Interventions by the Populist Radical Right in German Civil Society and the Search for Counterstrategies

ABSTRACT This article examines interventions by the populist radical right in German civil society and responses from established organisations in three areas: work, religion and sport. The empirical results indicate that the populist radical right intervenes by attacking established actors for being part of the institutional arrangement and by reinterpreting existing conflicts according to a populist logic. The interventions follow from a combination of opportunity structures (path-dependent lines of conflict within specific areas) and windows of opportunity (such as via events that attract great public attention). The responses by civil society organisations are situational and oscillate between value-based demarcation and content-based confrontation. Therefore, civil society faces the challenge of acting not as a gateway but as a protective factor against right-wing populism by developing strategies of resilience.