. ^ a b White, J. Arthur (31 March 2014). "Anti-euro party turns anti-feminist". The Local (de). Retrieved 11 May 2014.
  12. ^ "Anti-feminist campaign targets German gender quota proposal". Al Jazeera. 1 April 2014. Archived from the original on 4 April 2014. Retrieved 12 May 2014.
  13. ^ Patrick Timmann (21 March 2014). "Germany's Eurosceptic AfD meets to define party platform". Euractiv. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
  14. ^ Wagstyl, Stefan (22 May 2014). "Germany's anti-euro party AfD breaks national taboos". Financial Times. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
  15. ^ a b c Tilman Steffen (23 May 2015). "AfD-Nachwuchs kickt Lucke-Anhänger raus". Zeit Online (in German). Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  16. ^ ""Ohne Lucke hat die AfD keine Zukunft"". Junge Freiheit (in German). 13 May 2015. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  17. ^ Sebastien Kaiser; Thomas Steiner (18 July 2016). "AfD-Jugendorganisation ist stärker von Rechtsextremen unterwandert als bisher bekannt". Badische Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  18. ^ a b Markus Balser; Jens Schneider (3 May 2021). "Chef von Jugendorganisation tritt aus AfD aus". Süddeutsche Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  19. ^ "Co-Vorsitzender der Jungen Alternative verlässt die AfD". Der Spiegel. 3 May 2021. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  20. ^ "2021 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Germany". US State Department. 2021. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
  21. ^ Häusler, Alexander; Roeser, Rainer (2015). Wut, Verachtung, Abwertung. Rechtspopulismus in Deutschland. Bonn: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung. p. 134. ISBN 978-3-8012-0478-5. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
  22. ^ Schaum, Marlis. "Radikaler als die AfD (Gespräch mit Alexander Häusler)". Deutschlandfunk Nova. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
  23. ^ Bebnowski, David (2015). Die Alternative für Deutschland. Aufstieg und gesellschaftliche Repräsentanz einer rechten populistischen Partei. Wiesbaden: Springer VS Wiesbaden. p. 10. ISBN 978-3-658-08286-4. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
  24. ^ Krebs, Felix. "Identitäre Bewegung": Wehrsport mit Burschenschaftlern". Zeit Online. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
  25. ^ "Junge Alternative: AfD-Abgeordneter bestätigt Zusammenarbeit mit Identitärer Bewegung". Die Zeit. 30 January 2017. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
  26. ^ a b Herkenhoff, Anna-Lena (2016). Die Alternative für Deutschland. Programmatik, Entwicklung und politische Verortung. Wiesbaden: Springer VS. p. 203. ISBN 978-3-658-10638-6. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
  27. ^ Langebach, Martin; Virchow, Fabian; Häusler, Alexander (2016). "Rechtsextremismus und Jugend". Handbuch Rechtsextremismus. VS Verlag. pp. 375–440.
  28. ^ Häusler, Alexander; Roeser, Rainer; Scholten, Lisa (7 June 2016). "Programmatik, Themensetzung und politische Praxis der Partei „Alternative für Deutschland" (AfD)" (PDF). Heinrich Böll Stiftung. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
  29. ^ Häusler, Alexander (2016). "Die » Alternative für Deutschland « – eine Antwort auf die rechtspopulistische Lücke ?". Strategien der extremen Rechten (PDF). Wiesbaden: Springer Fachmedien. p. 119. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
  30. ^ Asche, Christoph (17 October 2014). "AfD-Jugendorganisation Junge Alternative "Fast unverhohlen rechtsradikal"". Retrieved 6 July 2024.
  31. ^ "Offener Brief an Parteivorstand. AfD-Jugend meutert gegen Klimaleugner". ntv. 28 May 2019. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
  32. ^ Kraetzer, Ulrich (31 May 2019). "Nachwuchs der Berliner AfD gerät in Führungskrise". Berliner Morgenpost. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
  33. ^ "Sven Tritschler MdL". WDR (in German). 3 November 2021. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  34. ^ "Markus Frohnmaier, AfD". Bundestag (in German). Retrieved 11 December 2023.
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